Article August 21, 1943 Issue

Salvation

HAROLD EDWARDS SUTTON

In II Corinthians St. Paul writes, "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation;" and on page 593 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, defines "salvation" as "Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed."

The positiveness and strength of these declarations stand out strikingly when they are compared with a dictionary definition of "salvation" as "preservation from trouble or danger; deliverance from sin and its consequences" (Chamber's Twentieth Century). Thus, through the teachings of Christian Science, salvation is seen to be radical and comprehensive; it is more than deliverance from sin, it is the destruction of sin, sickness, and death, the annihilation of all that is unlike God. Salvation is more than escape; it is victory.

The complete understanding and demonstration of Life, Truth, and Love "as supreme over all" is perfection. Mortal selfhood is the opposite of perfection; and if individual salvation depended on the perfecting of mortal selfhood, then salvation would be unattainable. It is, however, in the relinquishment of mortal selfhood that perfection is manifested. Putting off "the old man with his deeds" permits the light of Life, Truth, and Love to become apparent in our hearts, and consequently in our lives.

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