In sin by blinded passions led

Top Text Author Text Info Timeline Page Scans Instances

In sin by blinded passions led

Author: John Newton
Published in 15 hymnals

Representative Text

1 In sin by blinded passions led,
In search of fancy's good we range;
The paths of disappointment tread,
To nothing fixed, but love of change.

2 But when the Holy Ghost imparts
A knowledge of the Savior's love;
Our wandering, weary, restless hearts,
Are then renewed no more to rove.

3 Now a new principle takes place,
Which guides and animates the will,
This love, another name for grace,
Constrains to good, and bars from ill.

4 By love's pure light we soon perceive
Our noblest bliss and proper end;
And gladly every idol leave,
To love and serve our Lord and friend.

The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the most approved authors, 1799

All representative texts • Compare texts ^ top

Author: John Newton

John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >

^ top