1 Sav'd by blood I live to tell,
What the love of Christ has done;
He redeem'd my soul from hell,
Of a rebel made a son:
Oh! I tremble still to think
How secure I liv'd in sin;
sporting on destruction's brink,
Yet preserv'd from falling in.
2 In his own appointed hour,
To my heart the Saviour spoke;
Touch'd me by his spirit's pow'r,
And my dang'rous slumber broke;
Then I saw and own'd my guilt:
Soon my gracious Lord reply'd--
"Fear not, I my blood have spilt,
'Twas for such as thee I died."
3 Shame and wonder, you and love,
All at once possess'd my heart;
Can I hope thy grace to prove,
After acting such a part?
"Thou hast greatly sinn'd, he said,
But I freely all forgive;
I myself thy debt have paid,
Now I bid thee rise and live."
4 Come, my fellow sinners, try,
Jesu's heart is full of love;
Oh, that you, as well as I,
May his wond'rous mercy prove!
He has sent me to declare,
All is ready, all is free:
Why should any soul despair,
When he sav'd a wretch like me.
Source: Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians #135
John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >
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