Mighty to Save

One of my favorite worship songs right now is “Mighty to Save” by Hillsong Australia. Taken from Isaiah 63:1, the song tells of the mighty power of the cross and the power of Christ to break the chains of sin and bring us salvation. I highly recommend this tune for any church worship service, regardless of worship style. (Rabbit Trail: Right now I'm listening to the brand new project by Hillsong United "All of the Above." It's AMAZING! Thanks to Steven Chapman at Southbrook Church for somehow getting ahold of an advance release copy since it doesn't even come out in the U.S. until next week. Okay, back on track.)

One thing the Lord is reiterating to me over and over again is that the message of the cross must never become dull, peripheral, or mundane to the believer who has been saved for a while. What a scathing reminder to me. It’s easy to get caught up in the routine of Christianity even to the point that we hold, as C.J. Mahaney puts it, “a preoccupation with (our) own personal godliness.” Granted, as he further explains, we should be concerned with personal godliness and holiness, but it must never be pursued “apart from joyful gratitude for the cross” (The Cross Centered Life, p. 106, from which much of this post stems). The gospel message is perpetual, and it must be daily resuscitated in our hearts as we meditate on the mighty power of God to save us.

In Morning and Evening, Spurgeon has some cool things to say about God’s power to save and the everlasting nature of the gospel. He says “the divine power is equally seen in the after-work (of salvation). The life of a believer is a series of miracles wrought by ‘the Mighty God.’ . . . Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for His strength is sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others, or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is ‘mighty to save;’ the best proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you” (Morning and Evening, January 14).

I love that last phrase. We are the proof of God’s power to save. So, look in the mirror every morning and praise God for His power to save and, as Jerry Bridges says in the Discipline of Grace, “preach the gospel to yourself everyday.”