649. Much the same would happen, if anyone were to embrace the faith of the new church, while retaining the faith of the former church concerning the imputation of the Lord's merit and righteousness. It is this which has been the root from which all the dogmas of the former church have arisen like shoots. If anyone were to do this, it would be as if, for comparison, one were to snatch oneself out of the way of five of the dragon's horns only to become entangled with the other five. Or as if one escaping a wolf were to encounter a tiger. Or as if someone climbing out of a pit containing no water were to fall into one with water in it and drown. For he would in these circumstances easily relapse into all the beliefs of his former faith, and what these are like has been explained above; and he would make the damning mistake of imputing and actually applying to himself the Lord's Divine attributes of redemption and righteousness, things which can be revered but not applied to oneself. For if a person were to impute and apply them to himself, he would be annihilated as if he were tossed into the open furnace of the sun. Yet it is the sun's light and heat which enable him to see and live in the body. It was shown above that the Lord's merit is redemption, and His redeeming act and His righteousness are two Divine attributes which cannot be linked to man. Everyone then should take care not to copy the concept of imputation current in the former church into that of the new one, since it will have tragic consequences which will stand in the way of his salvation.