Jesus said, "except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." He also said, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." We must fulfil all righteousness (the righteousness of the commandments) before we can become a law unto ourselves through love, — the fulfilling of all law.
Every human way or method that looks toward honest dealing with our fellow men, and is in the line of justice to all — ourselves as well as others— must be our way or method as followers of Jesus. "We cannot exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees until we first equal it."
It is simple, honest dealing with our fellow-men to render a statement of our account in business, and give a receipt for money received. It is honest and impersonal to live and dress in a manner not to attract curious attention either to our plainness or fashionableness, our asceticism or luxuriousness. It is honest and pure to avoid the appearance of evil. No matter how pure our thought may be; no matter how much we may feel fitted to go counter to the customs of the day that look only to outward purity and virtue — because we think we have caught the inner spirit of Jesus' chastity — we are not following his example if we do not observe the human outward evidence of chastity as he did. Christian Science (Jesus' teaching) is not a license to offend the feeblest effort of mortal man to approach purity and honesty of inward thought through purity and honesty of outward action.
