Scripture Verse

By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8–9

Introduction

Words: Paul Spe­ra­tus, 1523, cen­to (Es ist das Heil uns kom­men her). Com­po­site trans­la­tion.

Music: Es ist das Heil Ger­man tune, cir­ca 1400 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Paul Speratus (1484–1551)

Lyrics

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 our one Re­deem­er.

What God did in His law de­mand
And none to Him could ren­der
Caused wrath and woe on ev­ery hand
For man, the vile of­fend­er.
Our flesh has not those pure de­sires
The spir­it of the Law re­quires,
And lost is our con­di­tion.

It was a false, mis­lead­ing dream
That God His Law had giv­en
So sin­ners could them­selves re­deem
And by their works gain Hea­ven.
The Law is but a mir­ror bright
To bring the in­bred sin to light
That lurks with­in our na­ture.

From sin our flesh could not ab­stain
Sin held its sway un­ceas­ing;
The task was use­less and in vain,
Our guilt was e’er in­creas­ing.
None can re­move sin’s poi­soned dart
Or pu­ri­fy our guile­ful heart—
So deep is our cor­rupt­ion.

Yet as the Law must be ful­filled
Or we must die des­pair­ing,
Christ came and hath God’s an­ger stilled,
Our hu­man na­ture shar­ing.
He hath for us the Law ob­eyed
And thus the Fa­ther’s ven­geance stayed
Which ov­er us im­pend­ed.

Since Christ hath full atone­ment made
And brought us to sal­va­tion,
Each Chris­tian there­fore may be glad
And build on this foun­da­tion.
Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,
Thy death is now my life in­deed,
For Thou hast paid my ran­som.

Let me not doubt, but trust in Thee,
Thy Word can­not be brok­en;
Thy call rings out, Come un­to Me!
No false­hood hast Thou spok­en.
Baptized in­to Thy pre­cious name,
My faith can­not be put to shame,
And I shall ne­ver per­ish.

The Law re­veals the guilt of sin
And makes men con­science-strick­en;
The Gos­pel then doth en­ter in
The sin­ful soul to quick­en.
Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;
The Law no peace can ev­er give,
No com­fort and no bless­ing.

Faith clings to Je­sus’ cross alone
And rests in Him un­ceas­ing;
And by its fruits true faith is known,
With love and hope in­creas­ing.
Yet faith alone doth jus­ti­fy,
Works serve thy neigh­bor and sup­ply
The proof that faith is liv­ing.

Hope waits for the ac­cept­ed hour—
Till God give joy for mourn­ing,
When He dis­plays His heal­ing pow­er,
Thy sighs to songs are turn­ing;
Thy needs are known un­to thy Lord,
And He is faith­ful to His word,
This is our hope’s foun­da­tion.

Though it may seem, He hears thee not,
Count not thy­self for­sak­en;
Thy wants are ne’er by Him for­got,
Let this thy hope awak­en;
His word is sure, here is thy stay,
Although thy heart to this sai­th nay,
Let not thy faith be shak­en.

All bless­ing, hon­or, thanks, and praise
To Fa­ther, Son, and Spir­it,
The God that saved us by His grace—
All glo­ry to His mer­it!
O tri­une God in Heav’n above,
Who hast rev­ealed Thy sav­ing love,
Thy bless­èd name be hal­lowed.

Thy king­dom come, Thy will be done
In earth, as ’tis in Hea­ven:
Keep us in life, by grace led on,
Forgiving and for­giv­en;
Save Thou us in temp­ta­tion’s hour,
And from all ills; Thine is the pow­er,
And all the glo­ry, Am­en!