(Matthew 19:25-26)
“25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ”
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Picture this: A captain of a ship is frantically sending out an S.O.S. call to be saved because his ship is sinking. Or picture this: someone is stranded on an island, writing out “SOS” with rocks and branches while hoping for an airplane to see it so that he might be rescued.
…———…
Jesus had told His disciples that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of GOD. In response, they asked, “then who can be saved?” The word “saved” is the English translation of the Greek word sozo (sode’-zo), which means to be delivered out of danger, protected, and rescued into safety. This word is used principally of GOD rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin, which leads to death (Romans 6:23), and delivering them into His provisions (safety and security), just as the Lord did for the Israelites when He delivered them from Pharaoh of Egypt under His covering of protection (Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11; Psalm 36:7; 61:4; 91:4; Isaiah 40:31).
The word sozo is the root of soter (so-tare’ [savior, deliverer, preserver]), soteria (so-tay-ree’-ah [salvation, deliverance]), and the adjectival form, soterion (so-tay’-ree-on [saved/rescued from destruction and brought into divine safety]). An interesting fact is that the origin of sozo is from the primary root sós, which is the contraction for the obsolete saos, which means safe, well, or rescued. Does this knowledge forever change the way you will think of S.O.S., which is the international code signal of extreme distress? Some would say this is just a coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidences. I do, however, believe that GOD is sovereign. Not only is SOS a palindrome (a word that reads the same backward and forwards), but it’s also an ambigram (a word that looks identical whether read upside-down or right-side-up). So, whether carved into a snowbank or spelled out with rocks on a beach, SOS will still look like SOS regardless of whether the rescuer comes from north, south, east, or west. But the interesting thing about sending an SOS is that the person sending it needs to be humble enough to recognize that he/she simply cannot save him/herself. And for this reason it is written in Romans 10:9-13: “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ”
[see also, Isaiah 28:16; Joel 2:32; Matthew 10:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 9:33]:
Just as a captain and his crew in a sinking ship places their hope in their unseen rescuer after sending an S.O.S., so it is with all of us who currently reside in earthen vessels destined for destruction via a physical death while living on an earth that is destined to be destroyed by fire (Luke 12:49; 17:29-30; 2Peter 3:7; Revelation 8:5-10; 9:18; 16:8). If someone is to be saved, this begs the question: saved from what? It is written that the children of GOD will be saved from GOD’s wrath and just judgment against sin (John 3:36; Romans 1:18; 2:5; 5:9; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6; 1Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; Revelation 15:1; 16:1; 19:15). And for this reason, it is written in Romans 8:24-25, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
For what are we waiting while living in this hope? Years ago, the people waited for the prophesied Messiah to come. Their hopes were fulfilled yet they did not recognize the One who came (Isaiah 6:9-10; Matthew 13:13-15; John 8:31-59; Acts 7:51-54; 28:23-28; Romans 10:16; 11:7-8). It is written in Matthew 1:21: “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Indeed, this was the first coming of Christ. And when Christ came, He became the sacrifice for our sins (Genesis 22:8; Exodus 12:5; 29:38-42; Leviticus 4:32; 14:25; 16:15-22; 22:21; 17:11; Numbers 6:14; 19:2; Isaiah 53; John 1:29; Acts 8:32; 1Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 10:1-14; 1Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:12-13). But for us who are alive today, knowing that Christ paid the price we could never pay through His finished work (Matthew 20:28; John 19:30; Acts 20:28; Romans 6:6-7; 1Corinthians 6:20; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:13-14; 2:13-14; Hebrews 9:12-15,22; Revelation 1:5; 5:9), we live in the hope of Christ’s second coming (Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 16:27; 24:30; Acts 1:9-11; 1Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 1:7; 19:11-16). And because we called upon the name of the Lord, believing in our hearts that the Savior will rescue us, it is “this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20).
The entire sacrificial system of the old covenant was incapable of being a permanent solution (Hebrews 10:1-18). The best the sacrificial system could accomplish was making us aware of how far away we were from the glorious holy standard of GOD (Romans 3:10,20,23; 7:7-13). And this is why the ceremonial laws were a mere shadow of the things to come through Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:23-29; Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5; 10:1). Without a permanent solution to be saved from our sinful state, there truly was no hope in our own works. However, the Lord made a way where there was no way, making what was impossible with man, possible through GOD (Matthew 19:26). For this reason, Paul wrote in Romans 5:6-9: “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
Further, Paul explains in Ephesians 2:1-9: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
So, we have been saved by grace through our faith in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The word “grace” is the English translation of the Greek word charis (khar’-ece), which means graciousness as a gift; a gift we did not deserve yet received anyway. The One giving this gift is showing unmerited favor. This gift of goodwill and love is free and is thus contrasted with the cancellation of debt (Matthew 6:12; 18:27; Luke 7:40-50; Colossians 2:13-14; Romans 4:4; 11:6; Galatians 5:4).
The word faith is the English translation of the Greek word pistis (pis’-tis), which means faith, belief, trust, confidence, persuasion, or conviction of the truth. Faith is essentially belief that and trust in, just as someone would believe that a bridge exists and trusts in the bridge that it will hold the person’s weight as he/she travels across to the other side. And because this trust is based on being convinced of the truth, faith describes fidelity or faithfulness of a person who can be relied upon. For this reason Christians have faith in Jesus because we believe He is the Bridge, the only One who can be relied upon to deliver us to the true promised land in the Kingdom of heaven. Likewise, the Christian who has faith is considered faithful and reliable just as a bride would be to her bridegroom. It is because of this trust that Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” And just as with a marriage, fidelity cannot be seen, but out of love both the husband and wife trust each other because they are convinced of each other’s faithfulness.
The word “gift” is the English translation of the Greek word doron (do’-ron), which means to give, a gift, offering. The word “works” is the English translation of the Greek word ergon (er’-gon), which means work, a deed, task, toil, doing, labor, or that which is wrought or made.
Being born into sin — as we all are (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12) — is like being arrested, thrown into prison, only to end up being sentenced to death. But with the phone call you’re allowed, you decide to call your father in order to humble yourself, confess your sins, and repent of your sins even if you feel like it’s too late to change your circumstance. But because of the loving trust you have in your father (who happens to be the king), he pays your debt you were unable to pay, pulls you out from death row, out of prison, purchases your freedom, and invites you into His home as an honored and beloved family member. And this unmerited favor shown to you is a free gift out from love, not because of anything you did to earn it. This is what it is like to be saved. And the story of the Prodigal Son depicts this salvation story well (Luke 15:11-32).
It is written in Romans 6:16-19: “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”
Having been saved, we are no longer slaves to sin! And now that we are no longer slaves to sin, we are free to do good works as we become more and more like Christ. It is for this reason that James wrote, “I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). James rightly stated that faith without works is dead (James 2:17,26) because faith and works belong together, “and as a result of the works, faith was perfected” (James 2:22). A person is not saved by his/her works, but because a person is saved, that person will naturally produce good works, which is the fruit evident in our lives. The apostles didn’t take care of the poor and help widows while sharing the Gospel because they believed their works would save them; rather, because they were saved, they naturally produced good works. As mentioned in the “Fruitless” Picture Scripture, religion without relationship is leaves without fruit. In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus tells us that every good tree produces good fruit and by its fruit the tree will be known; however, every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Faith saves. And a saved person will naturally produce fruit because of his/her righteous roots connected to the Living Water.
Faith naturally propels people into action. In Mark 5:25-34, a woman was healed after she touched Jesus’s cloak. In response, Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith [pistis] has made you well [sozo]; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
Jesus said her faith saved her, not her action; however, her action stemmed from her faith. But saved her from what? The hemorrhage she suffered for the past 12 years. And due to her faith and the fact that Jesus called her “daughter,” it is implied that she was also going to be saved from GOD’s wrath against sin and enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
This example of action stemming from faith is also seen in Mark 10:46-52 when the faith of the blind beggar called Bartimaeus saved him, not only providing him with physical sight, but eternal salvation due to his spiritual vision which stemmed from his faith. How do we know this? Because Bartimaeus called Jesus “Son of David” and “Rabboni,” which means “master.” By addressing Jesus as “Son of David” he confessed that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, the anointed one of GOD who would deliver His people (Psalm 110; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Ezekiel 37:24-25; Matthew 1:1; 22:41-46; Luke 1:32,69; Romans 1:3; Revelation 22:16). And these occurrences foreshadowed the complete future restoration of everyone who will be saved. Not only will we all receive new glorified bodies (1Corinthians 15:35-55), but death, decay, and deviation from design will not exist in the future life that is to come where the new bodies will be continuously healed (Revelation 21:4-5; 22:1-3). And the only way into the Kingdom is through faith in Christ Jesus (John 10:9; 14:6).
In Acts 16:25-34, Paul prevented the jailer from committing suicide. The jailer asked what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas told him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Therefore, how does one get saved? Faith in Christ Jesus. But then what will your faith naturally lead you to do after being saved?
The Artist J:
Impossible. The very word describes something that is completely incapable of happening, at least apart from God. In this verse Jesus is saying that salvation is impossible by any means if it is trying to be achieved by man. People have not, do not, and will never be able to save themselves from the wrath of God. Why is this?
Scripture says that since the fall of Adam and Eve into sin in the garden of Eden that all people are now inherently sinful by nature. Romans 3:9-18 says “Both Jews and Greeks [or gentiles], are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’
Not only are we as people sinful by nature, but God has also confided us under His perfect written law to show us just how sinful we are. Since we are guilty of sin and have continually broken His law, we can know that no human being will ever be justified in God’s sight by our own striving to be good people, since through the law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).
In fact Scripture says the sin in us actually used God’s law to produce even more sin in us. Romans 7:8 “But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment [the law], produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead [Meaning our ability to recognize and be mindful of sin would be dead].” This verse basically tells us that though the law is perfect, since we are not, just having the law gives us more desire to sin. Much like when we were young and someone in authority over us would tell us specifically not to do something or touch something, and instantly our very next desire would be to do the very thing they said not to do. When someone tells us we’re not allowed to do something, we want to do it. And we have done so with the things God has told us not to do; and since we broke God’s law, just like breaking any law of man, punishment is required for it. Which scripture tells us the wages of sin is death, which means physical death, but also, and mainly, spiritual death which is eternity in hell.
All people have broken God’s law, and thus we are guilty and deserving of His punishment. No one guilty of breaking a law can make themselves un-guilty of breaking it. That would be impossible, as Jesus had stated. The damage has already been done. We cannot be both sinful and righteous, guilty and innocent according to works of the law. Trying our very best to obey the law from this point on will not make us less guilty of already breaking it previously. We are under sin, and being as such can never become innocent by our own works.
So clearly, it is impossible to be saved and pardoned from judgement apart from God. So that leaves us with two questions to ask ourselves.
1.”Why would God save us if we have been so unfaithful?”
And 2.”HOW can God save us if we are confined under the law and guilty of punishment?”
In order to answer the first question of “Why would God save an unfaithful people?”, we will have to dive deeper into the character and attributes of who God is.
#1. God’s Sovereignty.
The simplest answer to why God would save a sinful person is simply because He wanted to. Psalm 115:3 says “Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes.” And Psalm 135:6 says “The LORD does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths.”
So the shortest answer to this question is even though the LORD God saw us in our wicked and guilty state, He had His reasons for still wanting to save us and so He does, and it pleases Him to do so.
#2 God Is Merciful
Our salvation is ultimately due solely because God is merciful to us. We are one hundred percent, absolutely and completely unworthy of salvation. As we have already established, we are guilty of breaking God’s law and are deserving of Hell. Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve, but instead being able to say with David in Psalm 32:1-2, as well as Paul in Romans 4:7-8, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
God’s mercy is so awesome toward us, and yet there is absolutely nothing in us that God could find and declare us worthy of saving. We are not worthy of God’s mercy, and yet God declared us worth His mercy. God wanted to save us, and it pleased Him to be merciful to us. He delights in showing mercy.
Titus 3:4-6 says “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to HIS OWN MERCY, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
Micah 7:18 says “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but DELIGHT TO SHOW MERCY.”
#3 God Is Love
God’s mercy in pardoning our sin even while we were sinners stems from His love for us. God was merciful because He first loved. The very fact that God sent Jesus Christ, the second person of the trinity to be born in flesh and become the atonement for those who had been unfaithful to Him shows His love toward us. The most famous verse in all of scripture states “For GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, That He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
So because God loved the world, His mercy followed.
Ephesians 2:4-5 says “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 Romans 5:6-8 says “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God SHOWS HIS LOVE for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
#4 God Is Faithful
God also saves us because of great faithfulness. Faithfulness to His own promises He has made to send a savior to redeem us. When Adam and Even were deceived by the devil and sinned, God instantly declared His mercy by not immediately destroying them both, but instead God tells them the consequences for their actions and in an act of love does something absolutely amazing. Instead of destroying Adam and Eve for their sin, God actually gives them a promise that Eve would have an offspring that would crush the very head of the serpent that deceived them.
God showed His faithfulness to keep that promise when the entire world was corrupted with wickedness, God intended to destroy it with a flood, but God preserved one man named Noah and his family in order to still bring about this promised Messiah (the anointed one) to crush the enemy’s head.
God’s faithfulness to send a savior and save man really stems from the LORD’s desire to create a bride for His son, a people for Himself that would live life in constant communication with Him, and walk by faith, trusting and relying on Him for their provision, as a child would their Father, or as a wife her husband. In essence God wanted a family. A people of God in whom He treasures, and they Him.
This “people of God” was forming through a man named Abraham who walked by faith in God, like Noah before him. God made an oath to Abraham that he would have many descendants and that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Which was another reference to this anointed offspring of Eve. God swore the oath on His own name, because there is no one more faithful than His own self.
The Lord was starting His family through Abraham’s descendants, who were called Israel. A people chosen by God to live holy and through whom God would perform His purposes and accomplish His promises.
Deuteronomy 7:6-7 says “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers,”
God desired to have a people, but the nation of Israel was continuously disobedient to God, going back to how we are by nature sinful. Yet God was still faithful to His oath.
Micah 7:19-20 says “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.”
Romans 3:3-4 says “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, ‘That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.’ “
2Timothy 2:13 says “If we are faithless, He remains faithful–for he cannot deny Himself.”
When the appointed time came God was faithful to send Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah to be born in flesh, by a descendant of Abraham. Jesus was the offspring who would defeat the devil by taking all our sin at a place called Golgotha, meaning “Skull”. How faithful is God that 4,000 years after His promise to Eve that Jesus Christ crushes the serpent on the place of the “Skull”!
Now all who believe on Jesus are adopted by God as sons and daughters by faith like that of Abraham, just as God had planned from the beginning with His oath saying that “in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God was faithful to save us because He wanted a family, and He made one in Christ. Christians are the family that God designed to make from the beginning.
1Peter 2:9 says “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Titus 2:14 says “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”
So why would God save us if we have been so unfaithful? Because It pleased God to show mercy and extend grace to those He loved, and be faithful to establish a people for His own possession, who walk by faith like He desired.
Which leaves us with our second and final question of “How can God save us if we are confined under the law and guilty of punishment?”
Scripture makes it very clear that by works of the law no one will be justified. No one can be declared righteous by the law because no one has the power to obey the law. Every single person has broken it, so every single person is sentenced to judgment. Yet the old testament God considered people righteous. How is this possible?
God has always considered someone’s righteousness based upon the level of faith they had on God, and not their on perfect adherence to the law. Take Job for example, God says to Satan about Job “that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
Job was still a man who made mistakes but God considered His righteousness based on how he feared God and turned away from evil.
Or take Abraham, Moses or David, all of who made mistakes, some bigger than others but all of them God still considered righteous men of God according to their faith. All of them believed God and it was counted to them as righteousness.
Paul explained it best in Romans 4:2-8 when he wrote “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’ “
Justification has always been about faith and not the law, but God is just, so a legal transaction had to be made to pay and atonement for man’s sin and disobedience. Yet God knew our need for a perfect and innocent man who was free of sin to pay our bail and so He sent Jesus Christ, the son of God and second person of the trinity to be born as a human like us. Fully God and fully man. God the Father’s plan to legally justify those who faithfully trusted in Him.
Jesus lived in complete obedience to law, making Him the only one innocent who could ever pay the price for our transgressions against God. But the wages of sin is death, so Jesus knew that’s what would need to be done. Jesus was willingly nailed to a Roman cross, the most severe form of execution. All of our sin was placed upon Jesus on the cross, and He bore it all. Jesus paid the price that needed to be paid in order to be reconciled back to God and for us to be declared totally righteous, credited not on our own works, but on the righteousness of Christ. Once the payment had been made Jesus rose again in three days and nights, just as He declared that He would.
Jesus made a new covenant. Separating salvation from having to measure up to the law. People are now justified or declared righteous based solely on their faith on Jesus Christ and His ability to keep us, and not our ability to obey, though He does command us to do that.
And just circumcision was given as a seal to Abraham and his descendants to show the righteousness that he had attained by faith, that was just a type or shadow of the greater seal that God would impart to us as Christians, which is the Holy Spirit to show that we have been declared righteous by our faith on Jesus Christ!
Romans 4:15-16 says “For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring–not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
Praise God that even though salvation is impossible with our own efforts, that nothing is impossible with God!!
Impossible
Things that seem impossible for man,
Can really be part of God’s sovereign and destined plan,
Things too hard for man to accomplish, it’s true,
Plans only God is capable to do,
An appeasement for sin a guilty party cannot make,
It would take a sinless man, so God knew only He Himself could partake,
So a time God set forth in history,
For His story of this appointed man to be conceived,
God in the flesh, fully capable and willing to do what He had to do,
Even when that meant baring our sins and dying on behalf of me and you,
The atonement for sin proved to be a great success,
For the anointed one rose again holding the keys of death,
The law which sentenced us was now made to be of no effect,
a new covenant of Grace had been made to those of faith, God’s elect,
Sin, the devil, and the grave, all had lost their sting,
And every soul that now clung to Christ, all of heaven rejoices to sing,
Man could strive and work towards God and it all be in vain,
To be reconciled was impossible with man, so Jesus had to take the reins,
With God’s sovereignty, mercy, love, and faithfulness on display,
Praise God the impossible is part of Jesus’s resume.