Article November 17, 1986 Issue

A full salvation through grace expressed in works

If salvation comes through God's grace alone, what is the place of works in the Christian's life? Is there no need to prove the reality of that grace in our lives?

Judith H. Hedrick

We all want to be saved. That is to say, we all have troubles of some sort—uncertainties, sorrows, sins, sicknesses, employment or financial difficulties, relationship problems—that we would love to be free of.

But how many of us have thought of the Bible as a source of freedom? The salvation offered in the Bible is radically different from that offered by the physical sciences, hygiene, medicine, philosophy, or psychology. Why? For one reason, it is spiritually founded, based on God, while they—one way or another—are based on matter. Another reason is that it improves us mentally, morally, and spiritually while it heals us physically. Finally, when God heals us the healing is permanent.

Let's not get caught up in the general drift of thought that says the teachings of the Bible are outdated. God is not outdated, nor do the basic human problems of life change. These teachings are as necessary and pertinent in the Space Age as they were when mankind first received them. The spiritual way of freedom and healing as given in the Bible is the only real method of salvation. Christian Science explains this method, showing that true safety lies in our discovering and proving the absolute supremacy and power of God, good. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, defines salvation as "Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed." Science and Health, p. 593. In Christian Science, Life, Truth, and Love are synonyms for God that present the infinitude of His nature, and it is through God, and through the right understanding of God, that humanity is saved.

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November 17, 1986
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