Editorial April 18, 1953 Issue

"NO CONDEMNATION"

Helen Wood Bauman

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE mercifully removes condemnation from the sinner by destroying his sin. Once sin is healed no shame should linger to mock the erstwhile transgressor, but only joy in the realization of man's immortal innocency. A dictionary definition of "heal" is, "To restore to original purity or integrity." And Christian Science reveals man as originally and perpetually pure and spiritually sound. It points to the Bible as its authority for asserting that man is not a mortal, but is God's image, incapable of sin and deserving no condemnation.

Whenever anyone stops erring through the demonstration of the great truths of Christian Science and is restored to natural moral integrity through them, he should consider himself deserving to be free from condemnation. Mary Baker Eddy thought so highly of Paul's well-known statement regarding freedom from condemnation that she said (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 113): "St. Paul was a follower but not an immediate disciple of our Lord, and Paul declares the truth of the complete system of Christian Science in these brief sentences: 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.'"

It was the Master who said (John 3:17), "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." Thus a primary purpose of Christianity and Christian Science is to free the human race from the condemnation of sinful mortal sense, from the evil mind that presents man as a mortal, impelled by evil and fear and unable to escape death. Then when an individual is freed from some sin by the law of Christ, in demonstrating man's spiritual innocency, he should stick to his assertion that there is no condemnation for him and never permit himself to revert to a mood of remorse and sorrow. Treasuring his new-found self in Christ, he will be able to turn from former delusions. With uncompromising firmness, he will demonstrate the innocency of his true and only self. This may take persistent self-discipline, but "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," the truth of man's perfect existence in Christ, when adhered to faithfully, will stop the tormenting impulse to return to former beliefs of self and dwell morbidly on past mistakes.

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