Amazing Grace: The Life of John Newton and the Surprising Story Behind His SongExemplo

Forgiveness

During the storm, the Greyhound sustained damage to the point that those aboard doubted their survival. All day John worked at the pump, trying the keep the ship afloat a bit longer. His hands were bleeding, his body shivering in the cold. His mind was full of memories from his childhood, and some of the sermons he heard came back to him as well. He could hear his childhood pastor, David Jennings, and picture the chapel at Wapping. He remembered being warned against sin and temptation so many times. There were calls to surrender at the foot of the cross as well.

The guidance had been there, constant and consistent, yet since leaving England he knew that he had lived as though he had never stepped foot in a church. Not even once. He might as well have been an infidel. All day and all evening as he manned the battered ship, he tried to find a way to keep what little faith he had mustered afloat too.

When the storm ceased and they experienced a terrible calm, the crew sat silent like condemned men. John was just as silent as the rest, but his mind was far away from this scene of threatened death and despair. The gloom he felt had lifted. Instead, he was contemplating the remarkable gift of life. When it became clear that the ship might not sink after all, it dawned on him that there was only one possible explanation for their survival. God had saved them. This realization stirred in John a desire to read the New Testament and a book of sermons from the captain’s library. Some of the words struck him with such force that he had to pause and close his eyes for a moment. He had lived fully aware yet utterly indifferent to the death of Jesus. He saw not only exactly where he had been, but where he wanted to go.

In the pages of the Bible, John first looked for comfort, for a sign that all the sin he had committed might not send him straight to hell. The more he read, the less sure he was about his eternal salvation. He was just like the prodigal son. When he finally arrived, would God welcome him back? Could someone like him be forgiven?

There were things that happened to Newton that made him wretched, but harder yet was the wretchedness he brought on himself by sheer ignorance, foolishness, and depravity. Newton found he had to come to a place of self-despairing faith, to cry out from the depths. But then he found he could turn to Christ afresh, to hope and believe in a crucified Savior. “The burden,” he said, “was removed from my conscience.”

He learned that however deep his regrets in life were, there is a mercy that is deeper yet. As he would write later in his hymn Amazing Grace, “’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.”

Respond

How do you look at your failures and disappointments? Have you ever wondered if God will accept and forgive you?

How does the Bible say God will respond to a repentant prodigal who turns to the Savior? (See Luke 15:11–32; see also Psalm 51:14–17.)

What burden do you carry that you need God to lift? What step will you take to seek God’s forgiveness?

Prayer

Lord, where can I turn, but to you! Forgive me for my sin: my selfish actions, and my wayward heart. You alone can lift the burden that I carry and I praise you that you welcome my contrite heart with open arms. Thank you for restoring my heart and mind and help me to remain faithful to you. Amen.