How shall we meet sin, and what should be our attitude of thought toward the sinner? These are important questions; and success in the demonstration of Truth depends upon the way in which they are answered.
In the beginning it is hard to distinguish between the two. The sin and the individual seem to be inseparable; where we see one we see also the other. But spiritual growth and successful demonstration separate them, revealing the individual as an entity and the sin as a non-entity. We must distinguish between them, or we shall never be able to imitate the example of Jesus and give the necessary demonstration of Truth.
While Jesus at all times possessed the same aversion for sin, in his love for the individual he was no respecter of persons. To sense it seems otherwise; but, as his character has an abiding place in our thought and an expression in our lives, we shall see that the equilibrium of his thought was never lost. Unexplained by Science, it hardly seems possible that his words on different occasions and to different persons could proceed from the same source. To the woman taken in adultery he said: "Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more." Had he no condemnation for one who had committed adultery? It seemed not. Was there ever a higher degree of charity or a greater love manifested toward the wrong doer! On another occasion hear him repeatedly say: "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." Had he no mercy for them? Could he not have manifested toward them the same forgiving spirit of Love, and thus have saved them also from their sins? To personal sense it seems that his love for one was not equal to his love for the other; that for the one he had a curse, for the other a blessing.
