This past Sunday morning, the worship team introduced a new song for our corporate gatherings, Grace Alone. Based upon Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, may this song strengthen our understanding of the grace by which we were saved, the mercy we experience, and the salvation we have in Christ!
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV)
Grace Alone
Lyrics
Verse 1
I was an orphan, lost at the fall;
running away when I’d hear you call,
But Father, you worked your will.
I had no righteousness of my own
I had no right to draw near your throne,
But Father, you loved me still.
Chorus
And in love, before you laid the world’s foundation,
You predestinedto adopt me as your own.
You have raised me up so high above my station;
I’m a child of God by grace, and grace alone
Verse 2
You left your home to seek out the lost;
You knew the great and terrible cost
But Jesus, your face was set.
I worked my fingers down to the bone;
Nothing I did could ever atone,
Jesus, you paid my debt.
Chorus 2
By your blood I have redemption and salvation.
Lord you died that I might reap what you have sown,
And you rose that I might be a new creation.
I am born again by grace, and grace alone.
Verse 3
I was in darkness all of my life,
I never knew the day from the night,
But Spirit, you made me see.
I swore I knew the way on my own;
Head full of rocks, a heart made of stone
But Spirit, you moved in me.
Chorus 3
And At your touch my sleeping spirit was awakened;
On my darkened heart the light of Christ has shone.
Called into a kingdom that cannot be shaken;
Heaven’s citizen by grace, and grace alone.
Ending
So I’ll stand in faith by grace, and grace alone
I will run the race by grace, and grace alone
I will slay my sin by grace, and grace alone
I will reach the end by grace, and grace alone