“My dear Friend,
Having no letter to answer, I must fill up my paper as I can. It would be a shame to say, I have no subject.
There is one subject which can never be exhausted: the love of Christ, which is the fountain from whence all our spiritual blessings flow and the the ocean to which they tend.
The love of God towards sinners is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is treasured up in Him; it is manifested in Him; it is communicated through Him.
Permit my pen to enlarge a little upon this thought.
The love of God is treasured up in Christ. He is the Head of His church; and all spiritual and eternal blessings are given in Him, and for His sake alone (Ephesians 1:3-4).
The promise of life is in Him; and to Him we are directed to look, as He in whom alone the Father is well pleased (Matthew 3:17).
God beheld our lost, miserable condition, and designed us mercy; but mercy must be dispensed in a way agreeable to His holiness, justice, and truth.
Therefore, in the covenant of grace, sinners are no further considered than as the persons who are to reap the benefit; but the whole undertaking, both as to the burden and the honour of it, was transacted with, and devolved upon, Jesus Christ the Lord, who freely engaged to be their Saviour and Surety.
The manifestation of the love of God to sinners, is in Christ Jesus. His goodness and forbearance are, indeed, displayed in every morsel of food, and in every breath we draw; but His love to our souls is only revealed in Christ.
And, oh, what love was this, to give His own only Son! In this gift, in this way of redemption, He has commended His love to us, set it forth to the highest advantage possible, so that neither men nor angels can fully conceive its glory (Romans 5:8).
And the apostle there emphatically styles it την εαυτου αγαπην, His own love: love peculiar to Himself, and of which we can find no shadow or resemblance among creatures.
The effects of His love are communicated only through Christ Jesus. He is made of God unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
“All fullness is in Him.” He has received, and He bestows, every good and perfect gift. He gives grace, and He will give glory.
All our springs of life, strength, peace, and comfort, are in Him; and without Him we can do nothing.
I trust, my dear Sir, in expressing my own sentiments on this point, I express your’s also.
That Jesus, who was once a man of sorrows, who now reigns the Lord of glory in that nature in which He suffered, is your hope and your joy.
Yes, the Lord who has given you many seeming advantages, as He did to St. Paul, has enabled you, like him, to sacrifice them at the foot of the cross, and to say, ‘The things which were once gain to me, I count loss for Christ: yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus my Lord,’ (Philippians 3:5–10).
This is to build upon a rock, to build for eternity, to rest upon a plea, which will overrule every charge in life, at death, and at judgment.
They that put their trust in Him, shall be like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved.
And there is no ther way of attaining stable peace, or receiving power to withstand and overcome the world.
Believe me to be, dear Sir,
Your obliged and affectionate humble servant,
John Newton”
–John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Vol. 6, Ed. Richard Cecil (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1988), 6: 225-227. Newton wrote this letter on July 7, 1771.
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