Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/148

142 cannot be removed without repentance. This is the first step in the regenerate life. And the beginning of repentance is self-examination, and the consequent recognition and acknowledgment of particular evils in one's self, that need to be removed before their opposite heavenly goods can be received. And when the evil inclination is discovered, the individual should acknowledge it before the Lord, supplicate Divine assistance in its removal, turn from it as from the fire of hell, shun its indulgence as a sin against God, and begin a new life, that is, should seek to develop and strengthen in himself the opposite good inclination. And not only must we examine our outward actions, but the thought and intention from which the actions proceed, if we would perform true repentance.

"As, for example, when a man's thought, will and intention incline him to revenge, adultery, theft, false-witness,—blasphemy against God, the holy Word, the church, and the like; if he attends to this, and inquires whether he would actually commit these evils if the fear of the law and for his good name did not hinder; and if, after this scrutiny, he decides that he must not will to commit them because they are sins, he truly and interiorly repents. . . . He who does this repeatedly, feels the delights of evil when they return as disagreeable, and finally condemns them to hell." (T. C. R. 563.)

"He who would be saved, must confess his sins