Editing Swedenborgianism (section)

=== {{anchor|Doctrine of faith and charity}}Doctrines of faith and charity ===
New Church adherents believe that "Regeneration" brings salvation. Regeneration is the process by which man is re-born, transitioning from the 'sense-oriented' sinful life he was born into, to a 'spiritual life', where man makes goodness and truth his highest love rather than worldly pleasures,<ref name=":0" /> and proceeds to live a life of usefulness and love. God incarnated as Christ to provide man with a path to regeneration, therefore true faith in Jesus Christ leads to salvation.<ref>TCR, n. 337.</ref>

Faith in Jesus is faith in a visible God. Jesus is the image and form of the invisible God, on whom the human mind can focus.<ref>TCR, n. 339, 647.</ref> According to the New Church, God is man himself.<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Love and Wisdom'', 1763 (DLW). Rotch Edition. New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1907, in ''The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem'' (2012), n. 11.</ref> If a person is good and follows the truth, God lives in that person (who becomes an image and likeness of him).<ref>TCR, n. 20.</ref> The New Church is said to be the "crown of all churches which preceded it", since the invisible God is worshiped in human form.<ref>TCR, n. 786–787.</ref>

Faith is not defined as belief alone; the New Church holds that faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity; in this way, faith and charity are intertwined.<ref>TCR, n. 336.</ref> Faith and charity become one in acts of good works or repentance.<ref>TCR, n. 362, 509.</ref> The union of faith and charity is a central tenet of the New Church; all substantial things are related to divine love and divine wisdom,<ref>DLW, n. 40–46.</ref> and the will and understanding of each person is a receptacle of God's love and wisdom.<ref>DLW, n. 358–370.</ref>

According to New Church adherents, a person must learn and live by the truth; in the union between humanity and the Lord facilitated by man's acceptance of divine truth, faith becomes living and spiritual.<ref>TCR, n. 359.</ref> All the precepts of how one should live are contained in the [[Ten Commandments]].<ref>TCR, n. 287.</ref> The first act of faith is repentance: self-examination, acknowledging and identifying one's sins, and turning away from them, along with all evil.<ref>TCR, n. 510, 525–527.</ref>