Jesus Paid it All
One of the 94 hymns we sing together at Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church on the Gold Coast. Browse the full hymnbook.
Lyrics
Verse 1
I hear the Saviour say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Verse 2
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Verse 3
For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Verse 4
And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
I’ll rejoice with all my might,
I am now divinely blest.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Verse 5
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
My lips shall still repeat.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Behind the Hymn
"Jesus Paid It All" was written by Elvina Mable Hall in 1865 while she sat in the choir loft of the Monument Street Methodist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. During a long communion service, Hall was so moved by the meditation on Christ's sacrifice that she began writing the poem on the flyleaf of her hymnal. Her pastor, John T. Grape, happened to have just composed a new tune he called "All to Christ" and found that Hall's lyrics fit his melody perfectly — a coincidence both regarded as providential. The hymn's central declaration — that Jesus has paid humanity's entire sin debt and that nothing we can add to His finished work will make us more acceptable to God — is a clear statement of the Reformation doctrine of grace alone. The vivid image of sin's crimson stain being washed "white as snow" draws from Isaiah 1:18 and has resonated with believers for over 150 years. Hall was not a professional hymn writer but a laywoman whose single moment of inspired writing produced one of the most enduring hymns of the faith.