Lily Phillips has been baptised. I pray it's accompanied by change

The baptism of a pornographic actress has caused controversy, but the real question isn’t whether Lily Phillips’ sins are too great for God’s grace – it’s whether she truly understands what repentance means, says Lois McLatchie-Miller

The internet - and Christians in particular - have responded predictably to the news that Lily Phillips - infamous for having sex with 100 men in 24 hours - has been baptised: with widespread outrage, mockery and disbelief. A kind of moral hysteria that suggests some sins are simply too sordid, too public, too shameful to be washed clean.

But Christianity has never worked that way. This is at the core of our faith.

If - and only if - Lily has come before God in repentance and humility, her sins have been forgiven fully and freely. That is not a loophole in the gospel; it is the gospel. Grace does not recoil at sexual sin, violent sin, public sin or spectacular sin. Jesus did not flinch when a broken woman wept at his feet. He did not ask for her sexual CV before offering forgiveness. He simply said: “Your sins are forgiven.”