If you were able to travel the wintry roads or view our service online this past Sunday, you saw that during the month of February, our church is learning a new hymn: “All Sufficient Merit.” I believe I first heard this song at the Sing Conference in Nashville, Tennessee a couple of years ago, very shortly after the song was made public. Shane and Bethany Barnard, along with Bryan Fowler, put together this incredibly rich text with an easily singable and recognizable melody. 

 

By simply reading the lyrics, you might think that John Newton or Isaac Watts had a part in it. They don’t shy away from deep doctrinal truths. Even the phrase, “All Sufficient Merit,” takes some time to ponder. The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2:8-9, says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” 

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And while today, the connotation for the word “condescended” is largely negative, hymnwriters and theologians have described the first coming of Jesus with this word—He literally “came down to be with us” as the God-Man (John 1:1-14). That’s what “condescended” has meant historically and theologically. Verse 3 gets into beautiful teaching of what Martin Luther liked to call “the Great Exchange”--our sins for Christ’s righteousness. Another modern hymn, “His Robes for Mine,” attends to this reality. 

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And like some of the greatest hymns in history, the final verse anticipates the glorification promised to those in Christ. As Pastor Joel leads us to consider how we can be on gospel mission, and be all about the gospel, may these words resonate in your heart. They don’t just apply to your unsaved neighbor; they are for you (Christian) to dwell on. 

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Verse 1
All sufficient merit shining like the sun
A fortune I inherit by no work I have done
My righteousness I forfeit at my Savior’s cross
Where all sufficient merit did what I could not

Verse 2
In love He condescended eternal now in time
A life without a blemish the Maker made to die
The law could never save us our lawlessness had won
Until the pure and spotless Lamb had finally come

Verse 3
I lay down my garments any empty boast
Good works now all corrupted by the sinful host
Dressed in my Lord Jesus a crimson Robe made white
No more fear of judgment His righteousness is mine

Verse 4
All sufficient merit firm in life and death
The joy of my salvation shall be my final breath
When I stand accepted before the throne of God
I’ll gaze upon my Jesus and thank Him for the cross
Yes I’ll thank You for the cross

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Chorus 1
It is done it is finished
No more debt I owe
Paid in full all sufficient
Merit now my own

 

In Christ,

Pastor John Wiley