What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.Refrain
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.Refrain
Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.Refrain
This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.Refrain
Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.Refrain
Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.Refrain
Why hasn’t this hymn been banned in the PCA? Why is it in our hymnal?
I was just reading Ernest Kevin’s The Grace of the Law which is published by Soli Deo Gloria. You should pick up a copy, or re-read it if you have it. I found it to be a helpful wakeup call and a very telling historical record.
Thanks to a certain paper, my ears have become very sensitized to this sort of thing. It’s astounding how prevalent this is in our hymndoy.
One *might* argue that the ‘life of the flesh is in the blood’ and so that the display of the blood of Jesus is a form of life-merit pleading, to be distinguished from the death on the cross that pays for sin’s guilt.
The hymn does say “all” my righteousness, though, but you could still claim that the blood of jesus is a synedoche for his meritorious life.