Scripture Verse

This is the true God, and eternal life. 1 John 5:20

Introduction

portrait
Martin Luther (1483–1546)

Words: Mar­tin Lu­ther, in Geyst­liche ge­sangk Buch­leyn, by Jo­hann Wal­ther (Wit­ten­berg, Ger­ma­ny: 1524) (Wir glau­ben all’ an ein­en Gott); com­po­site trans­la­tion. The words echo the themes of the Ni­cene Creed.

Music: Wir glau­ben all Ma­nu­skript Ge­sang­buch (Lang­en­öls, Ger­ma­ny [now Ol­szyna, Po­land]: 1748) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

We all be­lieve in one true God,
Who cre­at­ed earth and Hea­ven,
The Fa­ther, who to us in love
Hath the right of child­ren given.
He both soul and body feed­eth,
All we need He doth pro­vide us;
He thro’ snares and per­ils lead­eth,
Watching that no harm be­tide us.
He car­eth for us day and night,
All things are gov­erned by His might.

We all be­lieve in Je­sus Christ,
His own Son, our Lord, pos­sess­ing
An eq­ual God­head, throne, and might,
Source of ev­ery grace and bless­ing.
Born of Ma­ry, virgin mo­ther,
By the pow­er of the Spir­it,
Made true man, our el­der bro­ther,
That the lost might life in­her­it.
Was cru­ci­fied for sin­ful men
And raised by God to life again.

We all con­fess the Ho­ly Ghost,
Who sweet grace and com­fort giv­eth
And with the Fa­ther and the Son
In eter­nal gl­ory liv­eth;
Who the Church, His own cre­ation,
Keeps in uni­ty of spir­it.
Here for­giv­eness and sal­va­tion
Daily come thro’ Je­sus’ mer­it.
All flesh shall rise, and we shall be
In bliss with God eter­nal­ly.