INTELLIGENT obedience to the Ten Commandments is a prerequisite to a demonstrable knowledge and successful practice of Christian Science. As the children of Israel obediently accepted the demands of the Mosaic Decalogue, so today those of both Jewish and Christian faiths base their pattern for daily living upon the same premise. Notwithstanding, many who earnestly yearn to serve God with all the affections and purposes of the heart, and who desire to include in their practice of religion physical healing as well as moral rectitude, recognize that something more than compliance with the Hebrew law is essential.
The touching climax to the conversation between Jesus and the rich young man serves as a valuable lesson. When, according to the Biblical record, Christ Jesus reminded him that to enter into life one must keep the Commandments, the young man averred that he had kept those the Master referred to from his very youth. The Master, however, made it plain that he had not done enough. When Jesus bade him leave all for Christ, the true idea of Life as Spirit and man as spiritual, the young man "went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions" (Matt. 19:22).
Obedience to the Hebrew Decalogue, implemented by an application of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, brings into individual experience a growing sense of joy, health, and harmony. It likewise provides a means to a full salvation from the evils, failures, and sufferings to which the mortal sense of man is supposedly heir.
