A great Saviour for great sinners
John Newton is famous for writing the wonderful hymn “Amazing Grace”. Before he started following Jesus he was a slave trader, indeed, the captain of a ship transporting slaves from Africa to America. He became a Christian on March 21st 1748, during a long, stormy voyage back to Britain. He went on to become a minister and served God for many years. Newton, however, never forgot the horrible nature of his sin. At the end of his life, he said to a friend, “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.
The apostle Paul described himself too as a great sinner: a blasphemer, persecutor and violent man, persecuting God’s church and responsible for the deaths of many believers. But right away he adds, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:13-15.) Both John Newton and Paul saw themselves as great sinners, with a great Saviour.
We might not be able to identify with John Newton or with Paul in the gravity of their sin, and many of us may be really good at being good. But which of us can say we have never spoken critically of others or harboured resentment, become impatient or proud, acted selfishly and unkindly, failed to trust God in the difficult things of life, given in to materialism or allowed one of God’s good gifts to take his place as the most important thing in our lives? The more honest we are, the more we have to acknowledge: we are all great sinners, but we have a great Saviour!