What is the moral demand of God, and why is it so important to spiritual progress?

There was a time in my life when I thought that meeting the moral demand was simply being good. But after I became a student of Christian Science, it dawned on me that morality means infinitely more. It means forsaking the false, material beliefs that deny divine omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence and striving to replace these beliefs with the understanding of God's allness and the nothingness of evil and matter.

The moral demand is that we help establish the kingdom of heaven, or reign of harmony, on earth by following in the footsteps of Christ Jesus, who mapped out the way for us.

Humanity seems to be a mixture of good and evil, with evil at times holding sway over the good. These conflicting forces, waging war in human consciousness, sometimes appear to keep those who are striving to be good in constant combat, pulled between the desire to be good and the lure of the pleasure of the senses. Victory can never be realized as long as one believes that he is a mortal with a mind of his own. He must learn that God is Mind and that there is only one God, therefore one Mind. Divine Mind is the source of all wisdom and intelligence—of life itself. Mortal mind, the counterfeit mind in matter, is a collection of false beliefs.

Meeting the moral demand makes a spiritual demand on one to accept his real, Godlike identity. He must claim God's qualities as his very own and then seek to express them in his daily life. The spiritual demand, in turn, makes a moral demand to buck the strong currents of world belief and stand up for what is right, even in the face of criticism. Turning to God for strength and guidance, one grows in moral courage. Then follow the heavenly freedom and peace of mind that come from choosing good instead of evil.

Man is the reflection of Spirit, and reflection cannot reflect anything but its Principle. Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." ^{John 10:30.} He did not mean that he was God, but that he and God were one as Father and Son, cause and effect. His supreme demonstration of the healing Christ was proof of his oneness with God and enabled him always to make his choice on the side of God.

Moses' great contribution to mankind was to receive and write down God's requirements for morality in the Ten Commandments (see Ex., chap. 20). In Moses' day these Commandments served to govern and protect God's chosen people, to lead them out of the self-destructive elements of immorality and idol worship as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Today, God's Promised Land, His kingdom of good, offers to all people full immunity from sin, sickness, death, and suffering of every kind. But there is an admission fee: the moral demand must be met. To the children of Israel in their wilderness experience, the way seemed dark and frightening at times, but their suffering was in proportion to their backsliding. Had they been more obedient to the moral demand, their way could have been shorter and less harsh.

In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans he said: "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved .... For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." ^{Rom. 10:1, 3-5.}

Jesus, in his selfless love for humanity, revealed and demonstrated the law of divine Love for all ages. Although appearing as a human being, he expressed Christ more fully than anyone else ever has. He met the moral demand by being the expression of divine omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, thereby casting out demons, healing the sick, and raising the dead. He gave us the Beatitudes, which show the importance of being, of living, one's true identity.

Doing this is infinitely satisfying and rewarding. One demonstrates harmony, health, immortality, through reflecting the qualities of Spirit, such as purity, integrity, and humility. The reward is the natural outcome of allowing the Christ to lift us above the belief of life and intelligence in matter into spiritual consciousness. Jesus said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." ^{Matt. 5:3-6.} There are five other Beatitudes in the fifth chapter of Matthew citing the blessings that come to one who is striving to be Godlike. This is not to say that our motive for being good should be to reap a blessing; rather it should be to demonstrate our pure, sinless nature as the child of God. Inheritance of the kingdom naturally follows. It is our birthright.

Mrs. Eddy was the God-appointed agency for the revelation to this age of the Science of Christ, as recorded in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Her deep desire to learn the spiritual law behind the healing works of the Master opened the way for her discovery of what has always been true and demonstrable—that all real being is in and of God. Through not only revelation but also demonstration and reason, this New England woman, with God-given strength and courage, succeeded in her mission despite the world's opposition to Truth. Perceiving a growing need for the guidance and protection of Christian Scientists, she provided definite rules, including rules of conduct, which rested on a moral and spiritual basis and which became the Manual of The Mother Church. These By-Laws were individually impelled by God as the need for each arose. They were essential to help maintain the high moral and spiritual standards of Christian Science.

A teen-ager, a student in the Christian Science Sunday School, became involved with drugs and wrong company, and left home to escape parental control. Arrested for shoplifting and the possession of marijuana, he experienced suffering and deprivation. Finally he returned home and appealed to a Christian Science practitioner for help. In a short time the specific moral demand was met. Seeing that there is no pleasure in drugs or wrong company and that dishonesty does not pay, he returned to the teachings and practice of Christian Science, and soon regained his peace and self-respect. Today he is a stable married man with high moral standards, a progressive career, and a desire to be obedient to Principle.

The major mission of Christian Science is to heal sin. One who is gaining increasing freedom from sin finds that its promises are never kept. How can they be when sin is illusion and a denial of God's presence? In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "Until the fact concerning error—namely, its nothingness—appears, the moral demand will not be met, and the ability to make nothing of error will be wanting." ^{Science and Health, p. 92.}

To love righteousness and hate iniquity is the way of salvation, and everyone must work out his own salvation in just this way. One must love right and do right. He must obey the moral demand. If he has done wrong, he must repent and do right. This puts salvation in the palm of his own hand.

Of the saved, St. John said: "They sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." ^{Rev. 15:3, 4.}

The shining of Truth in human consciousness is the coming of Christ. With the dawning of the first faint beam of light, one's release from materialism and sin begins. Christ, Truth, is always present to help the helpless, to befriend the friendless.

Be the living evidence of divine Life; express the loving of Love, the knowing of Mind, the fulfilling of Principle and its law! So doing, you will be meeting the moral demand. And you will find yourself enjoying more and more the infinite blessings of the kingdom of heaven.