A Lesson in Grace

Alicia Gray is a former math teacher who was sentenced to prison for having sex with a 14-year-old student. She has been in the news again since the posting of a video in which she confesses her sin, asks forgiveness, and shares how God has been working in her life:


Some of the comments I've seen suggest that many Christians have a problem with this, choosing to judge this woman, her pastor, and her church by their own standard of what constitutes true repentance. Justin Edwards deals with this in a recent post:

I clearly heard in the video that she had confessed her sin, she owned up to it, didn't make any excuses for it, [asked forgiveness] and expressed conversion in the best way she could as an infant Christian. It seems like her conversion took place months ago, so why should she or must she express a degree of remorse on a video produced months later, to a degree that you find acceptable? She stated she is changed, she has a new identity in Christ, she's not who she once was, and she recognizes she does not need to live up to man's standards. I heard her trusting in the blood of Christ alone, who washed away her sins, and she is no longer under condemnation.

Yet, I see people out with pitch forks and desiring to see her church condemn her as the naysayers condemn her until they would see an acceptable level of what they consider repentance. My encouragement to anyone attempting to judge the heart of this young lady, and the church that came alongside her to love her to genuine faith, examine their own hearts for passing judgment as the likes of Monday morning quarterbacking.

As Christians, we sometimes forget who we were before we "were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 6:11). Let us learn to love those in need of Christ's forgiveness and rejoice with them when they find it.