By Grace Alone
Paul H. Treick, 1987
Tune: Melita
You are our God, and we your race,
elected by your sovereign grace.
Not by the works which we have done
but by the cross the victory’s won.
O keep this truth within our heart
that from it we may ne’er depart.
By nature we depraved did dwell
under your curse, deserving hell;
sinful, corrupt in every part,
not one pure motive in our heart.
Had you not looked on us in grace
we would remain a perished race.
In love eternal, you did choose
to save your sheep, their bonds to loose.
No good did we within us have
to claim your gracious plan to save.
Elected by your grace alone,
holy to stand before your throne!
Incarnate did your Son appear,
a sacrifice, a lamb most pure,
to make atonement for his sheep
and perfectly your will to keep.
Now cleansed from sin, and righteous, we
are sons and heirs eternally.
The blood of Christ by grace supplied
was by your Spirit’s power applied.
Your Spirit we could not resist
who breathed new life into our breast.
Our souls alive which once were dead
sing praise to Christ, the Lord, our Head.
With all your saints we are preserved
to enter heav’n, a place reserved.
Secure we’re kept within your care
lest we be lost to Satan’s snare.
O sovereign God, our praise we raise
for our salvation, full and free.
This hymn of thanks, O Lord, we bring,
for by your grace alone we sing.
Employ our lives in every sphere
your law to keep, your Name to fear.
“By grace alone” – this doctrine pure –
our only comfort does secure.
Amen.
This hymn was written as a confession of the doctrine of God’s sovereign grace. The first stanza is an introduction and the last a conclusion. Stanzas two through six contain the basic teachings of the five points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and the Perseverance of the Saints.
This hymn may be sung to the tune of “Melita,” commonly known as “Eternal Father, strong to save…”
Blog post content is taken from Rev. Paul Treick’s book, Faith of Our Fathers, Living Still: A Study of the Five Points of Calvinism, available for purchase. It is posted with the gracious permission of the author.
If you’d like to read the blog series from the beginning, start here.