The physical senses declare that we are born into a material world—that we live and die in this world governed by habit, chance, heredity, and filled with unhappiness. These invalid assertions about man and the universe masquerade as law, but the Christ, Truth, frees us.

In his Epistle to the Galatians Paul urges, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." ^{Gal. 5:1;} Our obedience to Paul's admonition disentangles us from Adam-based beliefs and the wretched ills they produce.

In reality there are no material bonds, for there is no matter or material mentality to bind man—as Christian Science shows. Mankind's enslavement is perpetuated by ignorance of the uninterrupted spiritual perfection of God and man. Knowledge of the truth of being—the enlightened knowledge that God, Spirit, is All and the basis of all—liberates. Christ Jesus assures us, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." ^{John 8:32;}

To the degree we acquaint ourselves with God and His Christ, the erroneous assertions of material sense are seen to have no foundation, consequently no substance or existence, and we are freed from self-inflicted material restrictions. In this emancipation, Spirit, Mind, ever embracing its own, removes the mortal wrappings and unveils our genuine selfhood. As we better understand God's flawless universe, it comes into clearer view—harmonious, consistent, governed by the legitimate, eternal law of good. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "To divest thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear,—this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep away the false and give place to the true." ^{Science and Health, p. 428;}

Christian Science substantiates man's original perfection and unity with God by destroying the binding illusions of physical sense and proving their nothingness. We should not look for, and cannot find, perfection in mortal man or the material universe. Perfection is spiritual, the original, actual, and ultimate state of true being. However, a higher understanding of existence as ideal and immortal naturally brings harmony and normalcy to our human lives.

In my own life, a condition of physical unbalance was overcome as I stood fast in Christ's liberty. I realized that "the yoke of bondage" referred to by Paul was nothing more than the Adam pretext of material existence. I endeavored to stand firm in immortal divine Principle and perfect scientific being, instead of merely reaching for a material object for support each time I stood or moved about. I knew I had to strive faithfully and consistently to view myself and others as Christlike representatives of God. I had to recognize as false representations of man character traits like self-righteousness, resentment, envy. As I maintained the spiritual perfection of God and man as the basis of my thought, the imbalance faded away.

Christ Jesus, standing immovable in the elevated consciousness of true being, healed a wide range of mental and physical disorders. Regardless of the form evil takes, we too can find salvation in the clear perception of the postulate: perfect God and perfect man. Accepting this premise is a rule for healing. Mrs. Eddy states, "Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 242;}

As we advance in spirituality, our scientific achievements attest to a growing acquaintance with God and a clearer understanding of man's perfect nature as His reflection. Our perception of the harmony and continuity of spiritual being appears as health and intelligence. The true appraisal of being, which comes to light in the Scriptures and is embraced in the teachings of Christian Science, supplants the supposition of a material beginning and ending and a series of both good and bad happenings in between. Mrs. Eddy states, "He who has the true idea of good loses all sense of evil, and by reason of this is being ushered into the undying realities of Spirit." ^{Science and Health, p. 325.}

As Spirit overrules, one by one, the beliefs of mortal sense and the disturbances that accompany them, the links in the suppositional chain of material existence are severed—the bonds of captivity loosed. At the same time the true links of the eternal chain of spiritual existence are revealed. Our scientific demonstrations of Spirit's allness bring regeneration. And they ultimately lead to immortal being, even as Jesus' many proofs of perfect Principle and perfect idea were forerunners to his resurrection and ascension—his complete and final disentanglement from mortal, material sense.