92. * VI. THE CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD WITH MAN, AND THE RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF MAN WITH THE LORD, ARE EFFECTED BY MEANS OF THESE TWO FACULTIES. Conjunction with the Lord and regeneration are one, for so far as anyone is conjoined to the Lord he is regenerated. Therefore all that has been said concerning regeneration may be said of conjunction, and all that has been said concerning conjunction may be said of regeneration. That there is a conjunction of the Lord with man, and a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord, the Lord Himself teaches in John:
Abide in me, and I in you. ... He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. xv. 4, 5. At that day ye shall know that ye are in me, and I in you. xiv. 20. [2] Anyone may see from reason alone that there is no conjunction of minds (animus) unless it is also reciprocal, and that what is reciprocal conjoins. If anyone loves another, and is not loved in return, then as he approaches the other withdraws; but if he is loved in return, then as he approaches the other also approaches, and conjunction takes place. Moreover, love wills to be loved: this is inherent in it; and so far as love is loved in return it is in itself and in its own delight. From this it is clear that if the Lord only loves man, and if He were not to be loved in turn by man, the Lord would approach and man would withdraw. Thus the Lord would continually will to draw near to man and to enter into him, while man would turn his back and depart. This is the case with those who are in hell; but with those who are in heaven there is mutual conjunction. [3] As the Lord wills conjunction with man for the sake of his salvation, He also provides that there shall be in man a reciprocal principle, by which the good he wills and does from freedom, and the truth which, from that willing, he thinks and speaks according to reason, shall appear as if from himself; and that such good in his will and such truth in his understanding shall appear as his own. Indeed, they appear to man as if from himself and as his own just as if they were his own, with no difference whatever. Consider whether a man by any of his senses perceives otherwise. Concerning this appearance as if from oneself, see above (n. 74-77); and concerning appropriation as one's own (see n. 78-81). The only difference is, that man ought to acknowledge that he does good and thinks truth not from himself but from the Lord, and consequently that the good he does and the truth he thinks are not his own. To think in this way, because it is the truth, from some degree of love in the will, effects conjunction; for thus man looks to the Lord, and the Lord looks to man. * Original Edition has "90."