It seems questionable that even though nothing that people think and do is theirs, because they are led by spirits, they nevertheless become guilty of sins and will suffer the penalties for the evils committed; but this is grasped through faith. When one has true faith, then one believes, in accordance with the truth, that nothing is our own, because we are being led by God the Messiah in the way of truth, or have true belief; and in this case all evil is bent into good, so that nothing of evil is accounted to him. But when one does not have true faith, then one believes that everything is one's own, and that we think and do everything of our own power. In this way we are filled with fantasies, which stay with us, and the result of such a belief is that the evil cannot but be accounted to us, because, as we believe, it is from ourselves. For this reason also, evil cannot easily be bent into good, but rather, good is bent into evil, which takes root and increases, even until the person acquires a character, such as remains after death, when he or she is purged of that fantasy by means of punishments. 1748, the 7th day of January. mThus when one has not faith, one takes on [false] convictions, which have to be rooted out.n