The sum of my complaints amounts to this!

(Letters of John Newton)

“Oh, what a wretched man I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” Romans 7:24 

I see much daily cause for humiliation–whether I look backward or inward. The sum of my complaints amounts to this–that I am a sick sinner, diseased in every part. I am burdened with a body of sin and death. 

But I have a little book, which I am enabled to believe is the sure Word of God. The doctrines and promises I meet with in it, which we call the gospel, exactly suit my needs–and the temper and conduct it is designed to form, agrees with my leading desires. 

I was once far otherwise minded, and would doubtless have remained so–had not almighty power and sovereign mercy softened my heart…