Not-So-Amazing Grace

There is a version--a "revision"--of "Amazing Grace" floating around out there which takes part of the first verse, "...that saved a wretch like me...",  and replaces it with "...that saved and set me free...". I've heard the same revisionism on CDs recorded by supposedly reputable vocalists, I've heard it rendered that way in churches (thankfully not in my denomination), and I've heard it employed by people who think they do God's work a service by correcting John Newton's "mistake".

This literally nauseates me, and I disagree on a number of levels. Here are a few:

1. Where does anyone get the gall to think they have the right to revise the words of this great man of God. Rather than deprive themselves of the opportunity to sing these words, wrought from the heart of a man who truly knew what grace was, these people choose to deface this work with their own sub-standard sentiments. People: move on to another song that better suits your weak, ineffectual commitment to the gospel and leave this one alone.
   
2. Anyone who thinks this an improvement over the original neither knows the meaning of grace nor has experienced it. Newton knew. He had experienced it firsthand. The "amazing grace" of his God and his Savior really had set him free. For those who have experienced God's saving grace, this verse is an anthem, a song of victory, not a condemnation or a put-down. We are wretches, and our only remedy is God's grace. John Newton himself said, at the age of 82, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour."
3. I believe that this revisionism stems from a low view of sin. People would rather worship a God of their own making, not the God as revealed in Scripture, who is holy and therefore cannot tolerate sin. People want to think that they're not that bad, just a little so. They try and reason their way into God's favor, thinking that weighing their deeds in a scale and having the scale tip in the direction of the good in their lives is all it will take to please Him. There will be no reasoning before God's throne. No one will stand justified before Him on the merit of his own deeds, no matter how heavily the scales tip in their favor. God's holiness is absolute and unwavering. Man's sinfulness is also absolute (Romans 3:23). The sad and unfortunate truth is that people who take a low view of sin, both in their own lives and in the lives of others, think that they and others can come to God on their own terms. This delusion will follow many to their destruction. 

I heard a lady recently tell the story of how her late father hated this hymn. She proudly quoted him as saying, "I'm no wretch." Sir, you were wrong, but I guess you realize that now, don't you?