And from this we may understand what Jesus meant when He called Himself "the living-bread" from heaven, and said: "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me;" also when He said: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him;" and "except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." For we have no true spiritual life, and can have none, except as we receive heavenly truth (the blood of the Lamb) into our understandings, and, through the faithful application of that truth to life, receive into our hearts the good of that unselfish love which is the life and soul of truth.
This is a condensed statement of what the New Church teaches on this subject. To quote a single and brief passage from Swedenborg by way of confirmation:
