Thoughts on the end of TCR 01

TCR (True Christian Religion) 780 reads: “. In order that the Lord could be constantly present with me, He has revealed to me the spiritual sense of His Word, in which Divine truth is illuminated by its own light, and in this He is continually present. For it is through the spiritual sense and in no other way that He is present in the Word.”

This explains to me why the Writings begin with the Arcana Celestia which reveals the spiritual meaning of Genesis and Exodus.

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How to Fight Temptation

This teaching fascinated me this morning:

“… temptation or conflict does not take place between goods and evils, but between the truths of good and the falsities of evil (TCR 596).”

I have often thought of temptation as the battle between desires (which it is), in which I had to struggle to choose the right desire, or at least not act out the evil desire.

But TCR 596 has given me a new perspective on how to battle temptation. How does one fight against the desire to do a particular evil and the desire not to do it? According to TCR 596 one fights with the truths of good. In other words, if we think about the truths the Lord has given to us from His Word, and condemn this evil desire as a sin, the Lord will give us the strength to resist the desire to do evil.

In other words, resisting temptation is all about justification. If we justify and excuse the evil, we will do it. If we condemn as a sin, we will not do it.

We really do not have much control over the desires that flow into our mind, but we have control over how we think about them. So it is the truths of good what will enable us to over come temptation.