Christ used principles that mystics operate by.

Church principle:
"Condemnation Stop sinning, stop being bad. Repent." Occult Principle: "Let go of what no longer serves you, [that you might take hold of what will"

Christ exercising principle: "“Neither do I pass sentence on you; be going on, and sin no more."

Christ's method is intuitively understood by all as a powerful use of a principle in his approach, And it is the secret principle, some ancient way.

"Let go of" = "Be going on" = "Go now" + "Go on and sin no more" implies that we are going forward to what comes next to be taken hold of,

It is the secret principle because,
The principle is that if you release it something better comes to take its place, there is an expectation,
Mary is going to "sin no more", because by fulfillment of this principle she will take hold of what might greater serve her going on.

We understand the great loving inherent compassion with this approach but this is not simply compassion, it is also an application of a principle with the full understanding behind it. The "ideal" operation of the way of life is in this way, in a "going on" which is practiced and demonstrated.

Now I would say that "Letting go of what no longer serves" could be a post-Christ principle that people modeled after Christ's actions,
It is certain that mystics have held this principle within ancient traditions for thousands of years, There is much of Christ's operation that perfectly mirrors these principles.