Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
One of the 94 hymns we sing together at Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church on the Gold Coast. Browse the full hymnbook.
Lyrics
Verse 1
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
Verse 2
'Twas 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 reigns
Unending love, amazing grace
Verse 3
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come:
'tis grace has brought me safe thus fa
and grace will lead me home.
Verse 4
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 5
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine
Behind the Hymn
"Amazing Grace" was written by John Newton in 1772 and has become arguably the most famous hymn in the English language. Newton had been a profane and rebellious sailor who became captain of a slave-trading ship before a violent storm at sea in 1748 prompted his conversion. After leaving the slave trade, he studied for the ministry and became an Anglican priest in the village of Olney, Buckinghamshire, where he wrote this hymn for a New Year's Day sermon in 1773. The deeply autobiographical text — "that saved a wretch like me" — reflects Newton's profound sense of his own sinfulness and God's unmerited mercy. Newton later became a leading voice in the abolitionist movement, mentoring William Wilberforce in his campaign to end the British slave trade. In 2006, Chris Tomlin added the bridge "My chains are gone, I've been set free" to the classic hymn, giving it new life for a generation of contemporary worshippers while honoring Newton's powerful testimony of liberation from both spiritual and literal chains.