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Baptism and spiritual progress

As we learn more of our nature as God’s children, it becomes easier to let go of unhelpful ways of thinking and acting – as a woman experienced after pride and self-righteousness led her down an undesirable path.

  • By Christine J. Driessen

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
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We hear of dancers, musicians, gymnasts, and others who have to repeat every step, note, or maneuver until it is absolutely perfect before that final performance or competition. And the process doesn’t stop there, but continues with every new opportunity to improve.

I’ve found this a helpful analogy for the concept of baptism. Christian Science illustrates that the idea behind baptism is relevant to everyone! It is a refining, purifying process similar to what silver or goldsmiths do when they refine their precious metal in a hot fire to prove its purity and make it shine more brightly. “Take the impurities out of silver,” the Good News Bible explains, “and the artist can produce a thing of beauty” (Proverbs 25:4).

So what does this have to do with us? The Old Testament prophesied repeatedly of the coming of the Christ to purify hearts (see, for instance, Malachi 3:1, 3). The Christ does this by chipping away, washing away, burning away whatever in our consciousness does not look like God’s creation – the beautiful, good, and pure. Our role is to be receptive to Christ, to let divine Truth transform our hearts.

This is the baptism that takes place naturally as we learn more of our true, spiritual nature as God’s children, the expression of God’s goodness. It is ongoing, moment by moment. The natural result is that our love for God – divine Love itself – and for God’s spiritual creation (all of us) is purified, and it becomes easier to let go of the errors – the selfishness, negative thinking, and destructive behavior – that cause suffering.

I had an experience like that many years ago. After having one success after another in various areas of my life, I felt that I knew it all and that the sky was the limit when it came to my talents and wisdom!

Then I had an important decision to make. As I often do when faced with some difficulty, I turned to God in prayer for guidance. The answer I received felt very clear and strong. However, my pride was pushing me in a different direction, so I argued with God. And I chose the path that self-righteousness and a willful attitude pushed me toward. What followed was several years of suffering as I tried to extricate myself from what was clearly a wrong path.

Then began the baptism and regeneration. In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, explains: “Self-love is more opaque than a solid body. In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error, – self-will, self-justification, and self-love, – which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death” (p. 242).

During that period, as I became more receptive to the “universal solvent” of divine Love, I experienced some awe-inspiring physical healings and resolution of financial difficulties. I began to realize that the real source of qualities that bring success is God, Spirit, not me or any person. In order to experience God’s infinite, uninterrupted goodness, we need to let go of our own agendas, follow God’s will, and purify our love.

I was experiencing something of the mental baptism Mrs. Eddy describes as taking place in three stages in “Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896” (see pp. 203-207):

“First: The baptism of repentance is indeed a stricken state of human consciousness.... a mortal seems a monster, a dark, impenetrable cloud of error; and falling on the bended knee of prayer, humble before God, he cries, ‘Save, or I perish.’ Thus Truth, searching the heart, neutralizes and destroys error....

“Second: The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the spirit of Truth cleansing from all sin; giving mortals new motives, new purposes, new affections, all pointing upward....

“In mortal experience, the fire of repentance first separates the dross from the gold, and reformation brings the light which dispels darkness....

“Third: The baptism of Spirit, or final immersion of human consciousness in the infinite ocean of Love....”

The spiritual regeneration that took place in my thinking lifted me out of the darkness of self-righteousness, and I gained a heightened sense of God’s unfailing care. It turned my life around.

Rather than leading to suffering, spiritual baptism reveals God’s masterpiece – each one of us as a pure, spiritual expression of the Divine – which leads to more freedom, health, and an unshakable peace.

Some more great ideas! To read or listen to an article on spiritual ideas meeting daily needs, please click through to a recent article on www.JSH-Online.com titled “When we couldn’t afford to heat our home.” There is no paywall for this content.

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