Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 17:27
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AC 2113. Verse 27. And all the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver, from the son that is a stranger, were circumcised with him. "All the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver," signifies all those who are within the church; "from the son that is a stranger," signifies all who are rational outside the church; "were circumcised by him," signifies that they were justified by the Lord.

AC 2114. All the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver. That this signifies all those who are within the church, is evident from the signification of "him that was born in the house," as being the celestial; and from the signification of "those bought with silver," as being the spiritual (n. 2048, 2051, 2052); and also that these are they who are within the church, for all who are within the church, that is, all who constitute the church, are either celestial or spiritual; but who the celestial and who the spiritual are, may be seen above (n. 2088). In this last verse of this chapter there is a summary of all that has been said above, namely, that they who have been purified from the loves of self and of the world, both those within the church and those outside the church, are justified by the Lord. Both these classes are called the "men of the house;" for in the internal sense "the house" signifies the Lord‘s kingdom (n. 2048).

AC 2115. From the son that is a stranger. That this signifies all who are rational outside the church, is evident from the signification of a "stranger," as being those who are outside the church (n. 2049), and thus the Gentiles who have not the Word and therefore have learned nothing about the Lord; and the these when rational are just as much saved, that is, when they live together in charity or mutual love, and have gained something of conscience in accordance with their own religion (n. 593, 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328).

AC 2116. That they "were circumcised by (ab) him" signifies that they are justified by the Lord, may be seen from the representation and thence the signification of "being circumcised," as being to be purified (n. 2039). Their "being circumcised by him," that is, by Abraham, was also representative, namely, that they are purified and thereby justified by the Lord. But in regard to justification, the case is not as is commonly supposed, namely, that all evils and sins are wiped away and utterly blotted out when men, as they imagine, believe - even if it were their last and dying hour - however they may have lived in evils and in misdeeds during the entire course of their lives; for I have been fully instructed that not the smallest evil which a man during his bodily life has thought and has carried out into act is wiped away and utterly blotted out; but that it all remains, even to the very least of it.

[2] The truth is that with those who have meditated and practised acts of hatred, of revenge, of cruelty, and of adultery, and who thereby have lived in no charity, the life thence contracted awaits them after death, nay, so do all things of that life both in general and in particular, which return in succession; and from this comes their torment in hell. But with those who have lived in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, their evils of life also all remain, but they are tempered by the goods which during their life in the world they have received from the Lord by means of a life of charity; and thereby they are uplifted into heaven, nay, are withheld from the evils which they have appertaining to them, so that these do not appear. They who in the other life doubt their having evils with them, because the evils do not appear, are let into them until they know that the case is really so, and then are again uplifted into heaven.

[3] This then is what is meant by being justified; for in this way men come to acknowledge not their own righteousness, but that of the Lord. As to its being said that those are saved who have faith - this is true; but in the Word by "faith" nothing else is meant than love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and thus a life from these loves. The doctrine things and dogmas of faith are not faith, but belong to faith; for they are one and all for the sake of the end that a man may become such as they teach him to be, as may be clearly seen from the Lord’s words that in love to God and love toward the neighbor consist all the law and the prophets, that is, the universal doctrine of faith (Matt. 22:34-39; Mark. 12:28-35). That there cannot possibly be any other faith that is faith (n. 30-38, 379, 389, 724, 809, 896, 904, 916, 989, 1017, 1076, 1077, 1121, 1158, 1162, 1176, 1258, 1285, 1316, 1608, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1843, 1844); and also that heaven itself consists in love to the Lord and in mutual love, (n. 537, 547, 553, 1112, 2057).