Skip to content ↓

Answer to ‘Tis a Point

Tis a Point I Long to Know

A short time ago I shared a beautiful little poem by John Newton: ‘Tis a Point I Long to Know. In that poem Newton professes the universal experience of the Christian in our searching, our wondering, our perplexity, and, eventually, our confidence. After I posted it, I learned that a friend of Newton’s penned a poetic response titled “Answer to ‘Tis a Point.”” I hope you’ll read it (aloud!) and be encouraged by it.

What is this point you long to know,
methinks I hear you say, ’tis this –
I want to know I’m born of God,
an heir of everlasting bliss.

Is this the point you long to know?
The point is settled in my view –
for if you want to love your God,
it proves He first loved you.

I want to know Christ died for me,
I want to feel the seal within;
I want to know Christ’s precious blood,
was shed to wash away my sin.

I want to feel more love to Christ,
I want more liberty in prayer;
but when I looked within my heart,
it almost drives me to despair.

I want a mind more firmly fixed,
on Christ, my everlasting Head;
I want to feel my soul alive,
and not so barren and so dead.

I want more faith, a stronger faith,
I want to feel it’s power within;
I want to feel more love to God,
I want to feel less love to sin.

I want to live above the world,
and count it all but trash and toys;
I want more tokens of God’s grace,
some foretaste of eternal joys.

I want – I know not what I want,
I want that real, special good;
yet all my wants are summed up here,
I want to love! I want my God!

Is this the point you long to know?
The dead can neither feel nor see;
it is the slave that’s bound in chains,
that knows the worth of liberty.

So where a want like this is found,
I think I may be bold to say:
that God has fixed within thy heart,
what hell can never take away.

However small thy grace appears,
there’s plenty in thy Living Head;
these wants you feel, my Christian friend,
were never found amongst the dead.


  • Erics Greatest Race

    Releasing Today: Eric’s Greatest Race

    My new book releases today! Eric’s Greatest Race is a fully illustrated graphic novel that tells young readers the story of Eric Liddell, the famous Olympian whose steadfast courage and commitment to Christ has inspired generations of believers. It is my sincere hope that it will introduce a whole new generation to a man whose…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 29)

    A La Carte: Has the decline of U.S. Christianity finally stopped? / Holding space for joy and sorrow / No one ever hated his own body / Wisdom principles for Christian parenting / The article you don’t want to read / A new book / Kindle deals / and more.

  • The Pursuit of Virtue

    God’s character is the essence of virtue. The heart of virtue is to know the Lord and to become like him, as a child resembles her father. That is the goal, privilege, and destiny of the redeemed. #Sponsored

  • When God Plants an Acorn

    When God Plants an Acorn, He Means an Oak

    We stood together on the crest of a hill, a gentle breeze rustling the meadow around our feet. The fields ran gently downward until they met a creek that gurgled happily in its course. A few years prior, an acorn had somehow made its way to the highest point of this hill, carelessly dropped there…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (April 28)

    A La Carte: Protestantism’s Catholic converts / How healthy is your pursuit of health? / God’s special calling on your life / Considering a Christian university? / Testing the teachings of Catholicism / Kindle deals / and more.

  • New and Notable

    New and Notable Christian Books for April 2025

    It is surprisingly difficult to find a list of Christian books that have been released in any given month—especially if you want that list to be filtered by books released through particular publishers. That’s one of the reasons why I close each month by coming up with my list of New and Notable books. I…