Making Grace Less Amazing

"He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps." Psalm 40:2 (NKJV)

A church I know quite well once decided to change the lyrics to "Amazing Grace." Instead of "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me," they sang "that saved someone like me." They felt uncomfortable with the word "wretch."

John Newton, who wrote that hymn, would have hated that change. Newton lived a life of such debauchery that sailors once had to harpoon him back onto a slave ship after he fell overboard drunk. He carried that scar the rest of his life. When he got saved at 39, he never forgot what Christ had saved him from.

Even as his mind began to fail in old age, Newton could still say, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."
His tombstone tells the whole story: "John Newton, 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 labored to destroy."

You see, if we weren't wretched sinners, why did God need to send Jesus? The bad news of our sin and lostness makes the good news of salvation so good! Jesus said in Matthew 9:12, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." You can't appreciate the cure until you realize the disease.

We've gotten comfortable in our churches. We don't want to admit we were ever wretches. Ephesians 2:1 says we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were in the horrible pit and miry clay described in Psalm 40. Some folks say, "I'm not in any pit." But that's like standing in quicksand and thinking you're fine because you're not moving much. You will never reach out your hand of faith to grab God's hand of grace and salvation unless you realize you cannot save yourself. Thank You, Lord, for Your amazing grace, that saved a wretch like me!"

Reflection Question: Have you ever been uncomfortable with the reality of what you were before Christ saved you? How does remembering your "wretch" status make God's grace more amazing?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You saved a wretch like me. Help me never to forget the horrible pit I was in before You lifted me out. Don't let me sanitize my testimony or make my sin sound less serious than it was. May the depth of my depravity make Your amazing grace shine even brighter, in Jesus' Name, amen.

This is adapted from The Vanishing of the Gospel: https://a.co/d/09DKujRi