Christian Scientists soon discover that the sayings of Christ Jesus must be unreservedly applied to themselves as individuals, and that it matters not to them how much those of another day violated the law of right. The question really is, To what extent are we obeying divine law and thus blessing all mankind? In the Sermon on the Mount we read: "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven;" also these words: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." This beatitude clearly means that the pure in heart shall see good and experience good, whatever the testimony of material sense; that they shall realize the ever-presence of God's kingdom, and shall bend all their energies to the task of helping others into it through the gateway of purity.
In the platform of Christian Science we read: "In proportion to his purity is man perfect; and perfection is the order of celestial being which demonstrates Life in Christ, Life's spiritual ideal" (Science and Health, p. 337). That this teaching has Scriptural authority, we find as we study the second epistle of Peter, in which he speaks of the "exceeding great and precious promises" made to those who have "escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." He also makes a strong plea for the righteousness which gives man divine power, the righteousness which is supported by virtue, faith, and knowledge, and he adds that the one who is lacking in these things "is blind, and cannot see afar off." In other words, his mentality is clouded by error and he fails to grasp man's divinely bestowed possibilities, which ever tend to perfection in all that he attempts. There are, however, very few who see or who would acknowledge that their failures on the human plane are due to their lack of that spiritual purity which would relate them more closely to God and thus make all good possible to them.
That greater moral purity is needed on the part of professedly Christian nations no one denies, nor can any one who accepts Jesus' teachings deny that this can only be brought about by greater spirituality, the clear vision which sees that "sensualism is not bliss, but bondage" (Science and Health, p. 337). Too many argue that some brilliant men and women are not moralists, that they are votaries of so-called pleasure, so far as their private lives are concerned; but if this argument were valid, all should follow the advice of those who in Paul's day said, "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die,"—an utterly false sentiment, which finds its rebuke in Longfellow's splendid lines,—
