Pardon Through Reform ALBERT F. GILMORE, CSB          Christian Science makes it quite clear that salvation from sin and all phases of evil may be attained only through reform, that is, through regeneration. Love of sin must be destroyed and its indulgence abandoned before divine pardon is won. Regarding this, Mrs. Eddy states in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (p. 285), “By interpreting God as a corporeal Saviour but not as the saving Principle, or divine Love, we shall continue to seek salvation through pardon and not through reform, and resort to matter instead of Spirit for the cure of the sick.” Our Leader significantly links the seeking of pardon without the desire for reformation with the use of material means for healing disease, while she holds that true reform, which is accomplished through regeneration, results alone from the understanding of Spirit. Reformation is thus attributed wholly to spiritual enlightenment, by which material belief regarding Life is superseded by understanding of the facts about God and His creation, the universe, including the real man.          Mortals commonly seek pardon without the desire for reformation. Their first aim is to be free from that which restricts their activities; and, freedom gained, they return to their accustomed ways. This, however, frequently leaves the sinner with the same sinful desires, unregenerated, and perhaps with no ambition to leave his unrighteous ways. How different is the pardon divinely bestowed! Transformation which regenerates while transforming, floods consciousness with spiritual light. This is the only true reform, and pardon invariably follows its attainment. Moreover, when one has gained spiritual freedom, discordant material conditions will be accordingly corrected. These conditions, which are but objectified material sense, disappear with the change wrought when belief merges into spiritual understanding.          Of the fact that divine law demands the destruction of sin as a step preliminary to the gaining of pardon, Mrs. Eddy writes on page 40 of Science and Health: “Science removes the penalty only by first removing the sin which incurs the penalty. This is my sense of divine pardon, which I understand to mean God’s method of destroying sin.” Since reformation is the condition of its attainment, pardon so won means spiritual progress. The gaining of freedom from any erroneous belief or sinful practice is a step toward the destruction of all evil. Full pardon will follow the divine commendation, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”          Spiritualization of thought is the sovereign process which fulfills the law of divine pardon. The theory long held that punishment is the means of correcting the criminal has, to a great degree, been abandoned. The modern theory of penology calls for reform, and a convicted person is separated from society for the purpose of offering him the necessary opportunity for reformation. When he has seen the error of his ways and has demonstrated his ability to do right, he is prepared, it is believed, to take his place in society again. While this is a marked improvement over the former methods of dealing with the so-called criminal, yet the method now in vogue does not provide for that true reform which comes only from a regenerated consciousness.          In his letter to Titus, Paul was clear concerning pardon through regeneration. While admonishing his friend to be obedient to the law and “ready to every good work,” Paul assured him of the pardon exemplified by Christ Jesus, which comes through divine grace. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done,” he declared, “but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Here we are told that the “washing of regeneration” is the process by which we gain salvation from evil thoughts and deeds. Good works, in Paul’s sight, were not enough, and only through the divine impartation could the freedom which is regeneration be attained. This method of gaining pardon is divinely just. Only through continued suffering, it seems, are mortals willing to give up their sinful ways; but the divine grace is ever ready to annul the sentence of suffering when its sinful cause is abandoned.          It would profit one little to gain momentary relief from suffering if, from the experience, one should rise no higher in his mental outlook. Release will come with reform, and in no other way. Another’s spiritual exaltation will not win pardon for us. Although we may benefit by the love another reflects, the steps must be taken by each, for spiritual progress, which reveals man’s relationship with God, is invariably an individual experience. Pardon is not won vicariously. What may at first seem hard and inexorable law is found to be the ministration of perfect Love, the Love which knows not evil; for, without the incentive to reform contained in the prospect of divine pardon, there would be small chance of mortals gaining their freedom in this way. God’s will is done. As we conform to it, we shall gain that change of consciousness which constitutes regeneration, an exalted state, the inevitable outcome of which is pardon.   "Pardon Through Reform" by Albert F. Gilmore, CSB Christian Science Sentinel, January 22, 1927

 

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