“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” — Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV)
The Hymn Born in a Pew
November 2, 2025. Sunday light filters through the window, coffee cools beside your Bible, and an old hymn rises like steam. “Jesus Paid It All.” Written in 1865 by Elvina Hall – not in a quiet study, but right in the middle of a sermon. The pastor preached on God’s full forgiveness. Elvina had no paper, so she grabbed her hymnal’s blank flyleaf and scribbled:
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
By sermon’s end, the words were done. She showed them to the pastor, who passed them to organist John Grape. He’d just written a melody that fit like a glove. Days later, the song was sung – and it spread like wildfire. A church moment became a lifeline for generations.
The Truth in the Tune
Isaiah lays it out plain: Scarlet sins. Crimson stains. We reason with God – argue our case, try to clean up. But He does the impossible: Washes us white. Not partial. Not “mostly.” All.
That’s the heart of the hymn. We walk in stained – guilt heavy, past loud. We can’t scrub it off. Jesus already paid. On the cross, the debt cleared. No leftovers. Just receive the wash. Sing it slow today: What “crimson” are you carrying? Let it go. The blood covers. The stain vanishes. Clean slate, every time
Reflection
- Where do you still see “scarlet” in your life – and how does “white as snow” change everything?
- What debt are you trying to pay that Jesus already settled?
Prayer for the Week
Lord, thank You for reasoning with us in grace. For washing crimson to snow, paying what we owed, making us clean when we couldn’t. Let “Jesus paid it all” echo in our days. Amen.
🎵 Sing it. Believe it. Live it.
💛 Written by Jessie — Pages of Grace
