Christian Pure

Does the Bible Say Come as You Are? No, but Jesus Says “Come to Me”

Christian Pure Team

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Published

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Summary

  • The words “come as you are” are not in any translation of the Bible.
  • The verses nearest to them are Jesus’ promise that “whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37), his call in Matthew 11:28, Isaiah 55:1 and the Bible’s last invitation in Revelation 22:17.
  • The evangelist César Malan told Charlotte Elliott, “Come to him just as you are,” and about twelve years later she wrote “Just as I Am,” first published in 1836.
  • Later songs called “Come as You Are” include a Catholic hymn by Sister Deirdre Browne and a 2014 song by Crowder.
  • In the New Testament the invitation leads somewhere: Jesus came to call “sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

No, the words “come as you are” are not in the Bible. We know them from hymns and songs, and from a minister who told the hymn writer Charlotte Elliott to come to Christ “just as you are.” The nearest verse is a promise of Jesus: “whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). That promise sets one condition, and it is coming. Jesus names no standard we must reach first and no state we must clean…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version: Isaiah 1:18; 55:1, 7; Matthew 11:28; Mark 2:16–17; Luke 5:32; 15:20; 19:2–9; John 4:7–39; 6:37; 7:2, 37; 8:11; Acts 9:1–6; 16:29–31; Romans 4:5; 5:8; 6:1–2; 12:2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Revelation 22:17. The ESV brackets John 7:53–8:11 with the note that the earliest manuscripts do not include it.
  • “Just as I Am, Without One Plea,” Hymnary.org, including notes from the Psalter Hymnal Handbook and John Julian’s Dictionary of Hymnology. https://hymnary.org/text/just_as_i_am_without_one_plea
  • “Charlotte Elliott,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Elliott
  • “Just as I Am (hymn),” Wikipedia, on Billy Graham’s conversion and crusades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_as_I_Am_(hymn)
  • Billy Graham, Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham (HarperCollins, 1997).
  • Fiona Basile, “Sr Deirdre Browne ibvm, a fulfilling life of faith and music,” Melbourne Catholic, 31 August 2022. https://melbournecatholic.org/news/sr-deirdre-browne-a-fulfilling-life-of-faith-and-music
  • “Come as you are, that’s how I want you,” Hymnary.org, Together in Song (1999), no. 693. https://hymnary.org/text/come_as_you_are_thats_how_i_want_you
  • “Neon Steeple,” Wikipedia, on Crowder’s “Come as You Are” (2014), written with Ben Glover and Matt Maher. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Steeple
  • “Come as You Are (Nirvana song),” Wikipedia, on the song from Nevermind (1991). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_as_You_Are_(Nirvana_song)
  • Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 11.1. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1263, 1423, 1427 and 1428. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

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