From these
considerations it evidently appears to whom sin is not imputed, and to
whom it is.
530. V. THUS ADULTEROUS LOVE IS IMPUTED TO EVERY ONE;--not according to
his deeds, such as they appear externally before men, nor either such as
they appear before a judge, but such as they appear internally before
the Lord, and from him before the angels, which is according to the
quality of a man's will and of his understanding therein. Various
circumstances exist in the world which mitigate and excuse crimes, also
which aggravate and charge them upon the perpetrator: nevertheless,
imputations after death take place, not according to the external
circumstances of the deed, but according to the internal circumstances
of the mind; and these are viewed according to the state of the church
with every one: as for example, a man impious in will and understanding,
that is, who has no fear of God or love of his neighbour, and
consequently no reverence for any sanctity of the church,--he, after
death, becomes guilty of all the crimes which he did in the body; nor is
there any remembrance of his good actions, since his heart, from whence
as from a fountain those things flowed, was averse from heaven, and
turned to hell; and deeds flow from the place of the habitation of every
one's heart.
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