# The Lord’s Call to His Children explained — Olney Hymns

> Chapter companion for Olney Hymns by John Newton.

## What happens

This hymn celebrates God's gracious call to sinners, inviting them to leave their sinful ways and come to Christ for salvation. It emphasizes the love of God the Savior, the power of His voice, and the promise of adoption as His sons and daughters through the atoning blood of Christ. The hymn urges believers to respond to this call and to make God's love their choice, looking forward to eternal praise.

## Themes in this chapter

### Grace and Unmerited Favor

The hymn opens with adoration for the grace that seeks to draw hearts above, highlighting God's unmerited favor toward sinful humanity.

### Faith and Trust in Christ

The call to 'look up, a bleeding Saviour view; Look, and be saved by faith' emphasizes the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation.

## Character check-ins

### Jesus Christ

Referred to as 'God the Saviour' who speaks and invites sinners to look to Him as a bleeding Savior.

### Satan

Mentioned as the power to whom sinners are enslaved before they obey the divine call.

### The Narrator

The hymn's speaker who calls on the Lord to speak to every heart and expresses a desire to depart from sin.

## Key lines

> Let us adore the grace that seeks To draw our hearts above! Attend, ’tis God the Saviour speaks, And every word is love.

Let us worship the unmerited favor that pulls our hearts toward heaven; listen, it is God the Savior who speaks, and every word is filled with love.

_The opening lines invite worship and highlight the loving nature of God's call._

> Careless, awhile, they live in sin, Enslaved to Satan’s power; But they obey the call divine In his appointed hour.

For a time, they live carelessly in sin, under the control of Satan; but at God's chosen time, they respond to His divine call.

_This verse describes the state of sinners before conversion and the sovereign timing of God's call._

> “Come forth,” He says, “no more pursue The paths that lead to death; Look up, a bleeding Saviour view; Look, and be saved by faith.

He commands, 'Come out, stop following the ways that lead to death; look up and see the bleeding Savior; look and be saved through faith.'

_The call to come out from sin and look to Christ for salvation is central to the hymn._

> “My sons and daughters you shall be Through the atoning blood; And you shall claim and find in me A Father and a God.”

You will become my sons and daughters because of the blood that atones for sin; and you will claim and discover in me a Father and a God.

_This verse promises adoption into God's family through Christ's sacrifice._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/olney_hymns_se/chapters/21-the-lord-s-call-to-his-children
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/olney_hymns_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/olney_hymns_se/chapters