Can It Be?

“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?”

Experts in church hymnody recognize this hymn as one of the very finest in the English language. In it the author, Charles Wesley, once again filled his gripping lyrics with Scripture....Evidence indicates that Wesley wrote the poem soon after his conversion. He acknowledges being bound in his own sin and his inherited sin nature. From the words, one might suspect that Wesley had been living a life of total debauchery before his salvation, but nothing could be further from the truth. Wesley was an ordained minister, living a very disciplined life as founder of the “Holy Club” of Oxford. It wasn’t until later that he came to a personal faith in Christ after a powerless stint on the mission field. To all outward appearances he was a godly man, but inside, he knew his heart was imprisoned, chained in bondage to sin.

--Dr. John D. Morris, “How Firm a Foundation in Scripture and Song,” Master Books, Inc., 1999, p. 61