The internal man must be reformed first, and the external by means of the internal; that is how a person is regenerated.

It is commonly said in the church at the present time that the internal man must be reformed first, and the external by means of the internal. But when they say the internal man, they think of nothing but faith, their belief that God the Father imputes the merit and righteousness of His Son, and sends the Holy Spirit. They believe that this faith makes up the internal man, and is the source from which the external man, who is moral at the natural level, flows. They regard the external as an appendage, to use a comparison, like a tail on a horse or an ox, or the tail of a peacock or a bird of paradise, which is a continuation of the soles of its feet except that it is not attached to them. For they say that charity follows that faith, but if charity came in from a person's will, his faith would perish.

[2] In fact, there is no internal man in the church at the present time, since no other internal man is recognised there. For no one can tell whether he has been granted that faith; and I showed above that this faith is impossible and thus a figment of the imagination. It follows from this that those who at the present time have convinced themselves of this faith have no other internal man than the natural one they acquired by birth, overflowing with evils. A further consequence is that regeneration and sanctification follow that faith automatically, and that a person's co-operation must be excluded, although it is the only way to regeneration. That is why it is impossible for the present-day church to know about regeneration, although the Lord says that anyone who is not regenerated cannot see the kingdom of God.