The Amazement of Grace and the Life of John Newton

“And you he hath quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:  Among whom also we all had our conversations in times past in the lusts of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye have been saved) And raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  That in the age to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”  Ephesians 2:1-7

 This passage resounds with “The Amazement of Grace.” 

That is the title of the sermon from my former pastor Robert Malcom.  Taken from this text, it is the most powerful sermon on grace I have ever heard.

I almost wept as he preached because I finally experienced the treasure of Amazing grace.  Never before have I understood (with intense experiential understanding) what God did even before I met him.

 That’s the whole of point of Ephesians 1.  That day, I saw how beautifully it carried over to Ephesians 2.  Many know that Romans is my favorite book in the Bible.  It is hard to understand, but it is a labor of love to try.  Ephesians, however, is the most precious book to me.  It is hard to understand, too, but I always study it in humbled awe because God’s grace abounds in it.

Yes, I believe in the doctrines of grace, but if those doctrines of that grace are more precious to me than that grace of those doctrines, I profane the mighty work of God in me, and I am sounding brass, meaningless and noisy.

In that sermon, it became real:  God is gracious. 

As he preached, I understood finally that apart from grace, I was capable of all manner of evil.  By my nature, I was hardening my heart in deadness.  I should be dead or maybe even in prison. 

“The same grace that saves you from the sins you committed also keeps you from committing the ones you never did.” –Brother Robert Malcom

That statement will stay with me for a long time.  God was gracious when he kept me in certain circumstances and kept me away from others.  What makes me different from that pedophile or that gang banger who shot that liquor store clerk?  The grace of God is what makes the difference.  In those days, I spat in his face daily, worshiping myself and profaning the blood of Christ.  Why didn’t I become like the “worse” sinners? That humiliates me to think about… 

 

This thought should compel me to pray for the lost even more fervently:  “God keep them alive another day! Grant them another chance to repent and believe! Fall on their hearts with such a mighty rush of grace that their knees begin to bend even now!”

 I should be like John Newton, for instance.  He raged with ungodliness, hate toward his fellow man, and intense demand upon his slaves. 

As I look back, I was on a similar path of ungodly hate and anger.  I was ill-tempered, selfish, grumpy, moody, and just one plain sawed-off jerk.

   

But the same God that saved John Newton saved me, too.  On his epitaph, John Newton’s self scribed text shines with the grace of God: 

  JOHN NEWTON,

Clerk,
Once an Infidel and Libertine,
A Servant of Slaves in Africa,
Was,
by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior
JESUS CHRIST,
Preserved, restored, pardoned,
And appointed to preach the Faith
He had long laboured to destroy,
Near 16 years at Olney in Bucks;
And [28] years in this church.

Like him, I was saved “by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior.” 

 

Once angry, lost, raging and blinded with hate, the Spirit of God so transformed his heart that he became known for meek compassion and humbling tenderness.  One of the main reasons for this is that he could never get past the fact that God saved him.  He was so amazed by grace, he couldn’t help but be gracious to others.  Note his amazement in his last will and testament:

I commit my soul to my gracious God and Savior, who mercifully spared and preserved me, when I was an apostate, a blasphemer, and an infidel, and delivered me from the state of misery on the coast of Africa into which my obstinate wickedness had plunged me; and who has been pleased to admit me (though most unworthy) to preach his glorious gospel.

Thusly, he stood in awe and produced such humiliating maxims such as this one about correcting falsely led believers and/or blinded unbelievers: 

 

As to your opponent, I wish, that, before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him by earnest prayer to the Lord’s teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him; and such a disposition will have a good influence upon every page you write. . . . [If he is a believer,] in a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts. . . . [If he is an unconverted person,] he is a more proper object of your compassion than your anger. Alas! “He knows not what he does.” But you know who has made you to differ. 

What grace!  The very grace that changed him manifested itself in his new life, lovingly admonishing and compassionately rebuking.  Note also his tenderness when speaking of the doctrines of grace:

 

Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation. . . . The Scriptural maximum, that “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,” is verified by daily observation. If our zeal is embittered by expressions of anger, invective, or scorn, we may think we are doing service to the cause of truth, when in reality we shall only bring it into discredit.

 

I pray that I could be so tender and gracious.  God grant it, please!

 

John Piper, for instance, in his study of John Newton from where I retreived these quotations, mentions his longing for pastors with such tender compassion to people and intense devotion to truth:

 

I dream of such pastors. I would like to be one someday. A pastor whose might in the truth is matched by his meekness. Whose theological acumen is matched by his manifest contrition. Whose heights of intellect are matched by his depths of humility. Yes, and the other way around! A pastor whose relational warmth is matched by his rigor of study, whose bent toward mercy is matched by the vigilance of his biblical discernment, and whose sense of humor is exceeded by the seriousness of his calling.

 

Now, I think of me in particular:  a quiet, timid, ill-tempered young fool who finds the Spirit manifesting his glory in his life through the preaching and teaching of that ancient sword of truth.  The Spirit bears witness with his spirit that he is a child of God, a fellow heir with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Romans 8:16-17), and with this mighty sonship, comes the privilege to work for the Lord of all creation.  That’s grace!

 

Therefore, he who cherishes such grace must consequently pour it out on others.  It not only logical, it’s compelling.  When people talk with me, see me interact with others, listen to me preach and teach the word before groups, they must know that the God of all grace dwells richly in me.  Those who knew me when I was a child of wrath, must see the grace of God shining through all the more brightly and intensely.  If they don’t, I have preached, taught or spoken in unholiness, profaning the grace God poured out so uncompromisingly upon me.

 

Friends, God has chosen not many wise, not many noble, not many mighty, to serve him (1 Corinthians 1:26-30).  Why?  So that when they see his people doing his work, they must think, “That must be God doing it through them because that person just isn’t like that.”

 

“That, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1:31

I can’t think of a better verse to sum up the doctrines of grace.  GOD DID IT!

 

Amazing Grace!  Recently, I haven’t been able to sing that hymn in worship without having to hold my composure.  It’s suddenly so sweet.

 

Working with you to treasure the Amazement of Grace,

 

Vince R.

 

Works Cited:

 

Piper, John.  John Newton:  The Tough Roots of His Habitual Tenderness.  Accessed on April 25, 2008.  http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1485_John_Newton_The_Tough_Roots_of_His_Habitual_Tenderness/

 

Taco Bell, the Days of my Youth, and the Glory of God

The cool soft air from the vents blew lightly on my worn but washed face.  As my mouth opened, the small taco glided swiftly yet controllably toward it.   The wax paper under my dry fingers and squeezed grip felt smooth and grity at once.  Small pieces of green and white lettuce fell on my lap and intermingled with small shavings of orange and yellow cheese.  I’ll clean it in just a bit, said I.

My teeth pierced through the fried tortilla casing, and the crunch of their torn fortress reverberated softly through the small Toyata cab.  The mildly spicy ground meat squished silently beneath my flat and crooked molars.  The incisors swiftly ripped the small clumps of beef apart, while the lettuce shrunk beneath the mighty compression of their work.  The cheese melted a bit in that small chamber of saliva and heat.  As the broken morsels approached my throat, my jaw pulsated quickly and intentionally in an up and down motion like worn out pistons in a broken engine.  Small drops of grease and tomato juice fell on my wiry chin hair.

I grabbed a brown and white napkin from the plastic bag sitting lazily to my right on the passenger side.  The air continued to cool my calm and peaceful face.  With a resolute grasp, I gripped the paper cup with its purple emblem and shiny moisture.  As I put the plastic cylinder to my lips, the circular tube turned from white to a dark brown encased in plastic.  The carmel and tasteless flavor of diet Pepsi flowed smoothly and roughly in my mouth toward my tired gullet.  It snatched bits of taco shell from the corners of my mouth and washed it quickly down the darkness of my throat.  To where did the liquid kidnap the final tastes of meat, cheese and corn?  It replaced them, and the remnants were gone.  Instead, my taste buds grappled with deadened flavors of Pepsi and cheese.

I wiped my chin.

The bits of cheese and lettuce on my lap rested absurdly.  They didn’t belong there, but they acted as though they did.  Such arrogance, I thought.  I gathered them and threw them in the plastic bag with a small frown.

After tossing the wax paper and the tough brown and white napkin with them, I crumpled the plastic and threw it to the dirt and pebbles on my floorboard.

As I drove down the access road, this side of Intersate 27, I paused at the yield sign, while a semi-truck flew by ahead of me.  In the remaining moments of my drive, my mind turned strangely toward eternity as I sipped my diet drink.

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.  Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.  But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”  Ecclesiastes 11:9

So says the preacher.  And as I turned into the unpolished yet presentable parking lot of Brotherhood dormitory, I knew God’s glory endures forever.  Who remembers the details of a simple meal?

A quick and hurried trip to Taco Bell before your shift in the lobby comes from the Almighty.

Romans 11:36

WHATEVER you eat or drink, I thought.

Then I laughed.

Working with you to enjoy the days of your youth for God’s glory,

Vince R.