My Sins Are Blotted Out

Words: Merrill Everett Dunlop (b. May 9, 1905; d. June 15, 2002)
Music: Merrill Everett Dunlop

Note: The Cyber Hymnal does not include the hymn, as of the writing of this post. It does have a picture and a brief note on the writer/composer, Merrill Dunlop. The story of how the song came to be written is found at the Wordwise Hymns link.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

It’s one of the great truths of Scripture that, by His grace, God has provided a way for our sins to be forgiven, and our record wiped clean. Peter preached, early in Acts, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). That concept of blotting out the record of our sins can be traced through the Old Testament too. (Though this was anticipatory, and was only made possible by the death of Christ on Calvary, yet to come.)

“Blotted out.” It’s a term that means wiped out, erased, or obliterated. Our sins are completely gone from the record that was against us. After his terrible sins of adultery and murder, David prayed, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions….Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities” (Ps. 51:1, 9).

In a prophetic vision of the future restoration of Israel, Isaiah wrote of God saying, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins….I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you” (Isa. 43:25; 44:22). “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12).

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I Jn. 1:7; cf. Eph. 1:7). That is the wonderful truth of it, proclaimed in the opening stanza of Merrill Dunlop’s gospel song:

What a wondrous message in God’s Word!
My sins are blotted out, I know!
If I trust in His redeeming blood,
My sins are blotted out, I know!

My sins are blotted out, I know!
My sins are blotted out, I know!
They are buried in the depths of the deepest sea:
My sins are blotted out, I know!

Mr. Dunlop’s second stanza looks back at the “before” and rejoices in the “afterward” of God’s great salvation.

Once my heart was black, but now what joy,
My sins are blotted out, I know!
I have peace that nothing can destroy,
My sins are blotted out, I know!

And finally there’s the knowledge that the believer is heaven-bound. A salvation that only gave a measure of satisfaction in this life would be no salvation at all. We look forward to being ushered into the presence of God, and joining in a great song of praise with all the redeemed, a delight that will be repeated endlessly.

I shall stand some day before my King,
My sins are blotted out, I know!
With the ransomed host I then shall sing:
“My sins are blooded out, I know!”

Question:

1. What does the image of sins being “blotted out” convey to you?
2. How do we “know” this has actually happened?

Links:

• 9 May 1905 – Merrill Dunlop Born
• Merrill Dunlop (The Cyber Hymnal)