2019 marks 100th anniversary of death of ‘Grace Greater Than Our Sin’ writer
By Joanne Sloan
Julia Harriet Johnston (1849–1919) was a Presbyterian teacher, book author and hymn writer. She wrote more than 500 hymns, including her most famous — “Grace Greater Than Our Sin.” This year marks the 100th anniversary of her death.
Familial influences
Johnston was born on Jan. 21, 1849, to Robert and Jane Grey Johnston in Salineville, Ohio. Her family moved to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and lived there until she was six.
Then the family moved to Peoria, Illinois, where her father was pastor of First Presbyterian Church. She spent the rest of her life in Peoria.
After accepting Christ, Johnston started teaching Sunday School. She taught and served as Sunday School superintendent for more than 40 years.
She also worked 20 years as president of the Peoria Presbyterian Missionary Society. She started writing at the age of nine and was influenced by her mother and grandmother who were both poets.
She authored books about Christian missions and missionaries. But Johnston is best known for writing more than 500 hymns.
Her most beloved hymn is “Grace Greater Than Our Sin.”
In 1910 she wrote the hymn, which was published in 1911. It is a commentary on the fifth chapter of Romans, focusing on Romans 5:20b: “But where sin abounded grace did much more abound.”
Johnston had a passion to tell others about God’s grace. The word “grace” appears 38 times in the hymn.
The first stanza emphasizes God’s grace that takes away all sin through the death of Jesus.
The second stanza compares sin to the “sea waves cold” which “threaten the soul with infinite loss.”
The next stanza refers to the blood of Christ that makes the sinner as “pure and bright as snow.”
The fourth stanza offers an invitation to the sinner: “Will you this moment His grace receive?”
‘God’s grace’
The refrain following each stanza is the most important part of the hymn: “Grace, grace, God’s grace. / Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. / Grace, grace, God’s grace. / Grace that is greater than all our sin.”
Johnston died March 6, 1919, in Peoria and is buried in Springdale Cemetery.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Joanne Sloan, a member of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, has been a published writer of articles and books for 30 years. She has a bachelor’s degree double majoring in history and English from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M–Commerce) and a master’s degree specializing in English from the University of Arkansas (1978).
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