102. The Lord loves man, and desires to dwell with him; yet He cannot love him and dwell with him unless He is received and loved reciprocally; and this is the only possible ground of conjunction. For this cause the Lord has given to man freedom and reason, freedom to think and will as of himself, and reason according to which he may think and will. To love any one and to be conjoined with any one with whom there is no reciprocation is not possible; nor is it possible to enter into and remain with any one with whom there is no reception. Since reception and reciprocity are in man from the Lord, therefore the Lord says:
Abide in me, and I in you. John xv 4.
He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. John xv 5.
At that day ye shall know that [I am in my Father, and] ye in me, and I in you. John xiv 20.
That the Lord is in the truths and in the goods which man receives, and which are in him, He also teaches:
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you... If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. John xv 7, 10.
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ... and I will love him ... and will make my abode with him. John xiv 21, 23. Thus the Lord dwells in what is His own with man, and man in those things which are from the Lord, and thus in the Lord.
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