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| 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. 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. It is done, it is finished, no more debt I owe. Paid in full, all sufficient merit now my own. | I lay down my garments, any empty boast. Good works now all corrupted By the sinful host. I’m dressed in my Lord Jesus, A crimson robe made white. No more fear of judgment, His righteousness is mine. 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. |
Jesus, speaking to the lukewarm church in Laodicea, says this in Revelation 3:17, “For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked” (CSB). We may not be so bold as the Laodiceans to admit this outright, but too often our actions exemplify a puffed up pride; we don’t need God, we can get by just fine on our own. O, what arrogance!
Recall the lyric: “A fortune I inherit by no work I have done.” And another: “Good works now all corrupted by the sinful host.” The beauty of Shane and Bethany Barnard’s and Bryan Fowler’s “All Sufficient Merit” is that the hymn is quick to make sure that us in Christ have no merit for salvation apart from Christ’s finished work. It’s His righteousness that is given to us. The salvation we call our own was not earned, but gifted. What a joy! We can look at our lives– the sin, the hurt, the shame– and we can joyfully say that we are saved not because of the good works corrupted by our sin, but by the blood of Jesus! Paul writes to Titus that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5 NKJV). Thus we can boldly declare: “It is done, it is finished! No more debt I owe. Paid in full, all sufficient merit now my own!”
Merciful and gracious God, we thank You for the righteousness of our Lord Jesus. We have given Him our sin, and He has given us His righteousness. The salvation we possess is not by any work we have done. No good works can save us, because even a little leaven leavens the whole lump. But thank You for such a precious gift in the gospel. We cannot save ourselves from the punishment of sin, but You have provided a way through our Lord. Thank You for the cross. Amen.