None other of the early interpreters of Jesus' teachings more vigorously or more successfully set forth the innermost meanings of the Master's sayings than did the Apostle to the Gentiles. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul clearly states his attitude toward Christianity, his unshakable faith in its message, and his determination to follow its behests whatever might befall. While disclaiming any superior understanding on his own part, his words are these: "But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." These words are as pertinent and profitable today as when uttered by that valiant expositor of Christian faith and doctrine.
Forgetting the past is a preliminary step and a necessary one toward the gaining of the prize every Christian should seek. Forgetting the past through understanding that the real man has never had a past, since he lives in the ever-present now of Spirit, is an important beginning in spiritual progress. It is a phase of the pouring out of false beliefs, memories of mortal experience, which is preparatory to the reception of spiritual truth. Since a vessel already full can receive nothing additional, the first step Spiritward is to cast out of thought the false beliefs which have shut out the true concept of God and man. This is a part of the transforming process which Paul on another occasion sets forth so emphatically. The so-called past is forgotten when the truth of being is seen.
If the experience of mortals is but a dream, as Christian Science assures us, then this casting out process should be no more difficult than the forgetting of the dream of a sleeper, since they are equally unreal. Understanding that man coexists with God, that he has never been aught else than God's likeness, precludes for man the possibility of a past made up of unhappy and sinful experiences. Man has no material history because he has never been a material entity. Man is spiritual, never material. Then, the beliefs of the flesh have never been a part of his experience. He has never departed from the state in which God created him; hence, has never passed through untoward and sinful experiences.
