St. Paul wrote (Eph. 2:8), "By grace are ye saved through faith." If this is true, and it has been proved true in the lives of countless men and women, then it must be of primary importance to know what he meant. The grace of God is defined as a divine influence which operates in men to regenerate and sanctify. This divine influence has ever been present to heal and save, as Paul well knew, for he refers to it often in his writings. Today this divine influence is being expressed by all who are actively practicing the teachings of Christian Science.
Whoever would be saved and healed by this ever-active and ever-available grace of God will do well to find out how best to identify himself with it. Christian Science teaches that the simple way to identify oneself with the grace of God is to reflect grace, which itself connotes liberation. We reflect grace when we express trust in God and humility, and the exercise of these qualities has always led to that open-mindedness which is such a quickening to spiritual growth and healing.
In the fourth chapter of his Gospel, Luke records an interesting rebuke by Jesus which was doubtless intended to show to his listeners and followers in all ages that qualities of grace are essential to healing. Jesus was talking in the synagogue at Nazareth, his home town, and he discerned that those present thought he was not doing there the healings which they had heard he had done at Capernaum. He reminded them that during the three and a half years of famine in Elijah's time there were many widows in Israel, but only to one living at Sarepta, previously known as Zarephath, a city of Sidon, was the saving power of God sent through Elijah; and he went on to say that there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were healed but Naaman the Syrian. Clearly, Jesus was pointing out that these two were saved and healed because they had characteristics that made them responsive to spiritual power.
