9/5 Hymn - "Once For All"

Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus has bled and there is remission,
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
Grace hath redeemed us once for all.

Once for all, O sinner, receive it,
Once for all, O brother, believe it;
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.

Now we are free, there’s no condemnation,
Jesus provides a perfect salvation.
“Come unto Me,” O hear His sweet call,
Come, and He saves us once for all.

Once for all, O sinner, receive it,
Once for all, O brother, believe it;
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.

“Children of God,” O glorious calling,
Surely His grace will keep us from falling;
Passing from death to life at His call;
Blessèd salvation once for all.

Once for all, O sinner, receive it,
Once for all, O brother, believe it;
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.

BIBLE REFERENCE:
Hebrews 10:9-10
Ephesians 2:8-10
Romans 6:8-10
Isaiah 53:4-6
Hebrews 7:26-27
Hebrews 9:24-28
Hebrews 10:12
Hebrews 10:14
1 Peter 3:18

Lyrics & Composer: Philip P. Bliss
Born: July 9, 1838, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Died: December 29, 1876, Ashtabula, Ohio

“Once for All” first appeared in Bliss’s Sunshine for Sunday School collection, published in 1873, and again in his Gospel Songs of 1875, which he did collaboration with Ira D. Sankey. Bliss wrote this text after meditating upon the truth of Hebrews 10:10: “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

George C. Stebbins gives this further tribute to Philip P. Bliss, who along with Ira D. Sankey, has been called the “Father of Gospel Music.”

He occupied a pre-eminence that still stand unrivalled. There has been no writer since his time who has shown such a grasp of the fundamental truths of the gospel, nor such a gift for putting them into poetic and singable form as he. In all of his hymns, there was manifest a happy blending of the poet and musician, and along with it a rare judgement and deep spiritual insight into the need of presenting the saving truths of Scripture in clear and singable form.

So versatile were his talents, that his gifts as a singer and leader were little less than those he possessed as a writer of hymns. He had a voice of rare quality and splendid volume, a baritone of extraordinary range and evenness throughout, and a perfect method of voice production and control. . . He was six feet tall, and of commanding stature, with features as perfect in form, and eyes that were large and kindly in expression... he sang without ostentation, playing his own accompaniment. . . His leading was also without display or any
attempt at attracting attention to himself.

Philip P. Bliss was born in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, on July 9, 838. As a young man, he moved to Chicago and became involved in the evangelistic ministries of Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey. H became one of the most prolific, gospel song writers of his time, before his tragic death in a train accident at Ashtabula, Ohio, on December 29,1876, when only thirty-eight years of age. More...