I am not
what I once was!
(William
Plumer, "Sinners
Saved by Unmerited Kindness")
In his old age, when he could no
longer see to read, John
Newton heard someone recite this text, "By the grace of
God I am what I am." He remained silent a short time and
then said: "I am not what I ought to
be. Ah, how imperfect
and deficient! I am not what I wish to
be. I abhor that which
is evil, and I would cleave to that which
is good. I am not
what I hope to be. Soon, soon I shall put
off
mortality,
and with mortality all sin and imperfection.
Though
I am not what I ought to be, what I wish to be,
and
what I
hope to be; yet I can truly say, I am
not what
I once was--a slave to sin and Satan! I can heartily join
with the apostle
and acknowledge--By the grace of God I
am what I am!"