Luke 15:4-7, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8
The World's Most Famous Hymn
Amazing Grace has been called the most recognised song in the English-speaking world. It has been sung in churches and concert halls, at funerals and graduations, by believers and those who could not name a single Bible verse. Something in its words reaches people at a level that transcends culture and denomination.
The hymn was written by John Newton and published in 1779. Understanding who Newton was when he wrote it makes the words almost unbearably powerful.
The Man Behind the Words
John Newton was a slave trader. For years he captained ships that transported enslaved African people across the Atlantic in conditions of unimaginable horror. He was, by his own later description, a wretch — morally degraded, spiritually blind, living in open defiance of God.
His conversion came gradually, deepened over years, and eventually led him not only to faith but to become a powerful voice against the very slave trade he had participated in. In his old age, he testified before Parliament against the trade, playing a role in its eventual abolition.
When Newton wrote "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me" — he was not speaking in generalised theological terms. He was speaking of himself, with full knowledge of what he had done and what God had done for him.
The Theology in the Verses
The hymn is a compressed theology of grace:
"I once was lost, but now am found" — the language of Luke 15, the lost sheep and the lost son. Grace finds those who cannot find themselves.
"Was blind, but now I see" — the language of spiritual regeneration. Before grace, we cannot see spiritual reality. Grace opens the eyes of the heart.
"'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved" — grace produces both the right kind of fear (reverence, conviction of sin) and the relief of that fear (forgiveness, acceptance). Grace does both.
"Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home" — perseverance is by grace. We are not preserved by our own steadfastness but by God's ongoing grace.
Why Grace Is Amazing
The word "amazing" is not hyperbole. Grace genuinely is astonishing — that God would love, pursue, redeem, and adopt those who were His enemies; that the death of His Son would be the price of our freedom; that nothing in us commended us to Him and yet He chose us. This is grace, and it is remarkable.