Doing or Done – Which is it?
How clear is the sound which the trumpeter gives,
That when a poor sinner believeth, he lives;
He has done with his nature, condition, and birth,
No longer belongeth to Adam or earth;
He is born of the Spirit, because he has heard
The truth of salvation, as preached in the Word;
Received in his heart all its gladness and peace,
And life incorruptible, never to cease!
Never to lose what our God once imparts
Is indeed a rich comfort to gladden our hearts:
How ample the pardon a sinner receives,
The moment by faith he in Jesus believes.
A sinner’s not saved by his penitent tears,
Although they may flow for a number of years.
Salvation comes not through a sorrowful flood,
For scripture declares, it is faith in the blood:
It is not by sorrow, repentance, or pain,
Or making confession again and again;
Nor is it by love, or by service, or prayer,
Or an agonised feeling that leads to despair;
Though each has its place, and each has its springs,
Out of their places they are mischievous things.
Whatever poor nature produces within,
Can never remove from the conscience a sin;
‘Twas the blood of atonement that put it away,
And God in His mercy has written to say,
That all who believe in the work of His Son
(By whom the great work of redemption was done),
Are saved everlastingly, saved by His grace,
Have a title to glory which nought can erase;
Are brought into liberty, blessing, and joy;
Which time cannot alter, nor Satan destroy.
Then cease from your labours, and give up your toil,
They bring you no peace, but His purposes foil;
He needs not your silver, He asks not your gold,
He has done with the offerings from herd and from fold:
But what He is doing in marvellous grace,
Is saving such sinners as haven’t a trace
Of goodness or truth; who are horribly bad,
And making their hearts, too, so thoroughly glad,
Because they believe on His well belov’d Son,
And are resting entirely on what He has done.
And thus they are clothed (as befitted a bride)
In the glory and beauty of Him who once died;
And then they can labour, and spend, and be spent,
For this is God’s purpose and gracious intent;
We ought not to faint in the labour of love,
Until we are called to the glory above.
In the work of redemption He laboured alone,
The judgment was His – be the glory His own:
The work of salvation is finished! Complete!
And Christ in the glory has taken His seat;
And that’s where a sinner, believing, finds rest,
Which death cannot hinder, nor Satan molest.
As momentoes of grace we are left on the earth,
To show forth His grace and His infinite worth.
And all through the journey are kept by His power.
Yea, kept by our God to that marvellous hour,
When the Lord our Redeemer descends in the air,
And we His redeemed ones shall meet Him up there.
Be this, then, our glory wherever we go
To tell of His goodness to sinners below –
To bear on our banners wherever we run,
“The work of redemption by Jesus IS DONE!”
Done once and for ever, by Jesus alone;
The proof “It is finished” – He’s now on the throne,
And the sinner, believing, by sin once enslaved,
God declareth is free, everlastingly saved.
G.C.
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