“I observe your experience is a mixture of joy and complaint, and thus it must be till the Lord shall be pleased to put an end to our conflict with indwelling sin. Both are right.
We have reason to mourn that there is such an opposition within us to all that is good; and we have reason to rejoice, for Jesus is all-sufficient, and we are complete in Him.
We cannot but mourn to find that our passage lies through fire and water; we ought to rejoice that this difficult way will lead us to a wealthy place, where joy will be unspeakable, glorious, and endless.
We may well mourn that our love to the Lord is so faint and wavering; but oh! What a cause of joy to know that His love to us is infinite and unchangeable.
Our attainment in sanctification is weak and our progress slow; but our justification is perfect, and our hope sure.
May we so look to the bright side of our case as not to be cast down and discouraged, and may we maintain such a sense of the dark side as may keep us from being exalted above measure.”
–John Newton, Letters of John Newton (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1869/2007), 80.
