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14 DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM §3636373839There is a union of love and wisdom in every divine work as well.This is why it endures, even to eternity. If there were more divine lovethan divine wisdom or more divine wisdom than divine love in any createdwork, nothing would endure in it except what was equal. Any excesswould pass away.As divine providence works for our reformation, regeneration, andsalvation, it shares equally in divine love and divine wisdom. We cannotbe reformed, regenerated, and saved by any excess of divine love over divinewisdom or by any excess of divine wisdom over divine love. Divinelove wants to save everyone, but it can do so only by means of divinewisdom. All the laws that govern salvation are laws of divine wisdom,and love cannot transcend those laws because divine love and divinewisdom are one and act in unison.In the Word, “justice” and “judgment” mean divine love and divinewisdom, “justice” meaning divine love and “judgment” meaning divinewisdom; so in the Word justice and judgment are ascribed to God. Forexample, we read in David, “Justice and judgment are the foundation ofyour throne” (Psalms 79:15 [89:14] ); and again, “Jehovah will bring outhis justice like light and his judgment like noonday” (Psalms 37:6); inHosea, “I will betroth myself to you forever in justice and judgment”(Hosea 2:19); in Jeremiah, “I will raise up a just branch for David whowill rule as king and make judgment and justice in the land” ( Jeremiah23:5); in Isaiah, “He will sit on the throne of David and over his kingdom,to make it secure in judgment and in justice” (Isaiah 9:6 [9:7] );and again, “Let Jehovah be extolled, because he has filled the earth withjudgment and justice” (Isaiah 33:5); in David, “When I shall havelearned the judgments of your justice . . . seven times a day I will praiseyou over the judgments of your justice” (Psalms 119:7, 164). “Life” and“light” in John mean the same: “In him was life, and the life was thelight of humanity” ( John 1:4). “Life” here means the Lord’s divine love,and “light” his divine wisdom. “Life” and “spirit” mean the same inJohn as well: “Jesus said, ‘The words that I speak to you are spirit andlife’” ( John 6:63).Even though love and wisdom seem to be two separate things in us,essentially they are distinguishably one. This is because the quality of ourlove determines the quality of our wisdom and the quality of our wisdomthe quality of our love. Any wisdom that is not united to our love seemslike wisdom, but it is not; and any love that is not united to our wisdomseems like wisdom’s love even though it is not. Each gets its essence andits life from the other in mutual fashion.