Alas, By Nature How Depraved
John Newton, 1725-1807
Alas, by nature how depraved,
How prone to every ill!
Our lives to Satan how enslaved,
How obstinate our will.
And can such sinners be restored,
Such rebels reconciled?
Can grace itself the means afford,
To make a foe a child?
Yes, grace has found the wondrous means,
Which shall effectual prove,
To cleanse us from our countless sins,
And teach our hearts to love.
Jesus for sinners undertakes,
And died that we may live;
His blood a full atonement makes,
And cries aloud, "Forgive."
Yet one thing more must grace provide,
To bring us home to God,
Or we shall slight the Lord who died,
And trample on His blood.
The Holy Spirit must reveal
The Savior's work and worth;
Then the hard heart begins to feel
A new and heavenly birth.
Thus bought with blood, and born again,
Redeemed and saved by grace,
Rebels in God's own house obtain
A son's and daughter's place.
