Stanzas selected by Ronald L. Roper from:
William Gadsby, A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship
(London: Gospel Standard Publications, 1965 [1838])
Words in boldface highlight features of the “penal satisfaction/substitution” theology of the Atonement that these English hymns poetically distill and intend to instill.
(Marginal comments take to task some underlying non-biblical assumptions, sometimes expressed or implied by the larger context, that render erroneous or misleading some otherwise unobjectionable expressions.)
ADAMS
#67
1. Our Jesus loves his dear elect;
With glory they shall all be decked
Before his Father’s face.
Not one of them for whom he bled,
But shall with joy behold their Head,
In heaven their dwelling-place.
3. Their sins upon him all were laid,
And he the dreadful debt has paid,
(A debt no more to pay; )
Their Surety in their law place stood,
Appeased stern Justice with his blood,
And bore their sins away.
ALLEN & BATTY
#415
1. Glory to God on high!
Let earth and skies reply,
Praise ye his name!
His love and grace adore,
Who all our sorrow bore; (where in Scripture?)
Sing aloud evermore,
Worthy the Lamb!
#950
4. Yes, now I know ‘tis he, ‘tis he!
‘Tis Jesus, God’s dear Son,
Wrapt in humanity, to die
For crimes that I had done! (not if substitutionary)
BERRIDGE
#49
1. The law demands a weighty debt,
And not a single mite will bate;
But gospel sings of Jesus’ blood,
And says it made the payment good.
#101
2. He paid thy ransom with his hand, (paid for US, not for our debts)
And every score did quit;
And Moses never can demand
Two payments of one debt.
3. Now justice smiles on mercy sweet,
And looks well reconciled;
Joined hand in hand, they go to meet
And kiss a weeping child
#115
1. Imputed righteousness is strange,
Nor will with human fancies range;
We guess the lurking motive well,
And Paul the hateful truth shall tell.
2. The lofty heart can not submit
To cast itself at Jesus’ feet;
It scorns in borrowed robes to shine,
Though weaved with righteousness divine.
3. Proud nature cries, with loathing eyes,
“This imputation I despise”,
And from it she will pertly start,
Till grace has broken down her heart.
4. O give me, Lord, thy righteousness,
To be my peace and wedding dress!
My sores it heals, my rags it hides,
And makes me dutiful besides.
#146
3. Who then shall reconcile
Such jarring things as these?
Say, how can Justice smile
At Mercy on her knees?
Or how can Mercy lift her head,
If all the legal debt is paid?
4. Jesus, thy helping hand
Has made the contest cease,
Paid off each law demand.
And bought the blest release;
Stern Justice satisfied by thee,
Bids Mercy bring the news to me.
#147
4. Jesus all your debts will pay;
Chase your legal duns away;
Every foe he will subdue—
World, and flesh, and devil too.
#148
2. A judgment bond against me lay,
Law charges, too, which he must pay,
But found a smarting debt.
The garden scene begins his woes,
And fetches agonising throes,
And draws a bloody sweat.
4. He smarts with nails that pierce his feet,
And smarts with hanging all his weight
Upon the accursed tree!
He smarts beneath a Father’s rod,
And roars aloud, “Why, O my God,
Hast thou forsaken me?”
#149
5. The law demanded blood for blood,
And out he lets his vital flood
To pay the mortal debt;
He toils thro’ life, and pants thro’ death,
And cries, with his expiring breath,
“’Tis finish’d,” and complete!
#150
6. Thus covered and fed at thy proper cost, (how “proper”?)
That path I would tread which pleases my host.
Thy patience inherit, thy lowliness prove,
Catch all thy sweet Spirit, and burn with thy love.
#170
5. “Sinner, thou hast done the deed;
Thou hast made the Saviour bleed!
Justice drew its sword on me!
Pierced my heart to pass by thee!
6. “Now I take the deadly cup;
All its dregs am drinking up;
Read my anguish in my gore;
Look, and pierce my heart no more.”
BLAKEWELL & TOPLADY
#931
3. Riches, honour, strength, and blessing,
Thou art worthy to receive;
Loudest praises, without ceasing,
Meet it is for saints to give.
All the bright angelic spirits
Bring their sweetest, noblest lays;
Help to sing the Saviour’s merits; (rather, “worthiness” or “deserts”)
Help to chant the Saviour’s praise.
BRADFORD
#116
2. Mystery of redemption this;
All my sins on Christ were laid;
My offence was reckoned his;
He the great atonement made!
BREWER
#134
4. Indignant Justice stood in view;
To Sinai’s fiery mount I flew;
But Justice cried, with frowning face,
“This mountain is no hiding-place!”
7. On him almighty vengeance fell,
That must have sunk a world to hell;
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus became their Hiding-place.
C. COLE
#984
4. Thus Jesus came the poor to bless,
To clothe them with his righteousness;
The robe is spotless, full, and free;
And why, my soul, why not for thee?
ELLIOTT & TOPLADY
#471
In Christ’s obedience clothe,
And wash me in his blood;
So shall I lift my head with joy
Among the sons of God.
H. FOWLER
#1033
1. In Jesus combine all the riches of grace,
What glory and grandeur I see in his face;
Jehovah’s eternal and co-equal Son,
Took all our transgressions and made them his own.
WILLIAM GADSBY
#521
1. Thanks be to my Head, the great King of kings,
My life from the dead, the death of my sins;
Who took all my woes, and was made sin for me;
Who died, and who rose, and from sin set me free.
#523
3. For me he bore the wrath of God;
For me he in the wine-press trod;
He magnified the law for me,
And I for ever am set free.
#532
4. O vanity extreme!
And base that heart must be
Whose tongue can dare proclaim
The ransomed damned shall be.
The debt is paid; the victory won;
The ransomed shall to Zion come.
#533
3. He came to save her soul from hell,
And bring her home to God;
Her debts and guilt upon him fell;
He made the payment good.
#534
4. Should the law against her roar,
Jesus’ blood still speaks with power,
“All her debts were cast on me,
And she must and shall go free.”
#535
2. We, by nature, are disgraceful;
Nothing but the filth of hell;
All our righteousnesses hateful;
Who can half our baseness tell?
Satan’s captives,
And we loved his service well.
#536
1. Behold a scene of matchless grace,
‘Tis Jesus in the sinner’s place; (as ransom; not as penal substitute)
Heaven’s brightest Glory sunk in shame,
That rebels might adore his name.
2. Tremendous clouds of wrath and dread,
In vengeance burst upon his head;
Ten thousand horrors seize his soul,
And vengeful mountains on him roll.
3. He sighed; he groaned; he sweat; he cried;
Through awful floods he passed and died;
All penal wrath to Zion due,
Infinite justice on him threw.
4. He rose in triumph from the dead;
Justice declared the debt was paid;
Then Christ with kingly grandeur flew,
And took his throne in glory too.
5. Come, saints, with solemn pleasure trace
The boundless treasures of his grace;
He bore almighty wrath for you,
That you might all his glory view.
#537
2. He magnified the law
And made an end of sin;
Without a single flaw,
A righteousness brought in.
Come, mourning souls, in Jesus trust;
His righteousness makes sinners just.
#538
3. In him they stand complete and just;
His righteousness he gives to them;
Of this they sing, of this they boast,
Nor law nor Satan can condemn.
#542
2. All my sins were on him thrown:
He for them did once atone;
He did all my debts discharge,
And has set my soul at large.
#559
5. Justice unsheathed its sword,
“Awake,” the Father cries,
“And smite the Son of God,
My Fellow, from the skies;
Fall on him with thy wrathful power
Nor spare him in the trying hour.”
6. Justice obeyed the word;
The Lord a victim fell;
Shed all his vital blood;
Then spoiled the powers of hell;
He rose and triumphed o’er the grave,
And ever lives the church to save.
#560
1. O thou mighty God and Saviour
Give us faith thy works to trace;
Heavenly Warrior, may we never
From thee turn away our face;
May we view thee,
Standing in our wretched place.
2. Armed with wrath and righteous vengeance,
Justice once unsheathed its sword;
Death and hell were its attendants,
And Jehovah gave the word:
“Smite the Shepherd;
Let my wrath on him be poured.”
3. All obeyed with fixed attention,
And in dreadful troops drew near;
Horrors we can never mention
Seized our Lord and Saviour there;
Armed with vengeance,
Free from either dread or fear.
#561
2. When this almighty Warrior stood
The church’s woes to bear,
Sin, Satan, and the curse of God,
In blazing wrath drew near.
3. He bore their every poisonous dart,
Nor from God’s vengeance fled;
Hell seized his agonised heart,
And lo! he bowed his head.
5. He satisfied the claims of law,
In that tremendous day;
Let saints from hence their comfort draw,
And sing their cares away.
#562
2. That I might be saved from hell,
Vengeance on my Saviour fell;
Bathed in blood was Christ for me;
Loved me from eternity.
#564
1. Dear Lord, forbid that we should boast,
Save in the cross of Christ,
Here may we confidently trust,
And solemnly rejoice.
2. A triune God is here displayed
In all his glorious hue;
Here sinners may approach and live,
Behold and love him too.
3. Here we have power to plead with God,
And call the Lord our own;
With pleasure view our Father sit
Upon a smiling throne.
4. Lose sight of Jesus and his cross,
And soon we fall a prey;
Our lust and pride, by power or craft,
Will carry us away.
5. But when, by faith, the cross we view,
Such is its mighty power,
Though earth and hell unite with sin,
We conquer and adore.
#565
1. Rejoice, and let Christ be thy song,
For he is thy All and in All;
He leads my soul safely along,
In spite of the world, sin, or thrall;
Though poor in myself, yet in him
I’ve riches immense and divine;
Nor can I be brought guilty in,
For Jesus, my Lord, paid the fine.
2. Once I was enveloped in debt,
My poor mind was burdened with sin,
And strove hard to make matters straight,
That I the Lord’s favour might win!
But ah! my soul laboured in vain,
And only the debt did increase,
Which greatly increased my pain,
And filled me with shame and disgrace.
3. I looked to the law for some help,
And hoped it some mercy would show;
But O, my soul trembled, and felt
The law could but doom me to woe,
I saw it too just to forgive;
Too holy at sin to connive;
Then speechless I stood, as if dead,
Nor did I expect a reprieve.
4. But while I stood trembling with fear,
The Saviour of sinners came in,
Who smiled, and said, “Be of good cheer,
I surely will save thee from sin;
I’m Jesus, the First and the Last;
Thy debts have been charged on me—
The future, the present, the past—
And thou shalt for ever go free.”
#566
2. Yes, he is the true paschal Lamb,
Of which all his Israel must eat;
Not sodden, but roast in the flame
Of Sinai’s most horrible heat.
This, this is the true fatted calf
The Father gave orders to kill,
That prodigals might have enough
When feasting on fair Zion’s hill.
#568
2. Complete and all pure in Jesus you are;
Your baseness he bore, and makes you all fair;
Nor Gabriel can boast of a robe more divine,
Than on you is cast, and in which you shall shine.
#569
2. He saw her polluted with sin,
Enveloped in debt and distress;
Determined her heart he would win,
Engaged to save her by grace,
He took all her debts and her woes,
And for her was surely made sin;
He fought and he conquered her foes,
And with him she shall live and reign.
#573
2. In the councils of Jehovah,
He was needed much indeed;
There to stand (a mighty Lover!)
In the church’s room and stead,
As her Surety,
And her everlasting Head.
#576
3. Saved, nor can I be condemned;
Jesus Christ, the sinner’s Friend,
Took my place and vengeance bore,
Me to save for evermore.
#577
2. His love he fixed on me before time began,
Nor will he take from me the love he had then;
Determined to save me, he bore all my guilt;
And rather than lose me his own blood he spilt.
#581
1. I’ll speak forth the love of my Lord,
His praises my tongue shall employ;
He bought me with his precious blood,
Nor Gabriel is loved more than I;
Though pure, he for me was made sin;
Though rich, he for me became poor;
Though free, yet a debtor brought in;
For me he has paid the long score.
#583
3. All the debts I had contracted,
He, in mercy, called his own;
And lest I should be neglected,
Drew me near his gracious throne;
Paid all charges,
Then, and for the time to come.
#591
2. How blest is the man who in Jesus believes
And on him can cast all his cares;
A righteousness full and complete he receives,
That hides all his guilt, sin, and fears.
#592
1. Mighty to save is Christ the Lamb;
Let all the saints adore his name,
And make his goodness known;
With one accord proclaim abroad,
The wonders of their Saviour, God,
Whose blood did once atone.
#603
1. Faith! ‘tis a grace divine,
A gift both rich and free;
‘Twas grace that made this blessing mine,
From guilt to set me free.
4. When saints in darkness roam
With sin and guilt distressed,
Faith in Christ’s righteousness alone
Can set the soul at rest.
#604
6. In him I stand completely just; (but not as a “wearing” of
His heart is my abode; His own proper justness)
Though in myself, at best, but dust,
In him I’ve power with God.
#607
2. The blood and righteousness (better: flawless faithfulness,
Of the incarnate Word; perfect sinlessness, blameless obedience)
The wisdom, truth, and grace,
Of your exalted Lord,
Unite, with one immortal voice,
To bid the saints of God rejoice.
#618
6. When self and nature die,
And all our beauty’s gone,
The Saviour brings us nigh,
To trust in him alone;
‘Tis then we trust his righteousness, (but not as “imputed” to us!)
And rest alone on sovereign grace.
7. Thus Jesus wears the crown;
We gladly trace the power
That brings all nature down,
And leads us to adore
Jesus, the Lord our Righteousness,
Who saves in every deep distress.
#649
3. In the watery grave we see,
Looking through it, Lord, to thee,
Jesus, overwhelmed in blood,
Sunk in wrath’s tremendous flood.
#650
4. Thou didst sink in floods of wrath,
Us to save from guilt and death;
And with such a scene in view,
We would thy commandments do.
#651
1. Jesus, our exalted Saviour,
We adore thy matchless grace;
Thou hast borne our misbehaviour,
Suffered in our wretched place;
Wrath and terror
Sank thy soul in deep disgrace.
2. For us thou hast borne the horrors
Of a sin-avenging God;
Who can understand the sorrows
Of thy soul in wrath’s deep flood?
‘Tis a mystery
Only fully known to God.
#652
4. We come thy name to own,
And solemnly confess,
Thou art our Life, our Joy, our Crown,
Our Strength, and Righteousness. (but not by “imputation” to us)
#656
3. Give us faith to view thee sighing,
Under our tremendous load;
Agonising, groaning, dying,
Overwhelmed in sweat and blood;
Floods of vengeance
Covering our incarnate God.
#657
2. Once in floods of wrath, the Lamb
Sank, and called it baptism;
Overwhelmed was he indeed,
That his chosen might be freed.
#658
4. View the swelling floods of wrath
Sink your Saviour low as death;
Grief him covered like a grave,
When he died, your soul to save.
#659
2. With me upon his heart,
He stooped to bleed and die;
And when my guilt was to him charged,
The charge did not deny.
3. The debt though great, he paid,
That I might be set free;
No charge against me can be brought,
For Jesus died for me.
#662
5. “View him in your wretched place,
Overwhelmed in deep disgrace;
Plunged in horror’s dreadful flood,
The vindictive wrath of God.
#663
2. But O remember him;
View justice, armed with wrath;
The vengeance due to Zion’s sin,
Stung Zion’s Lord to death.
3. In miseries great he sighed;
He groaned; he cried; he bled;
He sank in wrath’s tremendous tide,
And dying, bowed his head.
#667
2. He is my Refuge in each deep distress;
The Lord my strength & glorious righteousness; (not his “imputed” to us)
Through floods and flames he leads me safely on,
And daily makes his sovereign goodness known.
#668
1. Jehovah God! eternal Lord most high!
Permit a worm to bow before thy throne;
A worm deserving endless misery,
But pleads the blood that did for sin atone.
GOSPEL MAG. 1777
#206
1. How sovereign is the love of God
To Israel’s favoured race!
Paid is the mighty debt they owed;
Salvation is of grace.
3. Immanuel had not bled and died,
Nor suffered in our place, (unless as our Ransom, but not penally)
But for this truth (O sound it wide!),
Salvation is of grace.
JOSEPH HART
#104
5. Robes of righteousness imputed
White and whole, clothe the soul,
Each exactly suited.
7. Here is no prevarication;
Justice stands, and demands (on the grounds of Christ’s
Full and free salvation. deserts, not of any alleged “payment for sin”)
#105
3. For all our sins we his may call.
As he sustained their weight;
How huge the heavy load of all,
When only mine’s so great!
6. In this alone I can confide;
Here’s righteousness enough.
What’s all the boast of nature’s pride?
What unsubstantial stuff!
#106
2. “Pull his polluted garments off;
Here, soul, here’s raiment rich enough;
Clothe thee with righteousness divine;
Not creature’s righteousness, but mine.
4. “Sinner, thou stand’st in me complete;
Though they accuse thee, I acquit;
I bore for thee the avenging ire,
And plucked thee burning from the fire.”
#130
2. He is the Son to free;
The Bishop he to bless;
The full Propitiation he;
The Lord our Righteousness; (but not if construed as the
His body’s glorious Head; “imputation of His own” to us)
Our Advocate that pleads;
Our Priest that prayed, atoned, and bled,
And ever intercedes.
4. When sin had sadly made,
‘Twixt wrath and mercy strife,
Our dear Redeemer dearly paid
Our ransom with his life.
Faith gives the full release;
Our Surety for us stood;
The Mediator made the peace,
And signed it with his blood.
#151
6. Thy blood, dear Lord, has bought my peace,
And paid the heavy debt;
Has given a fair and full release,
But I’m in prison yet.
7. Unjustly now these foes of mine
Their devilish hate pursue;
They made my Surety pay the fine,
Yet plague the prisoner too.
8. What right can my tormentors plead,
That I should not be free?
Here’s an amazing change indeed!
Justice is now for me.
#153
6. He stood to strengthen, not to fight;
Justice exacts its utmost mite,
This Victim vengeance will pursue;
He undertook, and must go through.
#156
3. To see thee bowed beneath my guilt;
(Intolerable load!)
To see thy blood for sinners spilt,
My groaning, gasping God!
With sympathising grief to mourn
The sorrows of thy soul:
The pangs and tortures by thee borne
In some degree condole.
#179
2. Jesus, when stern Justice said,
“Man his life has forfeited,
Vengeance follows by decree,”
Cried, “Inflict it all on me.”
#181
2. Unrighteous are they all, when tried;
But God himself declares
In Jesus they are justified;
His righteousness is theirs.
#222
4. Whence is imputed righteousness
A point so little known?
Because men think they all possess
Some righteousness their own.
6. “Empty and bare, I come to thee
For righteousness divine;
O may thy matchless merits be,
By imputation mine.
#237 First Part
4. ‘Tis to hear the Holy Spirit
Prompting us to secret prayer;
To rejoice in Jesus merit (rather, worthiness, just deserts)
Yet continual sorrow bear;
To receive a full remission
Of our sins for evermore,
Yet to sigh with sore contrition,
Begging mercy every hour.
Second Part
2. On the cross thy body broken
Cancels every penal tie,
Tempted souls produce this token,
All demands to satisfy,
All is finished; do not doubt it;
But believe your dying Lord,
Never reason more about it,
Only take him at his word.
#270
2. Bind thy golden girdle round thee,
Truth to keep thee firm and tight;
Never shall the foe confound thee,
While the truth maintains thy fight.
Righteousness within thee rooted
May appear to take thy part;
But let righteousness imputed (not if interpreted as “Christ’s own”)
Be the breastplate of thy heart.
#306
5. Vengeance, when the Saviour died,
Quitted the believer;
Justice cried, “I’m satisfied,
Now, henceforth, for ever.”
“It is finished,” said the Lord,
In his dying minute;
Holy Ghost, repeat the word,
Full salvation’s in it.
#445
1. Join, every tongue, to sing
The mercies of the Lord;
The love of Christ, our King,
Let every heart record.
He saved us from the wrath of God,
And paid our ransom with his blood.
2. What wondrous grace was this!
We sinned, and Jesus dies;
He wrought the righteousness,
And we were justified.
We ran the score to lengths extreme,
And all the debt was charged on him.
3. Hell was our just desert,
And he that hell endured,
Guilt broke his guiltless heart
With wrath that we incurred;
We bruised his body, spilt his blood,
And both became our heavenly food.
#486
2. The struggling Hero, strong to save,
Did all our miseries bear. (but not if “substitutionary”)
Down to the chambers of the grave,
And left the burden there.
4. No more indictments justice draws;(as if it had indicted Christ!)
It sets the soul at large;
Our Surety undertook the cause,
And faith’s a full discharge.
#487
3. The promise is fulfilled;
Salvation’s work is done;
Justice with mercy’s reconciled,
And God has raised his Son.
#488
2. He guilty souls, that groan and grieve,
Hear the glad tidings, hear and live!
God’s righteous law is satisfied,
And justice now is on your side.
3. Your Surety, thus released by God,
Pleads the rich ransom of his blood;
No new demand, no bar remains,
But mercy now triumphant reigns.
#704
1. Lord, we lie before thy feet;
Look on all our deep distress;
Thy rich mercy may we meet;
Clothe us with thy righteousness;
Stretch forth thy almighty hand;
Hold us up, and we shall stand.
#712
5. ‘Tis Justice, with its iron rod,
Inflicting strokes of wrath divine;
‘Tis the avenging hand of God,
Incensed at all your sins and mine.
6. Deep in his breast our names were cut;
He undertook our desperate debt;
Such loads of guilt were on him put,
He could but just sustain the weight.
#774
3. Experience likewise tells us this;
Before the Saviour’s blood
Has washed us clean, and made our peace,
We can do nothing good. (if understood as salvific, true;
4. But here, my friends, the danger lies; but He calls us to good works,
Errors of different kind and we certainly can do those!)
Will still creep in, which devils devise
To cheat the human mind.
6. “’Tis dangerous,” another cries,
“To trust to faith alone;
Christ’s righteousness will not suffice (here wrongly implied to be
Except I add my own.” “imputed” to the sinner who has faith alone)
#780
(3.) Think on what thy Saviour bore
In the gloomy garden,
Sweating blood at every pore,
To procure thy pardon!
See him stretched upon the wood,
Bleeding, grieving, crying,
Suffering all the wrath of God,
Groaning, gasping, dying!
#785
2. When our intolerable load
Upon his soul was laid,
And the vindictive wrath of God
Flamed furious on his head!
9. True, thou hast paid the heavy debt,
And made believers clean,
But he knows nothing of it yet,
Who is not grieved at sin.
#788
2. Now look up with faith and see
Him that bled for you and me.
Seated on his glorious throne,
Interceding for his own.
What can Christians have to fear,
When they view the Saviour there?
Hell is vanquished, heaven appeased,
God is satisfied and pleased.
#789
1. O ye sons of men, be wise;
Trust no longer dreams and lies.
Out of Christ, almighty power
Can do nothing but devour.
2. God, you say, is good. ‘Tis true,
But he’s pure and holy too;
Just and jealous in his ire,
Burning with vindictive fire.
3. This of old himself declared;
Israel trembled when they heard.
But the proof of proofs indeed
Is, he sent his Son to bleed.
4. When the blessed Jesus died,
God was clearly justified,
Sin to pardon without blood
Never in his nature stood.
5. Worship God, then, in his Son;
There he’s love and there alone;
Think not that he will, or may,
Pardon any other way.
6. See the suffering Son of God
Panting, groaning, sweating blood!
Brethren, this had never been
Had not God detested sin.
7. Be his mercy, therefore, sought,
In the way himself has taught; (wrongly implying:
There his clemency is such, “as preceding stanzas teach”!)
We can never trust too much.
#791
9. “See in you cloud what tinctures glow,
And gild the smiling vales below;
So smiles my cheerful soul to see
My God is reconciled to me.”
#792
2. Knowledge of what is right,
How God is satisfied,
A foe received a favourite,
An alien made a child;
#794
8. His body, bathed in sweat and blood,
Showered on the ground a purple flood;
The rich effusion copious ran,
To glad the heart of God and man.
9. Deep in his breast engraved he bore
Our names, with every penal score,
When pressed to earth he prostrate lay;
Shocked at the sum, yet prompt to pay.
10. The fragrant incense of his prayer
To heaven went up through yielding air;
Perfumed the throne of God on high,
And calmed offended Majesty.
#797
6. O what a field of battle’s here;
Vengeance and love their powers oppose!
Never was such a mighty pair;
Never were two such desperate foes.
#802
7. They his followers, with the rest,
Had incurred the wrath divine;
And their Lord, with pity prest,
Longed to bear their loads—and mine;
Love to them, and love to me,
Made him love Gethsemane.
9. Came at length the dreadful night,
Vengeance, with its iron rod,
Stood, and with collected might
Bruised the harmless Lamb of God;
See, my soul, thy Saviour see,
Grovelling in Gethsemane.
13. There my God bore all my guilt;
This through grace can be believed;
But the horrors which he felt,
Are too vast to be conceived.
None can penetrate through thee,
Doleful, dark Gethsemane.
20. Sins against a holy God;
Sins against his righteous laws;
Sins against his love, his blood;
Sins against his name, and cause;
Sins immense as is the sea—
Hide me, O Gethsemane!
21. Here’s my claim, and here alone;
None a Saviour more can need;
Deeds of righteousness I’ve none; (if claimed for salvation, of
No, not one good work to plead; course not, but in response to it?)
Not a glimpse of hope for me,
Only in Gethsemane.
#805
6. Robes of imputed righteousness
Will gain us God’s esteem;
No naked pride, no fig-leaf dress,
How fair soe’er it seem.
7. ‘Tis call’d a robe, perhaps to mean
Man has by nature none;
It grows not native, like our skin,
But is by faith put on.
8. A sinner clothed in this rich vest,
And garments washed in blood,
Is rendered fit with Christ to feast,
And be the guest of God.
#811
3. Then with a single eye
I look to Christ alone;
And on his righteousness rely,
Though I myself have none.
#820
3. Approach his royal board,
In his rich garments clad,
Join, every tongue, to praise the Lord,
And every heart be glad.
4. The Father gives the Son;
The Son his flesh and blood;
The Spirit applies, and faith puts on,
The righteousness of God.
#823
1. Hail, thou Bridegroom, bruised to death,
Who hast the wine-press trod
Of the Almighty’s burning wrath!
Hail, slaughtered Lamb of God,
Melt our hearts with love like thine,
While we behold thee on the tree,
Sweetly mourning o’er each sign,
In memory of thee.
4. Thou, our great Melchisedec,
Bring’st forth thy bread and wine;
Thou hast wrought out, for our sake, (wrongly implies
A righteousness divine, imputationlly)
Send thy blessing from above,
When worms partake, such worms as we,
These rich pledges of thy love,
In memory of thee.
#827
1. Suffering Saviour, Lamb of God,
How hast thou been used?
With the Almighty’s wrathful rod
Soul and body bruised!
#830
5. Bread, thus broken, aptly shows
How his body God did bruise;
When the grape’s rich blood we see,
Lord, we then remember thee.
#836
2. God from the grave has raised his Son;
The powers of darkness are despoiled;
Justice declares the work is done,
And God and man are reconciled.
4. Death his death’s wound has now received;
An end of sin’s entirely made;
Prisoners of hope are quite reprieved,
And all the dreadful debt is paid.
#837
3. In guilt’s dark dungeon when we lay,
Mercy cried, “Spare;” and Justice, “Slay.”
But Jesus answered, “Set them free,
And pardon them and punish me.”
#846
6. The wicked, too, shall rise again,
The difference will be this:
They rise to everlasting pain,
And saints to endless bliss.
#857
1. Jesus Christ, God’s holy Lamb,
We will laud thy lovely name;
We were saved by God’s decree,
And our debt was paid by thee.
#873
4. What would my blood avail, if spilt?
Thou hast in richer blood been paid,
When all my dreadful debt of guilt
Was on my dying Saviour laid.
D. HERBERT
#680
5. All those that God had foreordained,
These shall and must believe;
Not all the craft of earth or hell
Shall one of these deceive.
HUMPHREYS
#55
2. God loved the church, and gave his Son
To drink the cup of wrath;
And Jesus says he’ll cast out none
That come to him by faith.
#80
4. They produce the fruits of grace,
Clothed in Jesus’ righteousness;
Born of God, they hate all sin;
God’s pure seed remains within!
IRONS
#1156
2. What mighty sum paid all my debt,
When I a bondman stood,
And has my soul at freedom set?
‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood.
KELLY
#982
2. Justice, from her awful station,
Bars the sinner’s peace no more;
Justice views with approbation
What the Saviour did and bore;
Grace and mercy
Now display their boundless store.
4. “It is finished!” all is over;
Yes, the cup of wrath is drained;
Such the truth these words discover;
Thus the victory was obtained;
‘Tis a victory
None but Jesus could have gained.
#1012
2. “Himself he cannot save.”
This is his highest praise.
Himself for others’ sake he gave,
And suffers in their place. (only as a Ransom, not penal substitute)
#1116
2. Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,
Was there ever grief like his?
Friends, through fear, his cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress.
Many hands were raised to wound him,
None would interpose to save,
But the awful stroke that found him,
Was the stroke that justice gave.
KENT
#113
1. Who but the soul that’s led to know
How just and holy is the law,
Will to the cross of Christ repair,
And seek salvation only there?
2. Jesus, my soul’s compelled to flee
From all its wrath and curse to thee;
Though oft, thro’ pride, my stubborn will
To Sinai feels a cleaving still.
7. We seek no other blood or name,
To cleanse our guilt and hide our shame,
But that wrought out by Christ the Son,
Which God imputes and faith puts on.
#759
5. In his righteousness confiding, (wrongly implies “by imputation”)
Sheltered safe beneath his wing;
Here they find a sure abiding,
And of covenant mercy sing.
#760
1. All-sufficient is our Jesus,
Though our sins are black as hell;
From pollution he can raise us,
Or from nature’s deepest cell;
He on Calvary
Cancelled all his people’s sin.
#908
3. Sprinkled with blood his conscience is;
He feels the sweets of sin forgiven;
While Jesus’ spotless righteousness (misunderstood as imputed)
Becomes his meetness now for heaven.
5. Sin-burdened soul, with tempest tossed,
Thy bark shall every storm outride;
Grace once received can ne’er be lost,
Nor hell from Christ thy soul divide.
#909
3. Should guilt disturb thy peace,
Or Satan harass thee,
Behold the Saviour’s righteousness,
That sets the guilty free.
#920
2. Ye who find yourselves polluted,
Feel your hearts a sink of sin,
Ye shall have by God imputed,
Righteousness that’s white and clean;
‘Tis the garment
Wove by everlasting love.
3. ‘Tis Jehovah’s own providing;
Better, wisdom can’t devise;
From his eye for ever hiding
Sins of every name and size;
He that wears it
Is by God exalted high.
4. Adam, when the tempter foiled him,
His bright robes were quickly gone;
But this righteousness of Jesus
Once applied, ‘tis always on;
‘Tis their title
To the mansion love ordained.
#994
3. When dangers round her press,
And darkness veils the skies,
She leans upon his righteousness; (misunderstood as imputed)
From thence her hopes arise.
5. She views the covenant sure;
Her hopes all centre there;
And on his bosom leans secure,
Whose temples bled for her.
#1093
3. Jesus, arrayed in mortal form,
Of whom the prophets tell,
On his dear head, O what a storm
Of awful vengeance fell! (but from Satan, not from God!)
#1097
1. A refuge for sinners the gospel makes known;
‘Tis found in the merits of Jesus alone; (rightful deserts, worthiness)
The weary, the tempted, and burdened by sin,
Were never exempted from entering therein.
2. This refuge for sinners his love did ordain,
In Jesus the Lamb, from eternity slain, (misunderstanding of Rev. 13:8)
And if God the Spirit reveal this to you,
Take refuge in Jesus, though hell should pursue.
4. Here’s refuge for sinners, whose guilt shall appear
As black as the confines of endless despair;
Who, stript of all merit whereon to rely, (worthiness)
Are taught by the Spirit to Jesus to fly.
5. Should conscience accuse us, as oft-times it may,
Here’s blood that can take its defilement away.
In Jesus the Saviour, the sinner shall view
A city of refuge and righteousness too. (misapprehended as imputation)
MEDLEY
#174
4. He’s precious in his precious blood,
That pardoning and soul-cleansing flood;
He’s precious in his righteousness,
That everlasting, heavenly dress.
#383
2. The blood, the righteousness, and love
Of Jesus, will we plead;
He lives within the vail above,
For us to intercede,
#979
2. They cannot here contented live
On all the dainties earth can give;
Their souls can feast on nothing less
Than Christ’s eternal righteousness.
4. May this my blest experience be;
To hunger, Lord, and thirst for thee,
And on thy righteousness to live,
Which can both food and comfort give!
E. MOTE
#1106
1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; (rather: faithfulness, sinlessness,
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, obedience, worthiness, innocence)
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
4. I trust his righteous character,
His counsel, promise, and his power.
His honour and his name’s at stake,
To save me from the burning lake.
5. When I shall launch in worlds unseen,
O may I then be found in him,
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
JOHN NEWTON
#119
4. Thus, though a sinner, I am safe;
He pleads, before the throne,
His life and death in my behalf,
And calls my sins his own.
5. What wondrous love, what mysteries,
In this appointment shine!
My breaches of the law are his,
And his obedience mine.
#416
4. Let us wonder! grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store;
When, through grace, in Christ our trust is,
Justice smiles, and asks no more;
He has washed us in his blood;
He has brought us home to God!
STEELE
#95
3. He took the dying traitor’s place
And suffered in his stead;
For man (O miracle of grace!)
For man the Saviour bled.
#1087
1. Was it for sin, for mortal guilt,
The Saviour gave his vital blood;
For sin amazing anguish felt,
The wrath of an offended God?
#1123
3. To suffer in the traitor’s place, (as a Ransom, yes, but not as a
To die for man, surprising grace! “penal substitute”)
Yet pass rebellious angels by—
O why for man, dear Saviour, why?
S. STENNETT
#51
3. The mighty debt his chosen owed
Upon the cross he pays;
Then through the clouds ascends to God,
Midst shouts of loftiest praise.
STEVENS
#242
1. Good hope thro’ grace, the saints possess,
The fruit of Jesus righteousness,
And by his Spirit given’
Faith eyes the promise firm and sure,
And hope expects for evermore
To dwell with Christ in heaven.
2. Good hope is born of sovereign grace,
And lives in Jesus’ righteousness
With faith, and peace, and love;
What faith believes good hope desires,
And after perfect bliss aspires,
In the bright world above.
STEVENS (altered)
#243
5. Arrayed in obedience, all wrought by the Lamb,
By Christ our Jehovah, the ancient I AM;
With boldness we journey, while Christ leads us on,
And hope soon in glory to praise the Three-One.
SWAIN
#159
2. That wrath would have kindled a hell
Of never-abating despair,
In millions of creatures, which fell
On Jesus, and spent itself there.
‘Twas justice that burst in a blaze
Of vengeance on Jesus, our Head;
Divinity’s indwelling rays
Sustained him till nature was dead.
#162
2. My sins, O how black they appear,
When in that dear bosom they meet!
Those sins were the nails and the spear
That wounded his hands and his feet.
‘Twas justice that wreathed for his head
The thorns that encircled it round;
Thy temples, Immanuel, bled,
That mine might with glory be crowned.
AUGUSTUS TOPLADY
#227
1. From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hast thou, O Father, put to grief
Thy spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn me for that debt of sin
Which, Lord, was charged on thee?
2. Complete atonement thou hast made,
And to the utmost farthing paid
Whate’er thy people owed;
How then can wrath on me take place,
If sheltered in thy righteousness,
And sprinkled with thy blood?
3. If thou hast my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine,
Payment God cannot twice demand,
First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,
And then again at mine.
4. Turn, then, my soul, unto thy rest;
The merits of thy great High Priest (worthiness of the Lamb, slain)
Speak peace and liberty;
Trust in his efficacious blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee.
#340
1. A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with thy righteousness on,
My person and offerings to bring.
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Saviour’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.
#472
5. Sweet in his righteousness to stand,
Which saves from second death;
Sweet to experience, day by day,
His Spirit’s quickening breath.
#1103
2. Slain in the guilty sinner’s stead,
His spotless righteousness I plead,
And his availing blood;
His righteousness my robe shall be,
His merit shall atone for me,
And bring me near to God.
TUCKER
#65
3. Though sin and guilt infest them here,
In Christ they all complete appear;
The whole that justice e’er demands
Received full payment from his hands.
ISAAC WATTS
#47
6. But I’ll retire beneath the cross;
Saviour, at thy dear feet I’ll lie!
And the keen sword that justice draws,
Flaming and red, shall pass me by.
#72
2. Who shall adjudge the saints to hell?
‘Tis Christ that suffered in their stead
And the salvation to fulfil,
Behold him rising from the dead!
#92
4. “Stronger than death thy love is known,
Which floods of wrath can never drown;
And hell and earth in vain combine,
To quench a fire so much divine.
#100
2. Bless’d be the Lamb, my dearest Lord,
Who bought me with his blood,
And quenched his Father’s flaming sword
In his own vital flood.
#109
3. And, lest the shadow of a spot
Should on my soul be found,
He took the robe the Saviour wrought,
And cast it all around.
5. The Spirit wrought my faith, and love,
And hope, and every grace;
But Jesus spent his life to work
The robe of righteousness.
#112
1. No more, my God, I boast no more
Of all the duties I have done;
I quit the hopes I held before,
To trust the merits of thy Son
3. Yes, and I must and will esteem
All things but loss for Jesus’ sake;
O may my soul be found in him,
And of his righteousness partake!
#122
7. To this dear Surety’s hand
Will I commit my cause;
He answers and fulfils
His Father’s broken laws.
Behold my soul at freedom set;
My Surety paid the dreadful debt.
#126
5. Justice and truth attend thee still,
But mercy is thy choice;
And God, thy God, thy soul shall fill
With most peculiar joys.
#164
4. The pangs of our expiring Lord,
The honours of thy law restored;
His sorrows made thy justice known,
And paid for follies not his own.
#166
4. But speak, my Lord, and calm my fear;
Am I not safe beneath thy shade?
Thy vengeance will not strike me here,
Nor Satan dares my soul invade.
#167
4. The waves of swelling grief
Did o’er his bosom roll,
And mountains of almighty wrath,
Lay heavy on his soul.
#207
3. But when we view thy strange design
To save rebellious worms,
Where vengeance and compassion join,
In their divinest forms:
4. Here the whole Deity is known,
Nor dares a creature guess
Which of the glories brightest shone—
The justice or the grace.
5. When sinners broke the Father’s laws,
The dying Son atones;
O the dear mysteries of his cross,
The triumph of his groans!
#414
4. All hell and its lions stood roaring around;
His flesh and his spirit with malice they tore,
While oceans of sorrow lay pressing him down,
As vast as the burden of guilt which he bore.
6. Then mention no more of the vengeance of God,
The lions of hell, and their roaring no more;
We lift up our eyes to his shining abode;
Our loudest hosannas his name shall adore!
#473
3. What sinners value I resign;
Lord, ‘tis enough that thou art mine.
I shall behold thy blissful face,
And stand complete in righteousness.
#763
2. Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, thine,
And bathed in its own blood;
While all exposed to wrath divine
The glorious Sufferer stood.
4. Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When God, the mighty Maker, died (slightly askew)
For man, the creature’s sin.
#946
3. The threatenings of the broken law
Impress our souls with dread;
If God his sword of vengeance draw,
It strikes our spirits dead.
4. But thy illustrious sacrifice
Has answered these demands;
And peace and pardon from the skies
Come down by Jesus’ hands.
#1095
2. ‘Tis by the merit of thy death
The Father smiles again;
‘Tis by thy interceding breath,
The Spirit dwells with men.
CHARLES WESLEY
#161
1. The Lord in the day of his anger did lay
Our sins on the Lamb, and he bore them away.
He died to atone for our sins, not his own;
The Father has punished for us his dear Son.
2. With joy we approve the design of his love;
‘Tis a wonder below and a wonder above.
Our Ransom, our Peace, and our Surety he is;
Come, see if there ever were sorrow like his.
#408
3. Their daily delight shall be in thy name;
They shall, as their right, thy righteousness claim.
Thy righteousness wearing, and cleansed by thy blood,(slightly askew)
(slightly askew)Bold shall they appear in the presence of God.
#688
1. Ye that pass by, behold the man!
The Man of griefs condemned for you; (by sinners and Satan, not by God)
The Lamb of God for sinners slain,
Weeping to Calvary pursue.
CHARLES WESLEY (COUNT ZINZENDORF)
#103
1. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
5. This spotless robe the same appears,
When ruined nature sinks in years;
No age can change its glorious hue;
The robe of Christ is ever new.
6. O let the dead now hear thy voice;
Bid, Lord, thy banished ones rejoice;
Their beauty this, their glorious dress,
Jesus, the Lord our righteousness.
ZION’S TRUMPET, 1838
#1118
3. Hear his groans, till he, expiring,
Cries triumphant, “It is done;”
Bearing all the wrathful anger
Which to us was due alone.
4. What is love? My soul would echo
With the saints in heaven above,
Who, through Jesus, gone to glory,
Sing in concert, “This is love!”
UNKNOWN
#1120
1. Not worthy, Lord, we must confess,
That we of children’s bread should taste,
Yet, trusting in thy righteousness, (misunderstood not as God’s justice
We venture to the gospel feast; that thereby raised Jesus from the dead,
The bread we ask which comes from heaven, but as Christ’s, “imputed”)
O let some blessed crumbs be given.
2. Lord, set thy cross before our eyes,
With all its wondrous toil and smart;
And feast us on thy sacrifice,
And show our names upon thy heart;
Till faith cry out, “I Jesus view,
I trust him now, and feel him too.”
Ronald Lee Roper
Analyzed summer, 2007
Compiled October 20, November 2-8, 2007
Posted September 2016
The Premial Atonement 