pure mercy, but not immediate; that is, not such as to save all out of mere good pleasure, however they may have lived.
The Lord never acts contrary to order, because He is order itself. The divine truth proceeding from Him is what makes order; and divine truths are the laws of order according to which the Lord leads man. Therefore, to save man by immediate mercy is contrary to divine order; and what is contrary to divine order is contrary to the Divine.
Divine order is heaven with man; this order man has perverted with himself by a life contrary to the laws of order, which are divine truths. Into that order man is brought back by the Lord out of pure mercy, by means of the laws of order; and so far as he is brought back, he receives heaven in himself; and he who receives heaven in himself, goes to heaven after death. Hence, again, it is evident that the divine mercy of the Lord is pure mercy, but not immediate mercy.
If men could be saved by immediate mercy, all would be saved, even they who are in hell. Yea, there would be no hell, because the Lord is mercy itself, love itself and good itself. Therefore it is contrary to his Divine to say that He is able to save all immediately, and does not save them. It is known from the Word that the Lord wills the salvation of all and the damnation of no one.
