Salvation unto us has come
By God's free grace and favor.
Good works cannot avert our doom;
They help and save us never.
Faith looks to Jesus christ alone,
Who did for all the world atone;
He is the one redeemer.
What God does in his law demand
And none to him can render,
Brings wrath and woe on ev'ry hand
For man, the vile offender.
Our flesh has not those pure desires
The spirit of the law requires,
And lost is our condition.
It is a false, misleading dream
That God his law has given
That sinners can themselves redeem
And by their works gain heaven.
The law is but a mirror bright
To bring the inbred sin to light
That lurks within our nature.
Yet as the law must be fulfilled
Or we must die despairing,
Christ came and has God's anger stilled,
Our human nature sharing.
He has for us the law obeyed
And thus the father's vengeance stayed
Which over us impended.
Since christ has full atonement made
And brought to us salvation,
Each christian therefore may be glad
And build on this foundation.
Your grace alone, dear lord, I plead;
Your death is now my life indeed,
For you have paid my ransom.
All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise
To father, son, and spirit,
The God who saved us by his grace
All glory to his merit!
O triune God in heav'n above,
You have revealed your saving love;
Your blessed name be hallowed!