Jesus Paid It All
Jesus Paid It All (also known as Fullness in Christ and I hear the Saviour say and Christ All and in All) is a traditional American hymn about the penal substitutionary atonement for sin by the death of Jesus. The song references many Bible verses, including Romans 5 ("Jesus' sacrifice gives life") and Isaiah 1:18 ("a crimson flow").[1]
| Jesus Paid It All | |
|---|---|
| Hymn by John Grape | |
![]() "Jesus Paid It All" as published in 1868 | |
| Other name | "Fullness in Christ" "I hear the Saviour say" "Christ All and in All" |
| Text | by Elvina M. Hall |
| Composed | 1865: Baltimore, Maryland |
| Publisher | Professor Theodore Perkins in Sabbath Carols periodical |
The song lyrics were written in 1865 by Elvina M. Hall, a 47-year-old, widowed congregant, who was listening to a church sermon and prayer and penned the words on the back of a hymnal while sitting in a choir loft in at the Monument Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland, and she gave the lyrics to her pastor, Rev. George W. Schreck (or Rev. S. Barnes[2]), at the end of the church service.[3] Coincidentally, that same week the church organist (and coal merchant), John Grape (1835-1915), shared some new music, entitled "All To Christ I Owe," with the same pastor who thought the lyrics and song fit well together.[4][5] Hall and Grape worked to finish the hymn together, and then "[a]t Schreck's urging, they sent the hymn to Professor Theodore Perkins, publisher of the Sabbath Carols periodical, where it received its first publication. It has been a favorite of many American Christians ever since."[6] The song has been covered by many notable musicians, including Lory Bianco and Colton Dixon.
References
- Wright, Vince (2019-04-21). "Elvina Hall – Jesus Paid It All". The Berean Test. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
- Edwin McKean Long, Illustrated History of Hymns and Their Authors: Facts and Incidents of the Origin, Authors, Sentiments and Singing of Hymns, Which, with a Synopsis, Embrace Interesting Items Relating to Over Eight Hundred Hymn-writers(1876), p. 62
- "Hymn Story: Jesus Paid It All ⋆ Diana Leagh Matthews". Diana Leagh Matthews. 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
- "Jesus Paid it All - This Hymn Was More than a Coincidence:Origin of the Hymn: "Jesus Paid it All"" https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/this-hymn-was-more-than-a-coincidence-11630381.html
- Robert Morgan, Then Sings My Soul Special Edition (2010), p. 157
- “Jesus Paid It All” https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/jesus-paid-it-all
