He wrote this hymn as a prayer of deep gratitude poured from his heart to God for having saved his life and his soul. Before he died, he wrote a short statement to some friends that could perhaps sum up his life. “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”
He wrote his epitaph, and it’s engraved on a marble plaque in St Mary, Woolnoth, UK.:
JOHN NEWTON, Clerk [preacher]
Once an infidel and libertine
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy
of our Lord and Saviour
JESUS CHRIST,
restored, pardoned and
appointed to preach
the Gospel which he had
long laboured to destroy.
He ministered,
Near sixteen years in Olney, in Bucks,
And twenty eight years in this Church.
I think there’s a lot more to learn from John Newton..
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