November 11, 2012

Today a beautiful “Ephesians 2:8” song by Horatius Bonar:

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;

Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.

Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;

Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;

Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.

No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;

No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease the weight of sin;

Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.

Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,

Can ride me of this dark unrest, and set my spirit free.

I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;

And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.

His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb

Each thought of unbelief of fear, each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;

He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my joy and light.

’Tis He who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;

I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.

I love the unwitting analogies to the solas of the Reformation . . . Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone. This song talks of “Your voice alone” and “Your power alone” and mentions that nothing we can physically do can necessitate salvation. Horatius Bonar, Scottish-born, wrote this lovely song in 1861.

(c) 2012 Joyously Saved