Exegeting the Hymns #29 - Nothing but the Blood

Nothing but the Blood
w/m Robert Lowry

What can wash away my sin? 
Nothing but the blood of Jesus 
What can make me whole again? 
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

O precious is the flow 
that makes me white as snow 
no other fount I know
nothing but the blood of Jesus

For my pardon this I see
nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my cleansing this my plea
nothing but the blood of Jesus

Nothing can for sin atone
nothing but the blood of Jesus
Naught of good that I have done
nothing but the blood of Jesus

This is all my hope and peace
nothing but the blood of Jesus
This is all my righteousness
nothing but the blood of Jesus

Robert Lowry wrote this hymn in 1876. He was a very prolific writer with such favorites as “I need Thee Every Hour”, “All the Way My Savior Leads Me”, “Christ Arose”, and “Shall We Gather At the River” being some of his most popular. A few decades ago, songs like this were removed from many churches because they felt the reference to the blood was not very seeker sensitive. It could be a turn off in a gospel presentation. It could be “offensive”. Yet Peter described the gospel, and Christ in particular, as a rock of offense, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” To remove the blood is to remove what washes our sins away. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

Today, I don’t hear that much anymore as the emergent church movement has lost all of its steam (as most liberal church movements do), but I recently encountered a new issue. In our culture, one hardly needs to go our of their way to be offensive. People will manufacture something to be offended by at every turn. I often frequent a Facebook group called “Worship Leaders+”. It is a group of worship leaders from around the world, 11,000 strong. I know many are of a like mind as our church when it comes to theological worship, but some, I have to really question their salvation. Their doctrine is clearly wrong, even on the most basic and essential doctrines of the faith.  

One post asked for help in changing the gender of God in the Hymns as being a “Father”, or using the pronoun “He” was offending many of the people in their church. It is clear that the blind are leading the blind over there. I spoke up, in love, but spoke the truth nonetheless and was almost removed from the group entirely for doing so. This is the nature of the evangelical church today. The only people who are considered “wrong” are those who might think someone else is…wrong. Welcome to the post-modern church.

The next issue, involved this song, and it wasn’t about the blood. It was about the line “That makes me white as snow”. Some felt it had a racial component to it and wanted advice as to how to change the lyrics so as not to offend people in their congregation. My advice was to teach their congregation. Help them press onto maturity. Again, almost kicked out of the group. Who would think that such a simple, yet profound little song would cause so much trouble 142 years after it was written?


What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So elementary to the gospel message, yet in a world where there are many “Ways to God” being presented, it is a truth worth repeating. There is salvation in no other. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Him. Jesus’ blood washes away our sin. We still sin, but in the eyes of God, He sees the blood of Christ as our atoning sacrifice. We are made whole. We regain what we lost in Adam.

O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Our lives didn’t have little stains and marks on them, they were black as could be and Christ’s blood washed them cleaner than a “Tide commercial”. Not only did it wash us clean, but continues to wash us of our daily sins and transgressions. Praise the Lord for that!

For my pardon this I see, nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing this my plea, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Our sins have been judicially pardoned. That is what justification is. It is a legal declaration that the demands of the law have been met, not by us, but because another took the penalty.

Nothing can for sin atone, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Naught of good that I have done, nothing but the blood of Jesus. To atone is to wipe clean, to appease, or to have mercy on. Christ did that when He paid for our sins. When our sins are atoned for, we no longer stand in the path of God’s wrath. It is appeased; it is satisfied. This happens when we repent and believe. It is not because of good things we have done. We can’t atone for our own sins, only the blood of Jesus can do that.

This is all my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Our hope is not in ourselves, but in the work of Jesus Christ. Any good in us is because of His work in us.  

I look forward to singing this song next month as we gear up for Resurrection Sunday… and no, we won’t be changing the lyrics to mitigate the work of Christ.

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