92. 6. The Lord's union with us and our responsive union with the Lord come about by means of these two abilities. Union with the Lord and regeneration are the same thing, because we are regenerated to the extent that we are united to the Lord. So everything I have already said about regeneration can be said about union, and what I am about to say about union can be said about regeneration.

The Lord teaches in John that there is a mutual union of the Lord with us and of us with the Lord:

Abide in me, and I in you. If people abide in me and I in them, they bear abundant fruit. (John 15:4-5)

In that day you will realize that you are in me and I am in you. (John 14:20)

[2] On the basis of reason alone, anyone can see that there is no union of spirits unless it is mutual and that mutuality is what unites. If one person loves another and is not loved in return, then as the one draws near the other backs off; while if there is love in response, as the one draws near so does the other, and this brings about union. Love wants to be loved. This is its inner instinct. To the extent that it is loved in return, it is filled with pleasure.

We can see from this that if the Lord loves us and we do not love the Lord in return, the Lord draws near us and we back off. So the Lord is constantly trying to come to us and enter us, and we are turning away and moving off. That is how it is with people in hell, though for people in heaven there is a mutual union.

[3] Since the Lord does want to be united to us for the sake of our salvation, he has provided a means of mutuality. For us, that means is the appearance that the good we intend and do freely and the truth that we think and speak rationally from these intentions originate in us. It is the appearance that the goodness in our intentions and the truth in our minds seem to be our own. In fact the appearance that they come from us as though they belonged to us is so complete that they do seem to be ours. There is no way to tell that they are not. Check to see whether anyone has any sense at all to the contrary.

On our apparent independence, see 74-77 above, and on our incorporation of it as our own, see 78-81. The only difference is that we are to recognize that we are not doing what is good and thinking what is true on our own, but from the Lord, so that the good that we do and the truth that we think are not ours. Thinking like this out of a loving intent, simply because it is true, brings about union because this is how we turn toward the Lord and the Lord turns toward us.