A Look At John Newton

"What was (John) Newton's motivation? It was a profound awareness of the grace and mercy of God toward him, a wretched sinner. Newton wrote,

Amazing grace-how sweet the sound-
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Newton never forgot God's mercy to him. Once a friend of Newton's was complaining about someone who was resistant to the gospel and living a life of great sin. 'Sometimes I almost despair of that man,' the friend remarked. 'I never did despair of any man since God saved me,' said Newton. In his most advanced years, Newton's mind began to fail and he had to stop preaching. But when friends came to visit him he frequently remarked, 'I am an old man. My mind is almost gone. But I can remember two things: I am a great sinner, and Jesus is a great Savior.'"

James Boice, Mind Renewal