Ten months into our conversion journey, and still wondering how we could be experiencing the grace of God while in an objective state of sin, we decided to petition the Church to investigate the validity of my first marriage. (firstthings.com)
There is a real state of sin, of which we are not personally guilty but which we nonetheless individually inherit. (faith.org.uk)
This is, however, the genius of the phrasing: We start with ourselves, with our shared state of sin and moral indebtedness, and as we remember the greatness of the gift of grace, we realize that we must be agents of grace as well. (firstthings.com)