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John Newton
From Slave Trader to Amazing Grace
1725–1807 · Pastor, Abolitionist, Hymn Writer
"John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa,
was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and
appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy."
"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not
depart from it." — Proverbs 22:6
Newton's mother died when he was 6. By 16 he had rejected faith, became a
profane sailor, deserted the Navy, was flogged, and ended up enslaved in Africa. Rock bottom — but the
seeds his mother planted were still alive beneath the rebellion.
🙏 PRAY
"Lord, I confess that rebellion starts small. I renounce the lie that I can
outrun Your reach. Even at my lowest, You were watching."
🪞 REFLECT
Is there a truth from your childhood that you've been running from? What
seeds are still alive?
⚡ ACT
Write down one truth a mentor spoke over you that you dismissed. Read it
out loud.
"Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from
their distress." — Psalm 107:28
March 10, 1748. A violent storm nearly sank the Greyhound. Newton, who had been
mocking God hours earlier, cried: "Lord, have mercy on us." The storm raged for weeks. The ship
survived. Newton marked this day as the beginning of his conversion.
🙏 PRAY
"Father, I confess that sometimes it takes a storm to bring me to my knees.
Thank You for the storms that broke through my pride."
🪞 REFLECT
What "storm" first cracked open the door to God in your life?
⚡ ACT
Write your own "March 10, 1748" — the date God first broke through. Mark
it. Remember it.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can
understand it?" — Jeremiah 17:9
After his "conversion," Newton continued slave trading for 6 more years —
captaining ships, trafficking hundreds. He read his Bible and held worship on deck while people were
shackled below. Cultural acceptance blinded even the sincere.
🙏 PRAY
"Lord, there may be sins in my life so normalized I can't see them. Open my
eyes. Don't let acceptance equal innocence."
🪞 REFLECT
What practices in your culture feel "normal" but might grieve God's heart?
⚡ ACT
Ask a trusted friend: "Is there a blind spot in my life everyone else can
see?" Listen without defending.
"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion." — Philippians
1:6
Newton left the sea due to health, not conviction. For 30 years after
conversion he never publicly opposed slavery. Conviction came gradually — decades of God peeling back
layers. Grace is patient with us while we're still complicit.
🙏 PRAY
"Father, I want instant sanctification, but You work slowly. Keep peeling
back my layers. Don't let me stay comfortable in complicity."
🪞 REFLECT
Where has God been patiently working on you for years — and you're still
resisting?
⚡ ACT
Identify one area where you know you're wrong but it's culturally
"acceptable." Bring it to God today.
"He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God." — Psalm 40:3
New Year's Day 1773 — Newton introduced his hymn at Olney. Autobiographical and
unflinching. But when he wrote "was blind, but now I see," he still hadn't publicly opposed slavery.
Grace was working, but it wasn't finished yet.
🙏 PRAY
"Lord, thank You for the grace that saves wretches. I'm still a work in
progress — singing Your praise while blind to my own sin. Keep opening my eyes."
🪞 REFLECT
What is your personal "Amazing Grace" — the specific way God's grace has
been sweet to you?
⚡ ACT
Read or sing all the verses of Amazing Grace today. Let each one be
personal.
"To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light." — Acts
26:18
Wilberforce sought Newton's counsel in the 1780s. Newton told him to stay in
Parliament: "The Lord has raised you up for the good of the nation." As Newton prepared his testimony,
the full weight of what he had done hit with devastating clarity.
🙏 PRAY
"God, I don't want to wait decades to see what You're showing me now. Give
me courage to face the truth — even when it's painful."
🪞 REFLECT
Is there someone God is using to open your eyes right now? Are you
listening?
⚡ ACT
Think of one injustice you've been silent about. Take one concrete step
today to break that silence.
"Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret." —
2 Corinthians 7:10
In 1788 Newton published "Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade" — confessing
his guilt at age 63. "I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders."
True repentance isn't just feeling sorry — it's turning around and fighting.
🙏 PRAY
"Lord, give me the courage to repent publicly — not just privately. Let my
testimony of failure become a weapon for good."
🪞 REFLECT
Is there something you've only repented of privately? What would it look
like to use that story to help others?
⚡ ACT
Write your own "Thoughts Upon..." — a letter confessing one area of
complicity. Don't soften it.
"Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
— Esther 4:14
Newton became Wilberforce's spiritual father — counseling him through decades
of defeats as he fought to abolish the slave trade. A former slave trader mentoring the man who would
end the trade. Only grace writes stories like that.
🙏 PRAY
"Lord, show me who You've placed in my life to mentor. Use my past failures
to fuel their future."
🪞 REFLECT
Who is the "Wilberforce" in your life — someone younger who needs your
counsel?
⚡ ACT
Reach out to someone younger this week. Tell them: "I see God's hand on
you. Stay in the fight."
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."
— 1 Timothy 1:15
Newton's Cardiphonia letters reveal extraordinary tenderness — gentle with
struggling believers, fierce for truth, never forgetting he was "the chief of sinners." In his 80s,
nearly blind, he refused to stop preaching: "Shall the old African blasphemer stop while he can speak?"
🙏 PRAY
"Lord, make me tender with the broken and honest about my failures. Never
let me forget where You found me."
🪞 REFLECT
Do you lead with your polished résumé or your real story?
⚡ ACT
This week, share one "unpolished" part of your story with someone who needs
to hear it.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God." — Ephesians 2:8
Newton's epitaph: "Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in
Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and
appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy." He died in 1807 — the year the slave
trade was abolished.
🙏 PRAY
"Jesus, I am — right now — preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed.
Not because of what I've done, but because of Your rich mercy."
🪞 REFLECT
If someone wrote your epitaph today, what would it say? What would you WANT
it to say?
⚡ ACT
Write your own epitaph — not what you've accomplished, but what God has
done in you. Be as honest as Newton.
🎵 My Amazing Grace Commitment
After studying Newton's story, I commit to honest self-examination, public repentance where needed, and
fighting the evils I once overlooked.
🙏 Closing Prayer
"Lord Jesus, I am — like Newton — a wretch saved by grace. Thank You for not giving up on me during my
decades of blindness. Thank You for the storms that broke my pride, the mentors who opened my eyes, and
the slow, patient work of sanctification. I commit to seeing what You see, fighting what You oppose, and
preaching grace until I can no longer speak. I was lost. But I am found. I was blind. But now I see.
Amen."