119. VI. THE LORD THEN PURIFIES MAN FROM THE LUSTS [OF EVIL] IN THE INTERNAL MAN, AND FROM THE EVILS THEMSELVES IN THE EXTERNAL. The Lord then purifies man from the lusts of evil when the man as of himself removes the evils, because the Lord cannot purify him before this is done. For the evils are in the external man and the lusts of evil are in the internal man, and these are united like the roots and trunk of a tree. Therefore, unless the evils are removed no outlet for the lusts is opened up, for the evils form an obstruction and close the door, which cannot be opened by the Lord except through man's instrumentality, as was shown above. When, therefore, man as of himself opens the door, then the Lord roots out the lusts and the evils together.
[2] Another reason is that the Lord acts upon man's inmost, and from the inmost upon all that follows even to the ultimates, while man is at the same time in the ultimates. As long, therefore, as the ultimates are kept closed by the man himself there can be no purification. There can only be such operation by the Lord in man's interiors as He performs in hell; and the man who is in lusts and at the same time in evils is a form of hell. This operation is solely to dispose things so that there should be no destruction of one thing by another, and to prevent good and truth from being violated. The Lord continually urges and presses upon man to open the door for himself as is clear from His words in Revelation:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with aim, and he with me. iii. 20.