AC 9096 - bonds

AC 9096
. . . the Lord flows into those things in a person
which are known to him,
but not into those things which are unknown to him.
By "keeping in bonds" is meant to prevent, and to restrain.
In the spiritual sense bonds are nothing else
than the affections of love,
for these are what lead a person,
and what restrain him.
If the affections of evil lead him,
there must be affections of truth from good to restrain him.
Internal bonds in a person
are affections of truth and of good.
These are also called the "bonds of conscience."
But external bonds are the affections
of the love of self and of the love of the world,
for these lead a person in external things.
If the latter affections descend from internal bonds,
which are affections of truth and of good,
they are good,
for then the person loves himself and the world
not for the sake of self and the world,
but for the sake of good uses from himself and the world.
But if the affections of the love of self and of the love of the world
do not descend from internal bonds,
the affections are evil, and are called "cupidities;"
for then the person loves himself for the sake of himself,
and the world for the sake of the world.