86. Since the wicked man as well as the good has rationality and liberty, so the wicked man as well as the good is able to understand truth and to do good; but while the wicked man cannot do this from freedom according to reason, the good man can, because the wicked man is in the delight of the love of evil but the good man is in the delight of the love of good. Therefore the truth which the wicked man understands and the good which he does are not appropriated to him, but such truth and good are appropriated to the good man; and unless they are appropriated as one's own, reformation and regeneration are not possible. For with the wicked, evils with falsities are as it were at the centre while good principles with truths are at the circumference; whereas with the good, good principles with truths are at the centre while evils with falsities are at the circumference. In both cases the things which belong to the centre spread out even to the circumference as heat spreads from a central fire and cold from an icy centre. Thus with the wicked what is good at the circumference is defiled by evils from the centre, and with the good evils at the circumference are moderated by what is good from the centre. This is the reason why evils do not condemn a regenerate man and why good does not save an unregenerate man.
