1. I hear the Savior say, 'Thy strength indeed is small, Child of weakness watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.' 2. Lord, now indeed I find Thy pow'r and Thine alone, Can change the leper's spots And melt the heart of stone. 3. For nothing good have I Whereby Thy grace to claim; I'll wash my garments white In the blood of Calv'ry's Lamb. 4. And when, before the throne, I stand in Him complete, 'Jesus died my soul to save,' My lips shall still repeat. Chorus: Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Lyrics: Elvina Mable Hall
Music: John Thomas Grape
Tune: ALL TO CHRIST
Meter: 6.6.7.7. with Refrain
Elvina M. Hall, 1820–1889
Mrs. Elvina Hall wrote these words one Sunday morning while seated in the choir loft of the Monument Street Methodist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, supposedly listening to the sermon by her pastor, the Rev. George Schrick. Later, the pastor recalled that the church organist, John Grape, had just recently given him a copy of a new tune that he had composed, which he had titled “All to Christ I Owe.” To the amazement of all, they discovered that John Grape’s tune fit perfectly with Elvina Hall’s words scribbled on the flyleaf page of the hymnal. This hymn was first published in 1874.