My Chains Are Gone!

The year was 1773.  Former slave trader turned preacher John Newton wrote a song that is better known than understood.  Newton wrote, “I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind, but now I see.”  He was speaking of the transformational grace of God, provided by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In 2006 singer-songwriter Chris Tomlin added this bridge to the centuries old hymn:  “My chains are gone, I've been set free; my God, my Savior has ransomed me; and like a flood His mercy reigns; unending love, amazing grace!”  This timeless tune shares wonderful insight into the change that has occurred in the heart of one who places their faith in the blood of Jesus Christ for cleansing from sin.

Like many truths that God has revealed in the Bible, there are many descriptions because of how profound are His ways.  As a result, there are many ways in which we can express the work of the Gospel in the life of an individual.  The Bible contains many metaphors which convey various aspects of spiritually transformed individual.  Over the next months we will explore ten such pictures and descriptions of God’s amazing grace found in the New Testament.