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Elvina Hall

Jesus Paid It All

Words: Elvina Mable Hall (b. June 4, 1822; d. July 18, 1889)
Music: All to Christ I Owe, by John Thomas Grape (b. May 6, 1835; d. Nov. 2, 1915)

Note: In later years, Elvina Mable Hall married Thomas Meyers, a Methodist clergyman. (Some resources spell her middle name Mabel.)

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

The story of how this hymn came to be written is told in the linked article below. The Cyber Hymnal adds some detail, giving us an account from the pen of John Grape, the composer of the tune. (The hymn to which he refers, also called “Jesus Paid It All,” but written by William Bradbury, must be a different selection entirely.) He wrote the tune All To Christ I Owe for that hymn. It was Pastor Schreck who later found that the melody matched Mrs. Hall’s words perfectly.

Beautifully simple, and simply beautiful! That’s how I would describe this hymn. It says what it needs to say, what is important to say, without unnecessary frills. It should be used often–and is especially suited to the Lord’s Supper. The hymn expresses the heart of the gospel.

  • That all are sinners, lost, and headed for eternal destruction (Rom. 3:10-11, 23)
  • That we are unable to save ourselves by our own efforts (Rom. 4:4-5; 5:6; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:5-6).
  • That God, in wonderful grace and love, sent His beloved Son to take upon Himself the penalty for our sins (Rom. 6:23; I Cor. 15:3; Eph. 1:7; I Pet. 2:24).
  • That now, through faith in Christ and His finished Calvary work, we can have full forgiveness, and receive the gift of eternal life (Jn. 3:16; Acts 16:30-31; Rom. 3:24-26).
  • That this is the only way of salvation (Jn. 3:18, 36; 14:6; Acts 4:12; I Cor. 3:11; I Jn. 5:11-12)

When Christ cried from the cross, “It is finished!” (Jn. 19:30), what He said was one word in the Greek language. “Tetelestai!” Tax receipts have been found that had the word written across them to indicate the debt was “Paid in full!” From the lips of the Saviour, it was a cry of victory. His death on the cross paid the debt we owe in full. Not in part, with something to be made up by penance, or our own good works. In full (Isa. 53:6; I Jn. 2:2).

The hymn uses the cleansing of a leper, by the power of Christ ((4), cf. Matt. 8:2-3) as a picture of the cleansing power of the gospel. And the cleansing of garments (2) is reminiscent of the Bible’s teaching that we are clothed in Christ, as in a glorious white robe of righteousness (Gal. 3:26-27; Rev, 1:5).

‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’.

Isa. 1:18

Most hymn books only use four of Elvina Hall’s original six stanzas. Below are the other two. Again, she takes up the imagery of a robe (3), as does Nicolaus von Zinzendorf in the hymn Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness. (Note also that the final stanza, as printed today, has been slightly altered from the original.)

(3) And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

(5) When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

Questions:

  1. Someone has said that salvation is not a “do” but a “done.” What is meant by this?
  2. If we are not saved (even in part) by our own good works, that raises some important questions.
    • Does it really matter how we live? Can you give one or more reasons why Christian conduct matters (cf. Eph. 4:1, 30; 5:8; I Pet. 1:15)?
    • If good works are not the means of our salvation, how do they fit into the picture (Eph. 2:8-10; Tit. 3:8)?

Links:

Today in 1820 – Elvina Hall Born

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Sitting in the choir loft one August Sunday morning, Elvina Mabel Hall listened to Rev. George Schreck offering the pastoral prayer. As he prayed on, her mind began to wander (has that every happened to you?). She thought of the cross of Christ and its meaning to her. Then, taking her hymn book, she turned to a blank page at the beginning and jotted down the words of a simple poem. Later, it was discovered that those words exactly fit a tune written earlier by the church organist. And that is how the hymn Jesus Paid It All was born!

The song expresses a wonderful truth. That when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary He took upon Himself the punishment for all sin. As the Bible puts it, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). “And He Himself is the propitiation [the full satisfaction of God’s justice] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (I Jn. 2:2).

But does that mean everyone is automatically saved? No, it doesn’t. The payment has to be accepted personally. If someone offers you a cheque, you don’t get the benefit of it until you take it and cash it. It has your name on it, but it’s not yours to benefit from until you accept it. We do that in spiritual terms by trusting in what Jesus did for us on the cross.

That is what John 3:16 is saying: “God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And “you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). In the words of Mrs. Hall’s hymn:

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.

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…

(2) There Is a Balm in Gilead (Data Missing)

This is another of those traditional Spirituals whose origins are lost in the mists of time. The inspiration for the text is taken from the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there?” (Jer. 8:22).

Gilead was famous for a medicinal salve made from the gum of the storax tree. And it was available close by, just east of the Jordan River. The expression became proverbial. The balm (or ointment) is used as a symbol of God’s power to cleanse and restore His sinful people, if only they would reach out to Him.

The southern kingdom of Judah had backslidden, and they faced the painful chastisement of God (destruction and captivity at the hands of the Babylonians). But it was not as if there was no remedy available. They needed to turn to God in repentance and faith. The healing balm for sinners today is Christ and His saving work on the cross.

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

Here is the inimitable Paul Robeson, singing his version of the song. (Note that the refrain of the song comes first.)

Paid in Full (Jesus Paid It All)

Jesus Paid It All was written under unusual circumstances. Did your mind ever wander during a Sunday service? Perhaps you started thinking about other things–maybe what occurred last week, or plans for the coming week or what you will be doing later that day. Something like that happened to the writer of a familiar hymn.

PAID

On a hot summer Sunday morning in 1865, Mrs. Elvina Hall (1820-1889) was found in her accustomed place in the church choir loft. But as the pious words of the Reverend Schrick’s prayer droned on and on, her thoughts drifted to other things. She pondered the meaning of the cross, and the storied scene flashed before her mind’s eye.

High upon a rocky crag, three crosses scarred the afternoon sky. On the outer gibbets, hung two notorious thieves. Below, Roman soldiers drank and gambled, waiting for death to overtake the poor wretches suspended above them. It was a public execution, but far more significant than they imagined at the time. Suddenly, the air grew dense and an eerie darkness invaded the scene.

As the soldiers gazed about them in superstitious dread, a triumphant cry pierced the gloom. It came from the figure on the centre cross. One word, in the Greek tongue: “Tetelestai!” Then He was dead. That shout of victory Christ uttered as He died is usually translated “It is finished!” (Jn. 19:30). But it had another meaning back then. It was an accounting term. When a bill was paid, it was commonly stamped with the word “Tetelestai,” meaning Paid in Full.

And that is precisely what the death of Christ accomplished. “[He] bore our sins in His own body on the tree,” says Peter (I Pet. 2:24). “He Himself is the propitiation [the full satisfaction of God’s justice] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world,” (I Jn. 2:2). The groaning weight of all the world’s sin was laid on Christ at Calvary. He bore it in our place.

As the pastor’s prayer continued, Mrs. Hall took up her hymn book and, turning to a blank page inside the cover, she began to write. Afterward, she presented the pastor with some simple lines of poetry–not likely telling him when they were written! Glancing at them, the pastor was reminded of something that had happened just that week. The church organist, John Grape (1835-1915) had composed a new hymn tune, with no words in mind. He passed it on to Pastor Schrick, suggesting they might find a use for it in future.

Stepping into his study, the pastor laid Mrs. Hall’s poem next to the lines of music. In surprise, he saw they fit one another like hand in glove. “Indeed, God works in mysterious ways!” he thought. (Little did he know!) The words and tune have been partners ever since, in the hymn, “Jesus Paid It All.”

Through the song, we confess our inability to save ourselves, and our utter dependence on what Christ accomplished on the cross. “Nothing good have I / Whereby Thy grace to claim— / I’ll wash my garments white / In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb. / And when, before the throne, / I stand in Him complete, / ‘Jesus died my soul to save,’ / My lips shall still repeat.” The refrain emphasizes the “paid in full” value of the cross. “Jesus paid it all, / All to Him I owe; / Sin had left a crimson stain, / He washed it white as snow.”

That is the gospel of grace–that God, in love, did for us what we could not do for ourselves. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son [to die in the sinner’s place], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16)–because Jesus paid it all. Tetelestai! Paid in full!