A Voice from the Past - Augustine

To Thy grace I ascribe it, and to Thee mercy, that Thou hast melted away my sins as it were ice. To Thy grace I ascribe also whatsoever I have not done of evil; for what might I not have done, who even loved a sin for its own sake?

Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD, The Confessions, Book II (translated by E. B. Pusey, Barnes and Noble Books, 1999, p.31)

Is it by God's grace that we have not committed whatever sins we have not committed? How should that affect how we approach life?