207. (VII.) Good before repentance is not good, and therefore is not charity. Before repentance man is in evil, is evil entirely; for he is a form of evil, and an image of hell. But by repentance evil is removed and good is implanted. From which it follows that good before repentance is not good. Before repentance good is not done from the Lord, but from the man. It has not therefore the essence of good in it, but the essence of evil, howsoever in its form it may outwardly appear as good. This is not discerned in the world, but it is, manifestly, after death. It is heard in the very sound of the voice in speech, yea, what evil is in it, whether fraud, or envy, or vain-glory, or haughtiness, or blasphemy, or hypocrisy, yea, or the claiming of merit. All the words of speech sound forth from the evil that is in them; and they have regard to self alone. But the good after repentance is entirely different. It is good in fullness, open from the Lord Himself. It is lovely, it is innocent, it is grateful, heavenly. The Lord and heaven are in it. Good itself is in it. It is living, formed by truths. Whatever is from good, in good, and for good, is nothing but some use to the neighbor; and hence it is a serving. It puts away self and one's proprium, and thus evil, in every breath. Its form is as the form of a lovely and beautifully colored flower, which is resplendent from the rays of the sun. And therefore with those who are in good there are forms which can never be comprehended by the natural man. They can neither be depicted nor described. These forms are forms of good. It is truly said that they are forms of good; yet the form itself is truths, and its life is the good of love. For good disposes truths in a form in agreement with itself, and every truth of the form it makes alive. Such is good after repentance.