Amazing Grace..how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”
The song that started out as a poem, written by a slave trader, John Newton has a ring to it!
It tells the story of a man, by his own admission, who was unworthy, converted by the grace of God, realized the evil that he was involved in  and became a changed man.
His choice of the word “amazing” gives it a charge from the very beginning, demonstrating how profoundly he was changed by God’s grace.
“Amaze”is defined as “to fill with great surprise “wonderment”.
So, he was proclaiming that this grace surprised him like a bolt of lightning.
You might consider it similar to that which occurred to Paul on his way to Damascus.
Paul..than Saul, by his own admission was foremost in the persecution of the followers of Jesus.Then the blinding face of Jesus Christ turned him around and he became the  foremost slave to the risen Jesus.
John Newton was described as the Great Blasphemer, who not only didn’t believe in Go d, he did his best to convert others in disbelief.
But in the great storm that was tearing the ship apart in which he was sailing, God’s grace saved him and converted him to becoming a minister in Christ’s name.
No longer a trader in slaves, it was his experience in the nefarious trade  and his telling of it, that helped confince others , and secured its abolition in Great Britain.
We know that grace is given freely by God to all, even though unmerited. Nothing one has done or will do, will changes that.
John Newton understood this and to his friends said “My memory is gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner and God is a great savior.”
Gods grace is His love to mankind. It is that great love of redeeming action, through Christ, that all are justified of their sins, and that ALL will be saved..paulnbob

ADDENDUM..From ManlyP. Hall’s DAILY WORDS OF WISDOM(which I have the pleasure of reading daily).
“If we could forget our own past, forget everything that people have done to us, and forget all the mistakes we have made,the result would be a colossal peace of mind”.