Verse 1
Surely in the Lord we have
Both strength and righteousness;
Jesus mighty is to save
The sinner in distress:
Jesu’s blood on which we stay,
Cleanses us from every stain,
Takes the guilt of sin away,
Nor lets the power remain.

Verse 2
Why then, O my Saviour, why
(If mine indeed thou art)
Am I thus? A sinner I,
And still unclean of heart?
Why doth sin my heart divide?
Whence this grievous tyranny,
All this hell of self and pride,
If thou hast sprinkled me?

Verse 3
Did I not believe and feel
Through faith my sins forgiven?
Was I not caught up from hell,
And strangely rais’d to heaven?
Yes; I once could call thee mine,
Felt my Saviour’s blood applied,
Cloath’d in righteousness divine,
I once was justified.

Verse 4
What alas! I once have been
Nothing avails me now:
I the servant am of sin,
While to its yoke I bow:
While the love of sin remains,
Christ in me can never dwell,
Christ with Belial never reigns,
Nor mixes heaven with hell.

Verse 5
Can unholy actions suit
With one that is in thee?
Jesu, thou hast said, the fruit
Must answer to the tree:
If the tree (the heart) were good,
Evil thoughts it could not bear,
Could not be by sin subdu’d,
If thou, my God, wert there.

Verse 6
Can the self-same fountain yield
Both bitter streams and sweet?
In a soul by Jesus fill’d
Can Satan find a seat?
No, my Lord, I am not clean,
Am not inwardly renew’d,
Am not (for I still can sin)
I am not born of God.

Verse 7
See, I give up all at last,
My boasted gifts disclaim,
Trust no more in graces past,
But now condemn’d I am:
Nothing do I bring to thee,
That I may thy mercy move,
No one spark remains in me
Of faith, or hope, or love.

Verse 8
If but one good thought could buy
Thy grace, and heaven win,
Lord, not one good thought have I,
My all is self, and sin;
Full of guilt and misery,
Saviour, at thy feet I fall,
See, the unbeliever see,
The sinner stript of all!

Verse 9
Let me never, never more
My wretched soul deceive,
Dream that I have life, before
I hear thy voice, and live:
Let me, humbled in the dust,
Wait to taste how good thou art,
See, and feel, but never trust
My own deceitful heart.

Verse 10
O that I could truly wait
The dictates of thy will,
Calmly mourn my sinful state,
Till thou shall[1] say “Be still!
The lost sheep to save I came,
The backslider to restore;
Sinners I do not condemn;
Depart, and sin no more.”

[1] Wesley changed “shall” to “shalt” in 1745.