Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ (Theologians on the Christian Life)
Overview
John Newton is famous for his legendary hymn “Amazing Grace.” Many have celebrated his dramatic conversion from a life in the slave trade to his eventual work to end it. But often overlooked are Newton’s forty years as a pastor ministering to parishioners and friends unsettled by the trials, doubts, and fears of life. Newton is perhaps the greatest pastoral letter writer in the history of the church. He took up his pen day after day to help others fix their eyes on Christ, which, he writes, is the underlying battle of the Christian life. Through a careful study of scores of letters, Tony Reinke brings together Newton’s brilliant vision of the Christian life in one accessible place.
Top Highlights
“Thinking of grace as spiritual currency is mistaken. To say there is no such thing as grace means that all the grace we have and can ever hope to have—all the sovereign grace, all the all-sufficient grace—is bound up in the favor of the Father and in our union with the Son.” (Page 46)
“‘My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior.’1” (Page 49)
“First, indwelling sin remains to make us wonder how such a weak sinner’s faith has been sustained.” (Page 115)
“If the Christian life is Christ, then looking to him is the great duty of the Christian life. Looking to Jesus marks the beginning of the Christian life; looking to Jesus is the end goal of the Christian life; and looking to Jesus is the daily privilege of the Christian life, which is Newton’s way of saying that we never outgrow the gospel.” (Page 69)
“John Newton was the chief of sinners, and if he could be saved by God’s unmerited favor, no person on planet Earth was too wicked or too far beyond the reach of God’s grace to be saved. If there is one point of self-understanding Newton lived with, it is that his salvation could never have originated within himself.” (Page 36)
- Title: Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ
- Author: Tony Reinke
- Series: Theologians on the Christian Life
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2015
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Newton, John, 1725-1807; Church of England › Clergy--Biography; Hymn writers › England--Biography
- ISBNs: 9781433539718, 9781433539749, 9781433539725, 9781433539732, 1433539713, 1433539748, 1433539721, 143353973X
- Resource ID: LLS:NWTNCHRSTNCHRST
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:01:12Z