My Testimony

What love, what grace, what mercy

Shown to a wretch like me

Grace that reaches the heavens

Oh how beautiful and lovely is He.

Innocent and declared righteous I must be

To enter your heavenly land

But what an impossibility

Guilty, vile, and unclean I stand.

Perfect obedience to your law

Is what you require

My heart so cold could never

Only to sin is its desire.

But what I could not produce

You provided through Your Son,

Jesus Christ is my only hope

To His righteousness alone do I run.

Jesus Christ absorbed the wrath of God

The cup of my punishment He bore

He has also given me His righteousness

My heart sings of this grace and will forever more!

Jesus Christ became sin for me,

The retribution I deserve He took

God the Father killed Him in my place

His only begotten Son He forsook

You have covered my lawless deeds

With your beauty and righteousness alone

For the best that I could offer you is filth

And never for sin could I atone.

My choice or free will, never will I claim

For in your presence no flesh shall glory

Salvation is of the Lord, His Work alone

That shall be my never ending story.

Vile, depraved, undone

Deserving of Your fury am I

But You, O Lord, are holy and pure

So only on your mercy I rely.

In order to enter into the joy of the Lord

Like the tax collector I must be

Knowing He was unworthy shouted out

“I am a sinner, have mercy on me.”

You have said one blemish to your law

Will cause me to be cursed

Sentence has been passed, I am guilty as charged.

But thanks to your Son, I in love am immersed

As the leopard can not change his spots

Or the Ethiopian his skin

I too have no ability to reverse what’s been done

Because of my crimes and dreadful sin.

I was spiritually dead with no life in me

Like Lazarus in the tomb

But now of His doing I am in Christ

And have escaped the coming doom.

I have no righteousness to bring you

No goodness at all

Only Jesus Christ I boast of

Who obeyed perfectly your Righteous Law

Taking out my stony, God hating, sin loving heart

What power you have shown

Replacing it with a thirst

To know you and make you known.

By nature a child of wrath

With God’s judgment I deserve

But now because of Your Spirit

I desire to glorify and You alone serve.

Since I did rebel and sinned against You,

Your just anger did abide

But thanks to the Mediator between man and God

I call you Father and rest by Your loving side.

You could have left me to face my wrath

And to that I could have never complained.

Because I was brought forth in iniquity

And your holiness I have profaned.

Had you left salvation up to me,

I would never have been saved

For I would have never sought you

My evil heart, so depraved.

I made my choice against you

And my own way to embrace

I have faith only because You have given it

Imparted to me as a gift of grace.

God who is rich in mercy chose me

Though I deserved it not

And because of Christ my sins are gone

There is not one guilty spot.

In my own power and strength

I could have never chosen Your great love

This gift of salvation has only been granted

By a gracious gift from above.

This gift of love I do not deserve

As though I had any merit to claim

You are a God who justifies the ungodly

Praise, Honor and glory are due to Your name.

You did not owe it to me

To forgive my wicked ways

It was only Your free sovereign grace

At which I humbly stand amazed.

My entrance into heaven

Has nothing to do with me

It is only because of the righteousness of another –

Jesus Christ, how beautiful is He.

It’s not just hell that I have escaped

But from me, Your fierce anger has been turned

And that only by Jesus Christ the propitiation

Great joy this brought to me once I learned.

Understanding that you could have left me in my sins

And to do so You would have been just,

But knowing You have shown mercy,

To that I shall praise You, I have to. I must.

How could I not sing praises to Your Holy name?

As long as I have breath.

Knowing You have died in my place

And raised me from spiritual death.

What is the reason you show this great love?

To demonstrate Your kindness and the riches of grace

And one day because of Your mercy

I’ll behold Your loving, beautiful face.