Sola Gratia

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.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this 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 rid me of this dark unrest, and set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone, O God, to me can pardon speak;

they power alone, O Son of God, can this sore bondage break.

No other work, save thine, no other blood will do;

no strength, save that which is divine, can bear me safely through.

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

and with unfaltering lip and hear, I call this Savior mine.

His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in his tomb

each thought of unbelief and 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, my light.

'Tis he who saveth me, and freely pardon gives; 

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

-- Hymn by Horatius Bonar --