QUOTE : This prison visit is illuminating on three levels. First, Newton believed that the grace of God could reach anyone, no matter how dark or prevailing the sin, and he was living proof of it. Second, Newton found in 1 Timothy 1:15 a natural transition from his own life of sin to Paul’s claim on the title of “chief sinner.” Newton could make such a smooth transition because he genuinely believed that he was the worst sinner he knew—even in a room where he was circled by one hundred thieves and prostitutes. Third, sin is sin. No matter how squeaky clean the Christian appears in society compared with a burglar, a prostitute, a pickpocket, or any other social miscreant, in both resides a powerfully wicked bent called indwelling sin.2 Newton’s preaching, whether in a vile prison or from a varnished pulpit, always addressed those who were “criminals condemned already.”3