278. (ii) _Evils cannot be removed unless they appear._ This does not mean that man must do evils in order for them to appear, but that he must examine himself, his thoughts as well as his deeds, and see what he would do if he did not fear the laws and disrepute--see especially what evils he deems allowable in his spirit and does not regard as sins, for these he still does. To enable him to examine himself, man has been given understanding, and an understanding separate from his will, in order that he may know, comprehend and acknowledge what is good and what is evil, likewise see the character of his will or what it loves and desires. To see this his understanding has been given higher and lower or interior and exterior thought, so as to see from the higher or interior what his will prompts in the lower or exterior thinking: he sees this quite as he does his face in a mirror. When he does and knows what is sin, he is able, on imploring the Lord's help, not to will it but to shun it, then to act contrary to it, if not freely, then by overcoming it through fighting it, and finally to become averse to it and abominate it. Then first does he perceive and also sense that evil is evil and good is good. This, now, is self-examination--to see one's evils, acknowledge them, confess them and thereupon desist from them. [2] But as few know that this is the Christian religion itself, and these alone have charity and faith and are led by the Lord and do good from Him, something will be said of those who fail to examine themselves but still think that they possess religion. They are 1. Those who confess themselves guilty of all sins but do not search out any one sin in themselves. 2. Those who neglect the search on religious principle. 3. Those who in absorption with the mundane give no thought to sins and hence do not know them. 4. Those who favor them and therefore cannot know them. 5. With all these, sins do not appear and therefore cannot be removed. 6. Finally, the reason, so far unknown, will be made plain why evils cannot be removed apart from their being searched out, appearing, being acknowledged, confessed and resisted. 278 r. But these points will be considered one by one, for they are fundamentals of the Christian religion on man's part.