John Newton did that right. He went through it. He celebrated it. God’s grace is wonderful! He wrote the entire hymn about it.
Lost blind misery?
Most of us know the story. The beloved hymn, commonly known as “amazing grace,” was written by former slave ship captain and slave trader John Newton. When he believed in Jesus Christ, he became an odd person and later abandoned the slave trade.
Referring to his past, he was quoted as saying, “I had the ambitions of Caesar and Alexander and wanted to be ranked evil in the forefront of humanity.” He also claimed to be “the mastermind of the profanity and evil.”
He was unforgivable racist misery, lost and blind.
Newton realized the harshness of his cruel and unbelieving past. He didn’t think he deserved forgiveness. In his mind, his crimes against fellow humans who had been carried on his ships as slaves for many years were unforgiving to the most tolerant. He was certain, he was an unforgivable racist misery, he was lost and blind.
This is how he presented himself in the autobiographical hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
Amazing bounty, how sweet sound
It saved me misery
I was once lost, but now I’ve found it
I was blind, but now I can see it
In March 1748, during his voyage on his return to England, facing the possibility of death on a sunken ship, and while struck by a fierce storm off the coast of Ireland, he advocated God’s mercy, repented of his sins, and believed in Jesus Christ. Speaking of that moment, he said in the famous hymn, “How precious was that grace in the first time I believed in?”
He tasted God’s incredible grace
He found access to unlimited and incredible grace through Jesus Christ, and he took it by faith. He said, “I don’t think I should be, but I can really say whether I want or what I want.
In his 30s he became an appointed pastor of the Church of England. For decades, he was all served by God’s grace, as a prominent pastor, writer and a respected Christian leader. He also dedicated his efforts to correct the wounds of the people known as the slave trade, permitted by the laws of his country, the laws of the UK.
He wanted to bring a complete end to all the slave trade.
He was not satisfied with turning his back on the Captain’s slave ship and profiting from the slave trade. He wanted to bring a complete end to all the slave trade by the British. It required powerful British Parliamentary acts in the late 18th century.
Newton was not cancelled
Newton said his past was blatantly selfish and racist. But he wasn’t like what’s popular today was “cancelled.”
After abandoning his past and experiencing complete redemption from the sins of his past by God’s incredible grace, history records that he worked for decades with the well-known abolitionist William Wilberforce, a member of the British Parliament, as an appointed pastor, succeeded by a new law passed by Parliament in 1807.
He passed away later that year and was clearly pleased with the realization of his cooperative efforts and the end of the British slave trade. This was a rare redemption achievement for former slave ship captains and slave traders.
He was not cancelled due to past sins.
He had not been cancelled due to past sins, so Newton was able to write books and hymns productively among other Christian ministries, pastoring the church congregations and expel the slave trade.
He has given us “amazing grace” to sing again and again that it is also enough of God’s grace for the captain of the slave ship. He was not the only one who needed God’s rich grace. We all need to be reconciled with God.
The portrayal of God’s incredible grace in Newton’s hymns is sung passionately by people of all races on all continents. For example, consider the incredible production of bounty by the legendary opera soprano Jesse Norman before an audience of 70,000 people at Wembley Stadium in London, England on June 11, 1988. Newton could not have imagined better direction when he wrote the hymn.
Given Newton’s relationship with slave ships in her past, the direction of “Amazing Grace” celebrates the grace of God other than Jesse Norman, a black woman, is a fitting respect for the author and the opera singer.
John Newton’s life, along with his autobiographical “amazing bounty,” offers the best reason to kick a nasty cancel culture to the curb.
Originally published by the Christian Post. It was reissued with permission.
Dr. Paul Swamidass is Professor Emeritus at Herbert University of Business, Auburn, USA. After 30 years of education and publication as a professor of business management at various universities, he retired from Auburn University in 2016. His latest book is bigger. Bible Leader, Video Press, Qualifications for 2020.
