<P> "And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" is a Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley . Diarmaid MacCulloch suggests that the hymn is one of the best - loved of Wesley's six thousand hymns . It is also the source for the 2003 song "You Are My King (Amazing Love)" which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Christian songs chart . </P> <P> "And Can It Be" was written in 1738 to celebrate Wesley's conversion, which he regarded as having taken place on 21 May of that year . The lines "My chains fell off, my heart was free / I rose, went forth, and followed thee" are based on the story of the Liberation of Saint Peter in the New Testament . </P>

Who wrote the hymn and can it be