A spiritual
equilibrium in its essence is freedom because it is an equilibrium
between good and evil, and between truth and falsity, and these are
spiritual. Therefore to be able to will either what is good or what
is evil and to think either what is true or what is false, and to
choose one in preference to the other, is the freedom which is here
treated of. This freedom is given to every man by the Lord, and is
never taken away; in fact, by virtue of its origin it is not man's
but the Lord's, since it is from the Lord. Nevertheless, it is given
to man with his life as if it were his; and this is done that man may
have the ability to be reformed and saved; for without freedom there
can be no reformation or salvation. With any rational intuition any
one can see that it is a part of man's freedom to be able to think
wrongly or rightly, sincerely or insincerely, justly or unjustly;
also that he is free to speak and act rightly, honestly, and justly;
but not to speak and act wrongly, insincerely, and unjustly, because
of the spiritual, moral, and civil laws whereby his external is held
in restraint. Evidently, then, it is man's spirit, which thinks and
wills, that is in freedom, and not his external which speaks and
acts, except in agreement with the above mentioned laws.
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