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And Can It Be - Dan Forrest

66,517 views • Aug 6, 2021

Description

"And Can It Be" arr. by Dan Forrest. Sung by Oasis Chorale at Cornerstone Mennonite Fellowship in Ephrata, Pennsylvania on July 11, 2021. For more information and recordings, visit: https://www.oasischorale.org/
The Historic Faith · Hymn Companion

And Can It Be

Words by Charles WesleyMusic by Thomas CampbellWritten Tune SAGINA

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

'Tis mystery all: th' Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race;
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th' eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Story Behind the Song

Charles Wesley wrote “And Can It Be” shortly after his evangelical conversion in May 1738, and it was first published in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739. The text marvels at the mystery of Christ’s atoning death and the believer’s release from sin and condemnation. The tune most commonly associated with it, SAGINA, was composed by Thomas Campbell in the early nineteenth century and later became the standard setting for the hymn.

Scripture

Found In

Hymns and Sacred Poems, The Methodist Hymnal, Trinity Hymnal, The United Methodist Hymnal, Baptist Hymnal