Saved By Grace

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to meet God face-to-face? As Christians and Adventists, we are eagerly awaiting for the second coming so that we can see our Savior.

Frances Jane Crosby, commonly known as Fanny Crosby, was a poet, hymnist, composer, and gospel worker. In fact, Crosby is thought of as the one who popularized modern congregational singing in the United States. However, the path to her fame and prolific work in poetry and lyricism was not an easy one.

When Crosby was six weeks old, she caught a cold and developed an eye inflammation that ultimately left her blind. At six months old, Crosby's father passed away leaving her to be brought up by her mother and grandmother, devout Christian women. At a young age, she began memorizing several chapters in the Bible and even learned to play the piano, organ, harp, and guitar. She was also trained as a soprano singer.

Crosby wrote close to 9,000 hymns and used several different pen names since publishers were reluctant to publish hymnals with too many songs by the same writer.

Crosby wrote the song, "Saved by Grace" at the age of 71 in 1891. It is said that Crosby was inspired by Ephesians 2:8-9 to write this hymn. However, the song was then forgotten. Years later, when asked to speak at an evangelical gathering, Crosby recited the words to "Saved by Grace" as a poem. The words were so close to Crosby's heart, she even called it her "soul's poem." Upon hearing the beautiful words, a reporter later published her poem in a British publication. Soon after, the words were set to music by George C. Stebbins. This hymn has now been sung by thousands of Christians around the world for more than 150 years. What a blessed hope we have to be able to see our Savior face-to-face some day!

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" Ephesians 2:8 (KJV).