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 very modern hymns.
Today’s song is My Saviour, My God from 2006.
This is one of several modern worship songs that reuse the lyrics from older hymns. I remember singing the older one quite regularly back in the 1980s.
Here is is:
The key thing with both is the focus on Jesus as Savior. However much we debate music styles or theology, the reason that the Son of God came into the world was to save. I often compare Jesus to a lifeguard. If a lifeguard saves me, he saves me. He doesn’t just shout instructions on how I can save myself. It would also be a little odd if he brought me half way to the shore and left me to swim the rest of the way. When the coming of Jesus was announced and Joseph was told what name to give the child, here is what the angel said:
Matthew 1:21
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
We had the commandments in the Old Testament, but who keeps them well enough to earn salvation? I remember my first driving test. I made a few mistakes, and I knew that however well I’d drive for the remainder of the test, I’d already failed. I did pass the next time. But when it comes to earning salvation, no-one other than Jesus can do it.
The name Jesus means “The Lord Saves”. I grew up hearing Jesus being called Saviour. It was only when I met evangelical Christians that I heard the term “saved” used on a regular basis. I was told that I needed to be saved, and once I repented and believed in Jesus in a personal sense (not just relying on the fact that I was a cultural Christian or baptized as an infant), I could see myself as saved. Maybe we’ll only feel completely saved when we get to heaven, but the New Testament does use the term “saved” in the past tense. Here are some examples:
Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
Titus 3:5
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
So, there is a sense in which we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. But the crucial thing is to respond to the call of the Saviour to believe in Him. If someone did that, and abandoned the Christian life, some would argue that the person would become unsaved. Others (like me 😀) would argue that such a person wasn’t truly saved to start with. But when you do respond and become a disciple, you will have your ups and downs. You won’t be perfectly holy on this side of heaven, but you are adopted into God’s family – and you are safe and saved. But becoming like Christ is a long process. And a huge motivating factor in growing in grace is the fact that you are heavenbound because of what Jesus did on the cross. Some fear that feeling “saved” would make you complacent, but careless people probably never bother thinking about God much at all. When Jesus, and what He has done for you, is central in your thinking, you will be more likely to love God and love others.
Here are some other versions of today’s hymn:
