FAITH AND JUSTIFICATION.

306

L. M. 6 l

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

3. His oath, His covenant, and blood

Support me in the sinking flood;

When every earthly prop gives way,

He then is all my Hope and Stay.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

4. When I shall launch to worlds unseen,

Oh, may I then be found in Him,

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne!

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

Edward Mote, 1836.

307

C. M.

Lord, we confess our numerous faults,

How great our guilt has been:

Foolish and vain were all our thoughts,

And all our lives were sin.

2. But, O my soul, forever praise,

Forever love, His name,

Who turns thy feet from dangerous ways

Of folly, sin, and shame.

3. ’Tis not by works of righteousness

Which our own hands have done,

But we are saved by love and grace

Abounding through His Son.

4. ’Tis from the mercy of our God

That all our hopes begin;

’Tis by the Water and the Blood

Our souls are washed from sin.

5. ’Tis through the purchase of His death

Who hung upon the tree

The Spirit is sent down to breathe

On such dry bones as we.

6. Raised from the dead, we live anew;

And justified by grace,

We shall appear in glory too

And see our Father’s face.

Isaac Watts, 1709.

308

C. M.

All that I was, my sin, my guilt,

My death, was all my own;

All that I am, I owe to Thee,

My gracious God, alone.

2. The evil of my former state

Was mine, and only mine;

The good in which I now rejoice

Is Thine, and only Thine.

3. The darkness of my former state,

The bondage, all was mine;

The light of life in which I walk,

The liberty, is Thine.

4. Thy grace first made me feel my sin,

It taught me to believe;

Then, in believing, peace I found,

And now I live, I live!

5. All that I am, e’en here on earth,

All that I hope to be

When Jesus comes and glory dawns,

I owe it, Lord, to Thee.

H. Bonar, 1853.

309

L. M.

Blest is the man, forever blest,

Whose guilt is pardoned by his God,

Whose sins with sorrow are confessed

And covered with his Savior’s blood.

2. Blest is the man to whom the Lord

Imputes not his iniquities;

He pleads no merit of reward

And not on works, but grace relies.

3. From guile his heart and lips are free,

His humble joy, his holy fear,

With deep repentance well agree

And join to prove his faith sincere.

4. How glorious is that righteousness

That hides and cancels all his sins,

While a bright evidence of grace

Through his whole life appears and shines!

Isaac Watts, 1719.

310

8, 7, 8, 7, 8, 8, 7

Dear Christians, one and all rejoice,

With exultation springing

And with united heart and voice

And holy rapture singing.

Tell how our God beheld our need

And sing His sweet and wondrous deed;

Right dearly it hath cost Him.

2. Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay,

Death brooded darkly o’er me,

My sin oppressed me night and day,

Therein my mother bore me;

And ever deeper yet I fell,

Life had become a living hell,

So firmly sin possessed me.

3. My good works could avail me naught,

For they with sin were stainèd;

Free will against God’s judgment fought

And dead to good remainèd;

Grief drove me to despair, and I

Had nothing left me but to die,

To hell I fast was sinking.

4. Then God beheld my wretched state

With deep commiseration;

He thought upon His mercy great

And willed my soul’s salvation;

He turned to me a Father’s heart—

Not small the cost!—to heal my smart,

He gave His best and dearest.

5. He spake to His beloved Son:

“’Tis time to have compassion;

Then go, My heart’s most Precious One,

And bring to man salvation;

From sin and sorrow set him free,

Slay bitter death for him that he

May live with Thee forever.”

6. The Son His Father did obey,

And, born of virgin mother,

He came a while on earth to stay

That He might be my Brother.

His mighty power He hidden bore,

A servant’s form like mine He wore

To lead the devil captive.

7. He spake to me: “Hold fast by Me,

I am thy Rock and Castle;

I wholly give Myself for thee,

For thee I strive and wrestle;

For I am thine, and thou art Mine,

Henceforth My place is also thine;

The foe shall never part us.

8. “The foe shall shed My precious blood,

Me of My life bereaving.

All this I suffer for thy good;

Be steadfast and believing.

Life shall from death the victory win,

Mine innocence shall bear thy sin,

So art thou blest forever.

9. “Now to My Father I depart,

From earth to heaven ascending,

Thence heavenly wisdom to impart,

The Holy Spirit sending;

He shall in trouble comfort thee,

Teach thee to know and follow Me,

Into all truth shall guide thee.

10. “What I have done and taught do thou

To do and teach endeavor;

So shall My kingdom flourish now

And God be praised forever.

Take heed lest men with base alloy

The heavenly treasure should destroy;

This counsel I bequeath thee.”

Martin Luther, 1523.

311

9, 8, 9, 8, 8, 8

By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless!

My heart, believ’st thou this or not?

Why tremblest thou with terror groundless?

Has Scripture e’er a falsehood taught?

Then this word also true must be:

By grace there is a crown for thee.

2. By grace! Our works are all rejected,

All claims of merit pass for naught;

The mighty Savior, long expected,

To us this blissful truth has brought,

That He by death redeems our race

And we are saved alone by grace.

3. By grace! Mark well these words’ true meaning,

When thou dost sorrow sin-opprest.

When Satan tempts with pride o’erweening,

When troubled conscience sighs for rest.

What reason cannot comprehend

It pleases God by grace to send.

4. By grace His Son, on earth appearing,

Vouchsafed beneath thy woe to bend;

Hadst thou, damnation justly fearing,

Done aught to render Him thy Friend?

Was’t not that He thy welfare sought

And but by grace deliverance wrought?

5. By grace! This ground of our salvation,

As long as God is true, endures;

What saints have penned by inspiration,

What God by His own Word assures,

What all our faith must rest upon,

Is grace, free grace, through His dear Son.

6. By grace! But think not, thou who livest

Securely on in godless ways,

That thou—though all are called—receivest

The promised rest that wakes our praise.

By grace none find in heaven a place

Who live in sin in hope of grace.

7. By grace! They who have heard this sentence

Must all hypocrisy forego;

For only after deep repentance

Can any soul this treasure know;

To sin free grace a trifle seems,

To faith it bright with glory beams.

8. By grace the timid hearts that languish

Find access to the Father’s heart,

When conflicts fierce and bitter anguish

Bid all their joy and hopes depart.

Where ofttimes should I strength obtain,

Did grace my anchor not remain!

9. By grace! On this in death I’ll rest me,

Rejoicing e’en though feeling naught;

I know my sin,—it oft oppressed me,—

But Him, too, who salvation brought.

My heart exults, grief flees apace,

Because my soul is saved by grace.

10. By grace! May sin and Satan hearken!

I bear my flag of faith in hand

And pass—for doubts my joy can’t darken—

The Red Sea to the Promised Land.

I cling to what my Savior taught

And trust it, whether felt or not.

C. L. Scheidt, 1742; M. Loy, tr., a.

312

9, 8, 9, 8, 8, 8

Now I have found the sure foundation

Where evermore my anchor grounds.

It lay there ere the world’s creation,

Where else but in my Savior’s wounds?

Foundation, which unmoved shall stay

When earth and heaven pass away.

2. It is that mercy never-ending,

Which all conception far transcends,

Of Him who, with love’s arms extending,

To wretched sinners condescends;

Whose heart with pity still doth break

Whether we seek Him or forsake.

3. Our ruin God has not intended,

Salvation He would fain bestow;

For this His Son to earth descended

And then to heaven again did go;

For this so loudly evermore

He knocketh at our heart’s closed door.

4. O depth of love, in which, past finding,

My sins through Christ’s blood disappear;

This is for wounds the safest binding,

There is no condemnation here;

For Jesus’ blood through earth and skies

Forever Mercy! Mercy! cries.

5. I never will forget this crying,

In faith I’ll trust it all my days,

And when o’er all my sins I’m sighing,

I towards my Father’s heart will gaze;

For there is always to be found

Free mercy without end and bound.

6. Though I be robbed of every pleasure

That soul and body can make glad,

Bereft of every earthly treasure,

Forlorn, forsaken, lone, and sad,—

However far His help may be,

His mercy yet is left to me.

7. Though earthly cares and want oppress me

And cause me sorrow and regret

That things so vain can still distress me

And give me so much trouble yet,

Though I am bowed down to the dust,

Still in His mercy I will trust.

8. Though in the best of all my actions,

In works that are admired the most,

I must perceive great imperfections,

I surely have no right to boast;

Yet this sweet comfort doth abide:

In mercy only I confide.

9. Be it with me as He is willing,

Whose mercy is a boundless sea;

May He Himself my heart be stilling

That this may ne’er forgotten be;

Then it will rest, in joy and woe,

On mercy while it beats below.

10. On this foundation I unshrinking

Will stand while I on earth remain;

This shall engage my acting, thinking,

While I the breath of life retain;

Then I will sing eternally,

Unfathomed Mercy, still of Thee.

J. A. Rothe, † 1758.

313

L. M.

Who shall the Lord’s elect condemn?

’Tis God who justifies their souls,

And mercy, like a mighty stream,

O’er all their sins divinely rolls.

2. He lives! He lives! and sits above,

Forever interceding there:

Who shall divide us from His love,

Or what should tempt us to despair?

3. Shall persecution or distress,

Famine or sword or nakedness?

He who hath loved us bears us through

And makes us more than conquerors too.

4. Not all that men on earth can do,

Nor powers on high nor powers below,

Shall cause His mercy to remove

Or wean our hearts from Christ, our Love.

Isaac Watts, 1707, a.

314

8, 7, 8, 7, 8, 8, 7

Salvation unto us has come

By God’s free grace and favor;

Good works cannot avert our doom,

They help and save us never:

Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,

Who did for all the world atone;

He is the Mediator.

2. What God doth in His Law demand

No man to Him can render,

And so He draws His flaming brand

To punish the offender:

Our flesh has not those pure desires

Which first of all the Law requires,—

We are in condemnation.

3. It was a false, misleading dream

That God His Law had given

For us to keep and merit claim

And earn our way to heaven.

God’s Law is but a mirror bright

To bring the inbred sin to sight

That lurks within our nature.

4. By our own strength to put aside

God’s wrath and win His blessing

Is useless task, by many tried,

Is only guilt increasing.

For God hypocrisy abhors;

Flesh with the spirit ever wars,

For ’tis by nature evil.

5. And yet the Law fulfilled must be,

Or we were lost forever;

Therefore God sent His Son that He

Might us from death deliver;

He all the Law for us fulfilled

And thus His Father’s anger stilled

Which over us impended.

6. Since Christ hath full atonement made

And brought to us salvation,

Each Christian therefore may be glad

And build on this foundation.

Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead.

Thy death my life now is indeed,

For Thou hast paid my ransom.

7. Not doubting this, I trust in Thee,

Thy Word cannot be broken;

Thou all dost call, “Come unto Me!”

No falsehood hast Thou spoken.

“He that believes and is baptized,

He shall be saved,” say’st Thou, O Christ,

“And he shall never perish.”

8. He’s just ’fore God, and he alone,

Who by this faith is living;

This faith will by good works be known,

To God the glory giving.

Faith gives thee peace with God above,

But thou thy neighbor, too, wilt love

If thou art a new creature.

9. The Law reveals the guilt of sin

And makes man conscience-stricken;

The Gospel then doth enter in

The sinful soul to quicken.

Come to the Cross, trust Christ and live;

The Law to you no peace can give

With all its good endeavors.

10. From faith in Christ, whene’er ’tis right,

Good works are surely flowing;

The faith is dead that shuns the light,

No good works ever showing.

By faith alone the just shall live,

Good works alone the proof can give

Of love, which true faith worketh.

Paul Speratus, 1523, abr. Composite tr. 1910.

315

7s 6 l

Blessed are the sons of God,

They are bought with Christ’s own blood;

They are ransomed from the grave,

Life eternal they shall have.

With them numbered may we be

Here and in eternity!

2. They are justified by grace,

They enjoy the Savior’s peace;

All their sins are washed away,

They shall stand in God’s great Day.

With them numbered may we be

Here and in eternity!

3. They are lights upon the earth,

Children of a heavenly birth;

One with God, with Jesus one,

Glory is in them begun.

With them numbered may we be

Here and in eternity!

J. Humphreys, 1743.

316

8, 8, 6, 8, 8, 6 (C. P. M.)

I do not come because my soul

Is free from sin and pure and whole,

And worthy of Thy grace;

I do not speak to Thee because

I’ve ever justly kept Thy laws

And dare to meet Thy face.

2. I know that sin and guilt combine

To reign o’er every thought of mine

And turn from good to ill;

I know that when I try to be

Upright and just and true to Thee,

I am a sinner still.

3. I know that often when I strive

To keep a spark of love alive

For Thee, the powers within

Leap up in unsubmissive might

And oft benumb my sense of right

And pull me back to sin.

4. I know that, though in doing good

I spend my life, I never could

Atone for all I’ve done;

But though my sins are black as night,

I dare to come before Thy sight

Because I trust Thy Son.

5. In Him alone my trust I place,

Come boldly to Thy throne of grace,

And there commune with Thee.

Salvation sure, O Lord, is mine,

And, all unworthy, I am Thine,

For Jesus died for me.

F. B. St. John, 1878.

317

8, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7

O how great is Thy compassion,

Faithful Father, God of grace,

That upon our wretchedness,

That upon man’s sinful station

Thou took’st pity, so that we

Might be saved eternally!

2. Thy great love for this hath striven

That man from all pain shall free

And forever blessed be.

Yea, Thy Son Himself hath given

And extends an earnest call

To His Supper unto all.

3. And for this our soul’s salvation

Voucheth Thy good Spirit, Lord,

In Thy Sacraments and Word;

He doth prosper Thy vocation,

Granteth us the gift of faith

That we fear nor hell nor death.

4. Lord, Thy mercy will not leave me,—

Truth doth evermore abide,—

Then in Thee I will confide;

Since Thy Word cannot deceive me,

My salvation is to me

Well assured eternally.

5. I will praise Thy great compassion,

Faithful Father, God of grace,

That upon my wretchedness,

That upon my sinful station

Thou took’st pity graciously;

Evermore be praise to Thee!

J. Olearius, 1671; A. Crull, tr.

318

L. M.

Just as I am, without one plea

But that Thy blood was shed for me

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,