Hymn #97: Nothing But the Blood

Lyrics: Robert Lowry, 1876.
Music: PLAINFIELD by Robert Lowry, 1876.
Theme:

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 9:13-14

Hillsong, 2007, singing Nothing But the Blood:

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
The Face of Christ, Detail from the Crucifixion from the Isenheim Altarpiece, circa 1512-16

Refrain:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain
Christ on the Cross, circa 1630

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain

Robert Lowry was a Baptist minister, the first Baptist on this list. Since I’m a Baptist myself at heart, (although I’m temporarily called to an E-free church), I can’t disavow the very Baptist hymns of Mr. Lowry. He also wrote lyrics and tune for: Shall We Gather at the RIver?, Low in the Grave He Lay, and How Can I Keep from Singing?, along with the music for Isaac Watts’s lyrics, Marching to Zion.

Sources:
Robert Lowry by Henry S. Burrage.

4 thoughts on “Hymn #97: Nothing But the Blood

  1. Great blood hymn. In addition to the ones you mentioned, Lowry wrote the music for “I need thee every hour“, “Something for Jesus“, and two of Fanny Crosby’s songs, the Christmas hymn “Glad Tidings” that is popular in Hawai’i(an) as “Nu ‘Oli“, and “All the way my Savior leads me“, may have written both text and tune to “How Can I Keep from Singing?” (perhaps more popular both with Catholics and Quakers than with us Baptists)—at the very least he was the first to publish it—and he did write both text and tune to one of my more obscure favorites (didn’t make my top ten, but hey), Chorus of Fire

  2. Here’s your comment back, sir, all safe and sound. Sometimes my blogging software captures comments that have several links and throws them into a waiting list.

  3. Sherry — how interesting about your church! We are from Houston originally, and Baptist, but now we are in CT. For the last year we’ve been at an E-free church, but I had never

    And I didn’t know this hymn was by a Baptist, but it does fit.

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