Amazing Grace

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Amazing Grace
John Newton

Verse 1:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see

Verse 2:
T'was grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Verse 3:
Through many dangers, toil and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

Verse 4:
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun

Verse 5:
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess, within the veil
A life of joy and peace

Verse 6:
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, who call'd me here below
Will be forever mine


This is the original hymn that John Newton has written several centuries ago.

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, John Newton, Edwin O. Excell, John P. Rees

Verse 1:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see

Verse 2:
T'was grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

Chorus:
My chains are gone, I've been set free
my God my Savior has ransomed me
and like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love Amazing Grace

Verse 3:
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures

Verse 4:
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine


This is the rendition of the original hymn by Chris Tomlin. I think the chorus will become a classic as well.

This few days, it seems that God has been talking to me a lot about grace. I dun know why, and how, but I suddenly got intrigued by the whole notion of grace that I decided to get Philip Yancey's 'What's so amazing about grace?'. Philip Yancey described grace as the last best word in the Christian vocabulary which meaning has not been tainted throughout the centuries. So what's so amazing about grace?

A bit embarrassed to say, but after reading the book, I still only have a vague idea of grace. But I looked back to the hymn, that has partly inspired the book title. Before that I thought of a verse that really sums up God's grace in our life:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9


We are forgiven by God, purely by His love and grace. The original hymn of Amazing Grace really describes what grace is like. A lost wretched found and saved by the grace of God, and precious when that grace appears the hour we first believe. A lot of time, I have been truly touched by this song, especially when sang together with Chris Tomlin's chorus. Truly set free by God. Set free by God to forgive and love others. We can love because God first loves us. Likewise, we are able to show grace to people, because we have received the grace from God.

I have to admit here that grace is a word which I have not been bothered to explore until recently (in fact this week). I may be even ashamed to say that throughout my Christian life, this is one quality that has been lacking in me. In other words, forgiveness and grace have not been something which has sunk into my massive hard block of brain cells yet even after so long, even as I rise to try to take care of new believers, and take care of my cg, I have not known grace. Grace is the lens which I should have put on earlier on, but I have not. I have not seen the world with the lens of grace. In fact, I can say that I may have stooped dangerously close to the level of a pharisee. As a result I was appalled. Reflecting through a bit, I believe that God is asking me to add in the dimension of grace to my ministry and remove that ungrace. The world is showing enough ungrace, as most Singaporean students and NSmen can testify. Upon realising how important grace is to the fallen world, this is exactly the one main ingredient why Jesus was able to be friends to the sinners.

So now I'm asking God to teach me grace as it is. As a start, I have been meditating on the lyrics of the hymn, and looking at the world around me. I hope that God will continue to guide me in this area. An area, I know, we often lack...

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