Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners

by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:13-14)

Hymns sometimes lift our souls to heights undreamed of. Let us use the familiar hymn “Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners” these next few days to take us into scriptural truth. The refrain that accompanies each verse follows.

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Hallelujah is sometimes translated “praise ye the Lord.” Praising God is a precious privilege to Christians. The Psalms often give praise to our great Lord and King, and this will continue throughout eternity. “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God” (Revelation 19:1).

He is saving us from sin and its penalty. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (Hebrews 7:25), helping us in our journey through life. “Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice” (Psalm 63:7). Through any peril, He is keeping us “by the power of God through faith unto salvation” (1 Peter 1:5) while loving us through it. In fact, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

We can be confident that He will keep us for all time. “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 1:24-25). JDM

Click here for the sheet music for this hymn.

This article was originally published January, 2016. "Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners", Institute for Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/jesus-what-friend-for-sinners (accessed August 21, 2024).