Those who write enduring hymns and spiritual songs usually reflect their highest ideals and their moments of deepest intimacy with God. For that reason, we sometimes find ourselves singing words that overstate our own true commitment, challenge our actual spiritual state and convict us of our present laziness and mediocrity. Anglican clergyman Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778) expressed just such sentiments in his well-known hymn, “Rock of Ages,” when he requested that Jesus Christ who is that refuge:
“Be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.”
Because the meaning of that couplet is a bit obscure, some hymnals have changed it to say:
“Be of sin the double cure;
cleanse me from its guilt and power.”
According to Scripture, God intends to rescue us from sin in every dimension. By Jesus’ sinless life and atoning death, God saves us from sin’s penalty, its power, and its presence. When we sing “Rock of Ages,” we ask Jesus not only to save us from God’s wrath (by cleansing us from sin’s guilt), but also to make us pure (by cleansing us from sin’s power). These two divine works constitute the “double cure” for sin mentioned in Toplady’s grand old hymn.
Largely ignored in American churches today, the connection between justification and sanctification is biblically indisputable. Every person whom God pronounces innocent is also predestined by God to “become conformed to the image of his son” (Rom. 8:29-30). Theologians explain the mechanics in different ways, but all reliable Bible teachers agree that while God loves us just the way we are, he loves us too much to leave us like that. God not only cleanses us from guilt. He also intends to make us pure.
