Paulus Speratus (circa 1484-1554) wrote “To us salvation now is come” (Es ist das Heil uns kommen her) from a prison cell, imprisoned for his beliefs. His theology of faith shines through in his phrasing in stanzas such as:
- “Faith looks to God’s beloved Son”
- “A faith whose light will shine abroad”
- “A holy faith that works by love”
- “By faith in him...Yes, I receive...”
- “Faith is wrought with power”
- “False is the faith that shuns the light”
This hymn is founded on Romans 3:28 (Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.). Historians believe the hymn was probably written in the autumn of 1523, during his imprisonment at Olmütz. It was printed in the Etlich Cristlich Lider in 1524. It included this statement: “A hymn of Law and Faith, powerfully furnished with God’s Word. Doctor Paul Speratus.”
Speratus began religious ministry as a Catholic priest in Swabia, but by 1521 he was following Luther in the Protestant Reformation. The Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him in 1522, and in 1523 he was imprisoned and condemned to death by burning. Friends were able to secure his release on condition he leave the country. He joined Luther in Wittenberg and soon contributed three hymns to the 8-hymn hymn book Achtliederbuch (Etlich Cristlich Lider).
1. To us salvation now is come,
God’s wondrous grace revealing;
Works never can avert our doom,
They have no power of healing.
Faith looks to God’s beloved Son,
Who has for us deliv’rance won—
He is our great Redeemer!
2. What God’s most holy precept claims
No child of Adam renders;
But from the throne dread vengeance flames,
And speaks the curse in thunders.
The flesh ne’er prompts those pure desires
That ’bove all else the Law requires—
Relief by Law is hopeless!
3. ’Tis then a vain delusive dream
That God the law has given,
That we thereby reward might claim,
And earn our way to heaven:
But ’tis a glass, where we descry
How many sins in ambush lie,
And in our flesh are hiding.
4. By our own strength to put aside
God’s wrath, and win his blessing,
The task, though many oft have tried,
Is but our guilt increasing:
For God hypocrisy abhors,
And flesh with goodness ever wars,—
’Tis, in its nature, evil.
5. But all the Law must be fulfilled,
Or we must sink despairing;—
Then came the Son—so God had willed,—
The human nature sharing,
For us the Law’s demands obeyed,
And thus his Father’s vengeance stayed,
Which over us impended.
6. With all the Law ’tis now complied
By one could well obey it:
Each humble soul, now justified
By faith in him, may say it—
“Yes, I receive thee, gracious Lord,
“Thy death to me shall life afford,
“For me is paid the ransom!”
7. “Here all excuse for doubt were vain,
“Thy truth cannot deceive me,
“And thou hast said,—in words so plain,
“No room for doubt they leave me,—
“‘Whoso shall humbly trust my name
“‘To save his soul from guilt and shame,
“‘Is heir to my salvation.’”
8. This faith—whose heart is right with God,
And he alone can know it;
A faith whose light will shine abroad,
While holy works shall show it:
’Tis one God will himself approve,
A holy faith that works by love,
Art thou of God ;begotten?—
9. Then by the Law will sin be shown,
Thy soul its guilt deploring,—
Till grace too make her message known,
To hope thy soul restoring;—
She says—“In Christ are sinners blest,
“In him, not in the Law,—is rest;”—
Thus faith is wrought with power.
10. From faith in Jesus that is right,
Good works are always flowing;
False is the faith that shuns the light,
On works no care bestowing:
E’en if true faith alone could live,
It needs good works the proof to give
That it is true and saving.
11. Hope, though deferred, let none destroy,—
God’s ;promise is abiding:
What day our hope shall end in joy—
Most wisely he is hiding.
He knows the fittest time to give,
His promise never can deceive—
With him we will may leave it.
12. Nor, when thy wishes may be crossed,
Thy confidence give over;
E’en when thy good he’s seeking most,
His purpose he may cover:
Though flesh and sense may oft reprine,
His word of grace is ever thine,—
On this repose securely.
13. Now to the God of matchless grace,
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
We lift our highest songs of praise,
All praise his favors merit.
His promised grace he will perform,
And save us by his mighty arm,—
His worthy name be hallowed!
14. Thy kingdom come! thy will be done
On earth as done in heaven:
Give us our bread, each day its own!
And be our debts forgiven;
As we our debtors shall forgive!
Far from temptation may we live!
From evil save—So be it!
The English translation was made by Henry Mills, and published in his Horae Germanicae; A Version of German Hymns (Auburn, NY: H. & J. C. Ivison, 1845), hymn 22 on pages 44-48 – titled “Salvation by Faith.” In his “Advertisement,” Mills wrote that the book of translations was “offered as ‘a specimen’ of an almost boundless store of German hymns…”
Henry B. Mills, the son of John Mills, was born at Morris Township, New Jersey, March 12, 1786. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister and Professor of Biblical Criticism and Oriental Languages at the Auburn Theological Seminary in Auburn, New York. He married Maria Barkins. Mills died at Auburn, June 10, 1867 and is buried at the North Street Cemetery in Auburn, Cayuga County, New York.
Sometimes the following stanza is included with the hymn, though it is not from the translation of Mills.
Now to the God of matchless grace,
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
We lift our highest songs of praise,
Our praise his favors merit.
All he has said he will perform,
And save us by his mighty arm,—
His worthy name be hallow’d!
To Father, Son, and Spirit,
We lift our highest songs of praise,
Our praise his favors merit.
All he has said he will perform,
And save us by his mighty arm,—
His worthy name be hallow’d!
