Justification

Salvation Unto Us Has Come

Words:
Paul Speratus, 1523. Translation composite.
Music:
'Es ist das Heil uns Kommen Her' traditional German circa 1400 from Etlich Christlich Lider, Wittenberg, 1524.
Setting:
"Mehrstimmiges ChoralBuch", 1906.
Metre:
8 7 8 7 8 8 7
  1. 1Salvation unto us has comeBy 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.
  2. 2What God did in His law demandAnd none to Him could renderCaused wrath and woe on every handFor man, the vile offender.Our flesh has not those pure desiresThe spirit of the Law requires,And lost is our condition.
  3. 3It was a false, misleading dreamThat God His Law had givenSo sinners could themselves redeemAnd by their works gain Heaven.The Law is but a mirror brightTo bring the inbred sin to lightThat lurks within our nature.
  4. 4From sin our flesh could not abstainSin held its sway unceasing;The task was useless and in vain,Our guilt was e'er increasing.None can remove sin's poisoned dartOr purify our guileful heart?So deep is our corruption.
  5. 5Yet as the Law must be fulfilledOr we must die despairing,Christ came and hath God's anger stilled,Our human nature sharing.He hath for us the Law obeyedAnd thus the Father's vengeance stayedWhich over us impended.
  6. 6Since Christ hath full atonement madeAnd brought to us salvation,Each Christian therefore may be gladAnd build on this foundation.Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,Thy death is now my life indeed,For Thou hast paid my ransom.
  7. 7Let 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.
  8. 8The Law reveals the guilt of sinAnd makes men conscience-stricken;The Gospel then doth enter inThe sinful soul to quicken.Come to the cross, trust Christ, and live;The Law no peace can ever give,No comfort and no blessing.
  9. 9Faith clings to Jesus' cross aloneAnd 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 supplyThe proof that faith is living.
  10. 10All blessing, honor, thanks, and praiseTo Father, Son, and Spirit,The God that saved us by His grace,-All glory to His merit!O Triune God in heaven above,Who hast revealed Thy saving love,Thy blessed name be hallowed.

Scripture

Topics

In the hymnals

  • Written in 1523, the words are in 22 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →

Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The score is from the Open Hymnal Project (Brian J. Dumont), which places its own work in the public domain. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.

← Back to today's verse