Grace

Recently I heard the news of another person in ministry who had fallen into adultery. This was the second time this year that I heard of someone I knew personally that had done this. In both cases though, the church has responded with such amazing grace. In the past with these situations, I just hear of rejection by the church, but now I think that the church is starting to give the proper response.
But the real reason for this post is my response. I am almost jealous. This person said to me recently, "those churches do not really understand what true grace is," which struck me profoundly when it was said, even before I knew of the adultery situation. This person explained the grace given to her after her sin through their spouse, church, and colleagues. They better understood God's grace and I do not believe that I have ever experienced that much grace in my life. So as Paul said in Romans 6, "Do I sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!"
So what it comes down to, I believe, is understanding God's grace in allowing us not to fall into sin. And also an understanding of the sin that we do commit. A good reading of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) should cure that when we learn that hate is like murder and lust like adultery. I have no reason in the world to even think of myself as more morally righteous than this friend of mine or anyone else for that matter. Paul said in Romans chapter two that if we think that we can judge others sins it is like we are judging ourselves, because we are just as guilty of them. So I must understand my humanity, as well as God's grace in sustaining me from being the horrible sinner that I have the capability of being.