Description

The gospel, the good news of Jesus’ death for our sins and new life in Him, is sometimes regarded as a message that only unbelievers need to hear. When we preach about Jesus’ death for sinners only at “outreach” or “evangelistic” events or when we think to ourselves “I’ve heard this a hundred times… can’t we move on?” we demonstrate this kind of thinking. We tend to act as if Jesus’ death only has relevance in getting us in the doorway of the Christian faith. But scripture paints a much bigger picture than this. The gospel’s relevance stems from its inception in eternity past when God devised a plan to redeem people from the sin they would plunge themselves headlong into. The first verse of this song explores the themes of God’s sovereign plan of salvation and the death and resurrection of Jesus. The second verse remembers how the gospel arrived into our lives at conversion and goes on to remind us that even now we stand forgiven before God and do not need to get on God’s “good side” or get out from being on God’s “bad side.” Lastly, we rejoice in the fact that the gospel affords us our only true hope and comfort in death and will be the subject of our songs of worship for eternity as we sing the praises of the Lamb who was slain for our sin. May God’s glorious gospel of grace be sung and cherished in our lives and in our churches!

Lyrics

The gospel of grace: from before time began
God chose to redeem me and fashioned a plan
That holy and blameless and unto His praise
I might be adopted to show forth His grace.
The gospel of grace: in the fullness of time
God sent a redeemer who, doing no crime,
Would die for my sin and then conquer the grave
To purchase the ones He was given to save.

The gospel of grace came when dead in my sin,
It told me of Jesus and pointed to Him.
When faith and repentance invaded my heart
Forgiveness, full pardon, my God did impart.
The gospel of grace now reminds me each day
In sin and in failure His favor will stay
For not through self-loathing or deeds that I’ve done
But only in Jesus acceptance is won.

The gospel of grace when I take my last breath
Will be my one comfort to bear me through death;
And should I die peaceful or suffer great pain,
This gospel assures me that death will be gain.
The gospel of grace, for eternity long,
Will be my delight and the theme of my song;
With saints from all nations I’ll join to proclaim:
All glory to Jesus, the Lamb who was slain!

The gospel of grace, O how precious indeed,
Past, present, and future meets all of my needs;
So until the day when I look on Your face–
Lord, keep me believing the gospel of grace.


For those who prefer a more widely-known tune, we’ve adapted the lyrics slightly to fit them to the tune for “To God Be the Glory”:

The gospel of grace: from before time began
God chose to redeem me and fashioned a plan
That holy and blameless and unto His praise
I might be adopted to show forth His grace.
Praise the Lord for His grace: in the fullness of time
God did send a redeemer who, doing no crime,
Would die for my sin and then conquer the grave
To purchase the ones He was given to save.

The gospel of grace came when dead in my sin,
It told me of Jesus and pointed to Him.
When faith and repentance invaded my heart
Forgiveness, full pardon, my God did impart.
Praise the Lord for His grace which reminds me each day
That in sin and in failure His favor will stay
For not through self-loathing or deeds that I’ve done
But only in Jesus acceptance is won.

The gospel of grace when I take my last breath
Will be my one comfort to bear me through death;
And should I die peaceful or suffer great pain,
This gospel assures me that death will be gain.
Praise the Lord for His grace: for eternity long
It will be my delight and the theme of my song;
With saints from all nations I’ll join to proclaim:
All glory to Jesus, the Lamb who was slain!

Optional ending (to the tune of the refrain):
Praise the Lord for His grace, O how precious indeed,
Which has always and ever shall meet all my needs;
So until the day when I look on Your face–
Lord, keep me believing the gospel of grace.

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