192 HEAVEN and HELL §348
b. The Lord’s worth and justice are the good that rules in heaven: 9486 , 9986. Just people, or
justifi ed ones, are people to whom the Lord’s worth and justice have been allotted, and unjust
people are people who have their own justice and self-worth: 5069 , 9263. The nature in the other
life of people who have claimed righteousness for themselves: 942 , 2027. Justice in the Word is
ascribed to what is good and judgment to what is true, so to do justice and judgment is [to do]
what is good and true: 2235 , 9857.People who are in the Lord’s heavenly kingdom, especially the ones
in the third or inmost heaven, are called the just because they do not
ascribe any justice to themselves, but all justice to the Lord. The Lord’s
justice in heaven is the good that comes from the Lord,b so these are the
people meant by “those who justify.” They are also the ones the Lord was
talking about when he said, “The righteous shall shine like the sun in my
Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 13 : 43 ). The reason they shine like the sun is
that they are caught up in love for the Lord from the Lord, and this love
is what the sun means (see above, §§ 116 – 125 ). Further, the light they have
is fi ery, and their individual thoughts have something fl amelike about
them because they are receiving the good of love directly from the Lord
as the sun in heaven.349 All the people who have acquired intelligence and wisdom in the
world are received in heaven and become angels, according to the quality
and amount of their individual intelligence and wisdom. Whatever we
have acquired in this world stays with us. We take it with us after death,
where it is increased and fi lled out, all within the level of our own affec-
tion and desire for what is true and good, and not beyond that level.
People who have had little affection and desire accept little, but still as
much as they can accept on their own level. People who have had great
affection and desire accept much. The actual level of affection and desire
is like a measure that is fi lled to the brim. This means more for people
whose measure is great and less for people whose measure is small. This is
because the love to which affection and desire belong accepts everything
that suits it, so the amount of love determines the amount of receptivity.
This is the meaning of the Lord’s words “To all who have, it will be
given, and they will have more abundantly” (Matthew 13 : 12 ; 25 : 29 ); “Into
your lap will be given a good measure, pressed down, shaken, and over-
fl owing” (Luke 6 : 38 ).
350 Everyone is accepted into heaven who has loved what is true and
good for the sake of what is true and good. People who have loved a great
deal are the ones who are called “wise,” and people who have loved less
are the ones who are called “simple.” The wise ones in heaven are in