Hymns: Only By Grace

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.

Today’s song is Only By Grace from 1990.

I really took to this one when I discovered it around 2017, though it’s from 1990. Grace has always been a significant word in my life. When I was a Roman Catholic it seemed quite complex. I almost thought of it as a spiritual liquid dispensed through the sacraments in the church. But it’s really quite simple. A simple definition is the following:

I see a more in-depth discussion of the word in theological terms on the Desiring God site.

As a child, I remember the rhyme – “One two three four five six seven, All good children go to heaven”. But we can’t merit heaven. We can be good in relative terms, but no-one is truly good except God alone. We should aim to love God and others. But we fail, and we need a Saviour, and that’s what grace is all about – the free gift of salvation. He obtained it for us. And we aim to live a godly life out of thanksgiving and because it’s what we should be doing anyway. But salvation is free.

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

Here are some other YouTube performances: