Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ

by Tony Reinke

If I am saved, (I trust I shall,) it will be freely and absolutely, in a way of sovereignty; with a non obstante [notwithstanding] to a thousand things which should seem, humanly speaking, to make salvation next door to impossible. But when I am beaten from everything else, it still remains true that Christ has died, that he now lives and reigns, that “he is able to save to the UTTERMOST” (Heb. 7:25), and that he has said, “Him that cometh I will in NO WISE cast out” (John 6:37). In NO WISE and to the UTTERMOST are great words, they have an extensive signification, and take in all varieties of cases, characters, and circumstances. Upon such unlimited sovereign promises I cast my anchor, and they hold me, otherwise I should be the sport of winds and waves. Dr. [Isaac] Watts’ motto shall be mine, it is big enough for him, me, you, and for thousands that approve it, In uno Jesu omnia [In Jesus alone is my everything]. In him I have an offering, an altar, a temple, a priest, a sun, a shield, a savior, a shepherd, a hiding place, a resting place, food, medicine, riches, honor, wisdom, righteousness, holiness, in short, everything.

I think I have known some Arminians—that is, persons who, for want of clearer light, have been afraid of receiving the doctrines of free grace—who yet have given evidence that their hearts were in a degree humbled before the Lord. And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility that they are willing in words to debase the creature, and to give all the glory of salvation to the Lord, yet know not what manner of spirit they are of. Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit.

O that from a heart-felt knowledge of who Jesus is, and what he has done, we could at all times, and in all circumstances, say with the apostle, “I have all and abound—I have learnt to be content; yea, doubtless, I count all things loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord!”

My heart’s desire is to love him more and more; to live still more entirely upon him, and to him, that he may be, as he well deserves, MY ALL IN ALL.

Newton’s theology of the Christian life can be boiled down to one main point: to live is Christ (Phil. 1:21). “None but Christ” is Newton’s motto, and it’s the best advice Newton has to offer. That three-word phrase “looking unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:2) frames the believer’s duty, privilege, safety, and happiness. The Christian life is all about Christ.

Our hope can rest only in this all-sufficient Christ. He is everything—our all-sufficient Shepherd, Husband, Prophet, Priest, King, and Friend; our Lord and Savior, Head, and Root; our Meat, Drink, Medicine, and Strength; our Hope and Foundation; our Sun and Shield; our Example and Forerunner; our Wisdom and Righteousness; our Sanctification and Redemption; our Life and Way and End. In uno Jesu omnia—in Christ alone is our everything!

But to live in, with, and for Christ makes dying pure gain. Death proves to be Christ-centered gain only for the one who is Christ-centered in this life. Newton was aware of this, he sought to live it himself, and his pen was tirelessly employed to help his friends learn to live in the light and grace of Christ’s radiant all-sufficiency, and to develop an appetite for the day when all the redeemed “unite in one song of endless praise to the Lamb that was slain.”

I am not what I ought to be. Ah! how imperfect and deficient. Not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities. Not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart, knows I wish to be like him. I am not what I hope to be; ere long to drop this clay tabernacle, to be like him and see him as he is. Not what I once was, a child of sin, and slave of the devil. Though not all these, not what I ought to be, not what I might be, not what I wish or hope to be, and not what I once was, I think I can truly say with the apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10).

Let me commend you and yours to the grace and care of our Lord Jesus. They that dwell under the shadow of his wings shall be safe. His service is perfect freedom; in his favor is life. May his name be precious to your heart! And may you have such increasing knowledge of his person, character, and offices, that beholding his glory in the gospel glass, you may be more changed into his image, drink into his spirit, and be more conformable to him. The highest desire I can form for myself, or my friends, is, that he may live in us, we may live to him, and for him, and shine as lights in a dark world. To view him by faith, as living, dying, rising, reigning, interceding, and governing for us, will furnish us with such views, prospects, motives, and encouragements, as will enable us to endure any cross, to overcome all opposition, to withstand temptation, and to run in the way of his commandments with an enlarged heart. And yet a little while, and he will put an end to our conflicts and fears, and take us home to be with him forever. Thus, by the power of his blood, and the word of his testimony, we shall be made more than conquerors, and in the end obtain the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.