Before the World I Now Confess

Remembering Christ died for me

For many in this world, it is costly to follow Christ. Being identified as a Christian can mean the loss of friends, loss of fortune, loss of employment, even loss of life. But Christ exhorts us:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24–25).

“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38–39).

We are called to live for Christ and declare the good news of salvation in Him. We are called to follow Him and unashamedly acknowledge our sinfulness and need for His abundant grace.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

The following hymn is a confession of faith in Christ. It includes publically professing Christ through baptism (verse 3) and corporately remembering Christ in the Lord’s Supper (verse 4).

The idea for the hymn came from a message on Matthew 10:26–33 entitled “Declaring Our Allegiance to Christ” preached on Sunday, February 25, 2018 at Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, by our associate pastor, Jared Longshore.

The message began with a quote from Rosaria Butterfield’s book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into the Christian Faith. In the book she describes the cost of becoming a follower of Christ and turning away from her old lifestyle. She said, “I was driving away from the place, the life, the career, and the people that I knew and loved. But Jesus Christ was more real to me at that moment than any of these material things.” As I thought about her words, I wrote what became the final lines of the hymn:

More real to me is Jesus Christ
Than all this world can give,
More than this world, I need His grace,
For by His grace I live.

The hymn is set to a familiar tune: CLEANSING FOUNTAIN, the tune often used for “There Is a Fountain.”

Before the World I Now Confess

“So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).

Before the world I now confess
Christ Jesus as my Lord.
The scorn of men, I will not fear,
Nor danger, nor the sword.
Though friends and loved ones turn away,
Possessions all be lost,
To lose this world, if I gain Christ
Is not too great a cost.

Before the world I humbly bow
To Jesus as my King,
Acknowledging so all will know
He’s Lord of everything!
No flood so great or tear too small,
He knows my thoughts and ways,
My life I fully trust to Him
And give Him all my praise.

Baptism

Before the world I here confess
That Christ has made me new.
He gave me life, now I believe
His Word is sure and true.
Through baptism I now submit
Unto my Lord’s command,
My old life buried, new raised up,
Upon His Word I stand.

Lord’s Supper

Before the world I take my stand
With Jesus and His bride
To cleanse His church and bring us near
He suffered, bled and died.
His body broken on the cross,
His blood He freely shed,
Remembering Christ died for me,
I take this cup and bread.

Before the world I sing His praise
That all the world may hear.
I give allegiance to my King,
Whose Kingdom now is near.
More real to me is Jesus Christ
Than all this world can give,
More than this world, I need His grace,
For by His grace I live.

Words ©2018 Ken Puls
Music ©Public Domain

Download the lyrics and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune CLEANSING FOUNTAIN for classical guitar.

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Within a Better Covenant

All of Scripture points us to Christ. The New Testament proclaims His coming. The Old Testament prepares for His coming. From the Garden of Eden in Genesis (where God promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent) to the songs of praise to the Lamb in Revelation, we hear the good news of salvation in Christ.

Jesus is the glory of the covenants. He is the substance of all the shadows and types of the Old Covenant. The tabernacle and Temple—the sacrifices and festivals—all foreshadow the person and work of Christ. When Christ came in the New Testament and the full light of God’s revelation was made known in Him, the shadows of the Old vanished away (Hebrews 8:13). What was temporary and preparatory in the Old Testament is eternal and complete in the New Testament in Christ.

The difference between the Old and New Covenants is largely a difference in brilliance and clarity. It is not that there are two or more ways of salvation, or two or more gospels. There is only one gospel and one salvation—Jesus is the only way, the only truth and the only life in both Old and New Testaments.

But the view of this gospel in the Old Testament, seen through the Old Covenant with its types and shadows, is less clear and defined as it is in the New. It is like going out at night, before the dawn, and seeing a beautiful landscape under the starlight. The trees and mountains and lake—the scene is all in place, but largely, it can only be seen in outline and silhouette. There is much left in shadow; the details and color are still hidden. It lies before you, but your view is sketchy.

Shadows Fade at First Light

But as the dawn arrives, and the rays of the sun begin to break over the horizon, then your view begins to open. You can see more and more. As the sun climbs higher and higher, those details and colors that were hidden are revealed and illumined by the light.

The gospel as we see it in the Old Covenant is the dawn breaking—those first rays announcing the coming light. The gospel as we see it in the New Covenant is the full glory of the sun at noon day.

It is in the brilliance of the sun—God’s full revelation of His Son and the cross— that we now see and understand the gospel in its fullness and completeness.  The Old is “outshined with Christ in view”!

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established with better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).

The following hymn was composed for the 2001 General Assembly of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA), that met March 6-8, 2001 at Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas. It celebrates the greater blessings and promises we now possess within the better covenant in Christ Jesus.

Within A Better Covenant

Within a better covenant
God’s people now abide,
Built on the finished work of Christ,
Accomplished and applied.
From ev’ry nation, tribe, and tongue,
The Spirit calls the bride,
Uniting in this covenant
Each one for whom Christ died.

All those within this covenant
Are quickened and made new;
From least to great, they know the Lord
And trust His Word as true.
The Spirit works and writes God’s Law
Upon each heart and mind,
That each will turn and flee to Christ,
His grace and mercy find.

For unto Moses, Jesus gave
His Law on Sinai’s hill;
The Law that one day He would come
To perfectly fulfill.
God’s Law fulfilled in Jesus Christ
Is holy, good, and right;
What once condemned us for our sin
Is now made our delight.

The Spirit seals the covenant
With each He sets apart;
A circumcision not of flesh,
But of the conquer’d heart.
For it is not by flesh and blood,
Nor by the will of man,
That Christ now builds and keeps His church
And causes it to stand.

The covenants that came before
Did then prepare the way,
As God progressively revealed
The glories of Christ’s day.
The types and shadows of the old
A foretaste did provide,
But old has vanished now away
As Christ is magnified!

In ceaseless service priests of old
Brought off’rings day by day,
But blood of bulls and goats could not
Take sin’s dark guilt away.
Behold, a better sacrifice,
The spotless Lamb who died!
Christ shed His blood once for all time
To cleanse and save His bride.

God made provision in the Old,
Its Temple, priests, and land;
An earthly nation He raised up
And strengthened by His hand.
But earthly shadows now have past,
Outshined with Christ in view,
Proclaiming now unto the church:
God’s Kingdom is in you!

Behold, the temple of the New,
Not made with bricks or stone,
Is now the gathered hearts of all
Whom Christ has called His own.
The sacrifices of our lips
We to this temple bring
That Christ be praised as all in all,
Our Prophet, Priest, and King.

Words ©2001 Ken Puls

Tom Wells (Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas) composed the tune for this hymn. Download the lyrics and free sheet music (PDF), including an arrangement of the tune GRAPE CREEK for classical guitar.

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Behold the Throne of Grace

Because of Christ, we have every reason to pray in faith and hope! Because Christ, our Great High Priest has sprinkled the Mercy Seat with His own shed blood, we can now come boldly to the throne of grace and lay hold of mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14–16, NKJV).

In Christ we have full access to the Father! We are forgiven and redeemed. We are loved and accepted. We have the full measure of God’s embrace. He has given us Christ! What then will He withhold?

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31–32)

John Newton’s hymn “Behold the Throne of Grace” celebrates the promise we have of bold access to the presence of God in Christ. It encourages us to remember the promise and preach it to our own souls. In Christ God freely gives us all things, not so we can obtain and cling to “the world’s poor toys” but so we can have and cling to Christ, who is our greatest need and ultimate joy.

The hymn is from Book 1 (“On Selected Texts of Scripture”) of the Olney Hymns published in 1779 by John Newton and William Cowper. It is included along with two other hymns under the Scripture text: “Ask what I shall give thee” (1 Kings 3:5).

Prayer and Watchfulness

Behold the Throne of Grace

Behold the throne of grace,
The promise calls us near,
There Jesus shows a smiling face
And waits to answer prayer.

That rich atoning blood,
Which sprinkled round we see,
Provides for those who come to God
An all prevailing plea.

My soul, ask what thou wilt,
Thou canst not be too bold;
Since His own blood for thee He spilt,
What else can He withhold?

Beyond thy utmost wants
His love and pow’r can bless;
To praying souls He always grants,
More than they can express.

Since ’tis the Lord’s command,
My mouth I open wide;
Lord open Thou Thy bounteous hand,
That I may be supplied.

Thine image, Lord, bestow,
Thy presence and Thy love;
I ask to serve Thee here below,
And reign with Thee above.

Teach me to live by faith,
Conform my will to Thine;
Let me victorious be in death,
And then in glory shine.

If Thou these blessings give,
And wilt my portion be;
Cheerful the world’s poor toys I leave,
To them who know not Thee.

Amen.

“Behold the Throne of Grace”
Words by John Newton (1779)
Tune: STATE STREET
Music by Jonathan Woodman, 1844
Words and Music ©Public Domain

Download free sheet music (PDF), including a guitar chord charts and arrangements of the hymn tune STATE STREET for classical guitar and for instrumental ensemble.

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The Lord Is My Delight

Just released! A new album of hymns and songs celebrating the joy of following and serving Christ.

The Lord Is My Delight 2017

Stream music and listen on Bandcamp.

Click here to download free sheet music (PDF) of these songs and hymns.

Click here for more songs and hymns.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
(Psalm 37:3–5)

Waterfall

New Album Coming Friday

In 2012 I released an album of songs and hymns I had written entitled Upon This Rock. That collection focused on Christ as our Rock and salvation, our one hope and resting place. This Friday, January 5th, I will be releasing a second collection entitled The Lord Is My Delight. This new album is a celebration of the joy of following and serving Christ.

Pre-order the album today and receive one of the tracks now.

I wrote the hymn My Soul What Truth Consoles You? one year ago today, on New Year’s Day 2017.  The idea for the hymn came during a message preached on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2017 by Conrad Mbewe on John 3:16 entitled “God’s Indescribable Love.” Dr. Mbewe encouraged us to begin the new year with our souls “anchored deep” in the unfailing love of God in Christ.

Comfort, Comfort Ye My People

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1–2).

Forest at Dawn

Isaiah 40 begins with some amazing words of hope. In the midst of pending judgment, Isaiah points the nation of Judah to the coming of the Messiah. He speaks of Christ who would come and tell the weary and downcast:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

In 1741 George Fredrick Handel opened his oratorio Messiah with a setting of Isaiah 40. Seventy years earlier, in 1671, a German minister named Johannes Olearius fashioned the same passage into a hymn: Comfort, Comfort Ye My People. Olearius was born in 1611 (the same year the KJV translation of the Bible was completed) and he attended the University of Wittenberg (where Martin Luther had taught theology).

The hymn is set to a tune from the Genevan Psalter composed by Louis Bourgeois to fit Psalm 42. Psalm 42 includes the refrain:

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
(Psalm 42:5)

Olearius’ hymn is a beautiful setting of God’s words of comfort to His people. It was translated into English by Catherine Winkworth in 1863.

 

Comfort, Comfort Ye My People

Comfort, comfort ye my people,
Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness,
Mourning ‘neath their sorrow’s load.
Speak ye to Jerusalem,
Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cover,
And her warfare now is over.

Yea, her sins our God will pardon,
Blotting out each dark misdeed;
All that well deserved His anger
He no more will see or heed.
She has suffered many a day,
Now her griefs have passed away;
God will change her pining sadness
Into ever springing gladness.

For the herald’s voice is crying
In the darkness far and near,
Bidding all men to repentance,
Since the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way;
Let the valleys rise to meet Him,
And the hills bow down to greet Him.

Make ye straight what long was crooked,
Make the rougher places plain;
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits His holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord
Now o’er earth is shed abroad;
And all flesh shall see the token,
That His word is never broken.

“Comfort, Comfort Ye My People”
Words by Johannes Olearius, 1671
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1863
Music by Louis Bourgeois, 1551
Arranged from the tune GENEVAN 42
From the Genevan Psalter, 1551
Words and Music ©Public Domain

Download free sheet music (PDF), including guitar chord charts and an arrangement of the hymn tune THIRSTING for classical guitar.

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Christmas Music for Classical Guitar

Christmas Guitar

It’s never too early to begin practicing music for Christmas!

Download a free PDF Songbook as my gift to you this Christmas season. It contains 30 Christmas hymns and songs arranged for Classical Guitar:

  1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel • VENI EMMANUEL
  2. Comfort, Comfort Ye My People • THIRSTING
  3. Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming • ES IST EIN’ ROS’ ENTSPRUGEN
  4. O Little Town of Bethlehem • ST LOUIS
  5. O Sing a Song of Bethlehem • KINGSFOLD
  6. O Come, All Ye Faithful • ADESTE FIDELES
  7. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear • CAROL
  8. Angels We Have Heard on High • GLORIA
  9. Angels from the Realms of Glory • REGENT SQUARE
  10. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing • MENDELSSOHN
  11. The First Noel • THE FIRST NOEL
  12. What Child Is This?• GREENSLEEVES
  13. Gentle Mary Laid Her Child • TEMPUS ADEST FLORIDUM
  14. Away in a Manger • MUELLER
  15. As with Gladness Men of Old • DIX
  16. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence • PICARDY
  17. Who Is This So Weak and Helpless • EIFIONYDD
  18. Joy to the World • ANTIOCH
  19. All My Heart This Night Rejoices • WARUM SOLLT’ ICH MICH DENN GRAMEN
  20. See Amid the Winter’s Snow • SEE AMID THE WINTER’S SNOW
  21. Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella • BRING A TORCH
  22. The Coventry Carol • COVENTRY CAROL
  23. I Saw Three Ships • I SAW THREE SHIPS
  24. In the Bleak Mid-Winter • CRANHAM
  25. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day • WALTHAM
  26. Sing We Now of Christmas • FRENCH CAROL
  27. Good Christian Men, Rejoice • IN DULCI JUBILO
  28. How Great Our Joy • JUNST
  29. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen • GOD REST YOU MERRY
  30. Silent Night • STILLE NACHT

May you and your family find the peace of God in Christ and rejoice with “exceedingly great joy” in Him (Matthew 2:10).

Christmas Music for Classical Guitar

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Image above made with Unsplash

 

I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art

One of my favorite hymns from the Reformation is “I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art.” The words are attributed to John Calvin, from the Strasbourg Psalter, 1545. The tune (TOULON) was composed by Claude Goudimel, one of the musicians in Calvin’s church in Geneva. It was originally composed as the melody for Psalm 124 and included in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter.

I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art

Calvin has been criticized regarding his convictions about music. One historian (Münz) wrote:

“The Pope of Geneva, that dry and hard spirit, Calvin, lacked the warmth of heart which makes Luther so lovable … is the foe of all pleasure and of all distraction, even of the arts and music.”

A closer look at Calvin’s thoughts on music, however, reveals that this harsh judgment is unfounded. During his ministry Calvin came to appreciate music as a valuable part of worship. He learned that music is a useful means to point our minds and hearts to Christ. He desired the church to sing Scripture and employed the gifts of renowned French poets in his congregation to set all 150 psalms, some of the canticles, and the Ten Commandments into metrical French. Clement Marot began the work on the Genevan Psalter and Theodore Beza completed the work. Louis Bourgeois, Claude Goudimel and other musicians in the church composed tunes to fit the psalms. The first complete edition of the Genevan Psalter was published in 1562 and was widely used. By 1565 it had gone through at least 63 editions.

Calvin recognized the devotional value of music. He encouraged his congregation to sing praise to God, not just in the worship services at church, but in their homes and places of work. In the preface to the 1543 edition of the Genevan Psalter, he wrote:

The use of singing may be extended further: it is even in the houses and fields an incentive for us, like an organ, to praise God and to lift our hearts to Him, for consoling us in meditating upon His virtue, goodness, wisdom and justice, which is more necessary than can be expressed. Firstly, it is not without reason that the Holy Spirit exhorts us so carefully in the Holy Scriptures to rejoice in God that all our joy may be reduced to its true purpose, for He knows how much we are inclined to rejoice in vanity. So our nature causes us to look for all means of foolish and vicious rejoicing. On the contrary, our Lord, to distract us and draw us away from the desires of the flesh and of this world gives us every possible way to occupy ourselves in that spiritual joy which He desires for us. Among all other things which are proper for recreation of man and for giving him pleasure, music is the first or one of the principal and we must esteem it as a gift of God given to us for that purpose.

Calvin’s hymn “I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art” is a wonderful encouragement to remember and meditate on the gospel. It embodies a major theological emphasis of the Reformation: Solus Christus (Christ Alone). Our salvation is accomplished only by the mediatorial work of Christ. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement are alone sufficient for our justification and reconciliation with God. Indeed, “our hope is in no other save in Thee!”

I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art

I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art,
My only Trust and Savior of my heart,
Who pains didst undergo for my poor sake;
I pray Thee from our hearts all cares to take.

Thou art the King of mercy and of grace,
Reigning omnipotent in every place:
So come, O King, and our whole being sway;
Shine on us with the light of Thy pure day.

Thou art the life, by which alone we live,
And all our substance and our strength receive;
O comfort us in death’s approaching hour,
Strong-hearted then to face it by Thy pow’r.

Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness,
No harshness hast Thou and no bitterness:
Make us to taste the sweet grace found in Thee,
And ever stay in Thy sweet unity.

Our hope is in no other save in Thee;
Our faith is built upon Thy promise free;
O grant to us such stronger hope and sure,
That we can boldly conquer and endure.

“I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art”
Words from the Strasbourg Psalter, 1545
Attributed to John Calvin
Translated by Elizabeth Smith, 1868, alt. 1961
Music by Claude Goudimel (Genevan Psalter, 1551)
©Public Domain

Download free sheet music for this hymn, including chord charts and an arrangement of the tune TOULON for classical guitar.

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Behold, My Soul

Sunlight on Mountains

Behold, my soul, what God has wrought
When by His grace my heart He sought,
When in His love and sovereign plan
He chose to save a wretched man.
When God made heav’n and earth below
He simply spoke and it was so,
But when He sought my soul to save
E’en Christ, His only Son, He gave.

Before God spoke and it was light,
Before men fell in sin’s dark night,
The Lord set forth redemption’s plan
That grace might find this wretched man.
That God would choose for Christ a wife,
And Christ would die to save her life;
The Spirit then would call the bride
And draw her to her Master’s side.

Christ left the glories of heav’n above
And took the form of those He loved.
He shared our suff’ring and our strife
And lived a holy, perfect life.
He found us dead and vile within,
Rebels to God, condemned for sin,
Destined for wrath and hell’s torment,
Yet blinded and in sin content.

Yet in our sin, Christ loved us still
And bore the cross on Cal’vry’s hill.
He took the judgment we had earned
And died as God’s fierce wrath did burn.
Our debt was great, none would suffice
Except a perfect sacrifice,
And as the cross drew forth His blood,
An off’ring rose before our God.

His death has full atonement made!
The debt we owed in full is paid!
He purchased us with His own blood;
Such love! Behold the Lamb of God!
When death and sin defeated fell,
He trampled down the gates of hell
And rose victorious o’er the grave
To live for those He came to save.

He then ascended to the throne,
Now interceding for His own,
And for our comfort, help, and cheer;
He sent His Holy Spirit near,
To open hearts, convict of sin,
To lead to Christ and dwell within,
To daily bring supplies of grace
And hold us fast to Christ’s embrace.

When by His grace my heart He sought,
Behold, my soul, what God has wrought!
The measures to fulfill His plan!
The cost to save a wretched man!
He now prepares for me a place
And soon I’ll see Him face to face,
And wonder through eternity,
How great His mercy shown to me!

Words ©1992 Ken Puls

I wrote this hymn after traveling on May 15, 1991 to attend a Wednesday evening service at Grace Church in Denton, Texas. John Marshall, who was the guest preacher that evening, spoke from John 1 on the theme: Behold, the Lamb of God. He contrasted the simplicity of becoming a Christian (our responding in faith and repentance) with the difficulty (God’s vast work accomplished through Jesus Christ to bring us salvation). I wrote in my notes:

When God created the world, He spoke,
But when He redeemed men:
He came down—He was born of a virgin—He lived a perfect life—He died upon a cross—He rose from the dead—He ascended to glory—He sent His Spirit—He promised to come again!
“It is a simple though difficult thing for one to become a Christian.”

I began writing the hymn the following day with these lines (that became the end of verse 1):

When God made heav’n and earth below
He simply spoke and it was so,
But when He sought my soul to save
E’en Christ, His only Son, He gave.

The hymn is a celebration of the gospel, patterned after the psalms where the psalmist would address his soul and sing to encourage and remind himself of truth (Psalm 16:2, 42:5, …). The verses are my reflections on the message and effort to preach it to my own soul.

Download the lyrics and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune DUANE STREET for classical guitar.

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O Father Make Us Like the Son

Church Reflection

As Christians, how are we to relate to God’s Law? We know that our obedience to God’s commands could never make us right with God. The Law reveals our sin and shows us our great need of salvation. But the Law cannot save us. Yet, we are called to follow Christ, who is both the great Law-giver and Law-keeper. We are called to be imitators of Christ. Paul encouraged the church:

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma (Ephesians 5:1–2).

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24).

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17–20).

How then, especially in light of Jesus’ teaching and fulfillment of the Law, are we to relate to the Law as Christians?

This was the question I had in mind when I wrote the hymn “O Father Make Us Like the Son.”

The hymn had its beginning on Thursday morning, April 16, 1992 at the Grandy’s on Seminary Drive in Fort Worth, Texas. Several men from Heritage Baptist Church had gathered for Field Education and breakfast with our pastor, Dr. Fred Malone. That morning we studied chapter 8 from John Murray’s book, Principles of Conduct on the Law and Grace. I was especially intrigued with the truth that God is at work conforming us to the image of His Son.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).

We are called to be like our Savior. One day when Jesus returns and we see Him face to face, we shall be like Him.

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:2–3).

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

It is our hope and aim to be like Jesus. How then can we be made like our Savior, without loving God’s Law? To be like Jesus is to obey God’s commands and delight in doing His will. Certainly, we are not bound by all the ceremonial and civil laws that foreshadowed and prepared the way for Christ’s coming. But God’s Moral Law, especially manifest in the Ten Commandments, is to be a rule of life for all Christians. Jesus died to free us from the Law’s curse and condemnation, but not from its blessing and benefits. We are not to see the Law as a rigorous covenant of works to gain God’s favor and acceptance, but as a rule of life revealing God’s character, holiness, and goodness. Our efforts to obey the Law are done in gratitude and love to Christ, who has perfectly fulfilled and exemplified it for us.

I finished writing the hymn early in the morning on the Lord’s Day, April 19, 1992 and sang it in the morning worship service at Heritage. The hymn is prayer that God would work in us and conform us to the image of Christ.

O Father Make Us Like the Son!

O Father, make us like the Son
That we may walk as He,
Delighting in the Law of God
And bringing praise to Thee.

Our Lord’s great joy was loving God,
Obeying His commands.
He lived a holy, perfect life,
Fulfill’d the Law’s demands.

O Father, clothe us in the Son
His righteousness we need
That we might be declared as “just”
From condemnation freed.

O Father, we adore the Son;
He is our righteousness!
For we can now obey with hearts
Of love and thankfulness.

O Father, may we love Thy Law
And walk within its light,
And love the Gospel that can turn
Its rigor to delight.

We long to be made like our Lord,
Arrayed in truth and grace,
And we long for the day when we
Shall see Him face to face.

O Father, finish in each heart
The work that was begun.
Prepare us for the Lord’s return,
O make us like the Son!

Words ©1992, 2017 Kenneth A Puls

Download the lyrics and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune ST. MAGNUS for classical guitar.

More Hymns and Songs from Ken Puls Music

More Hymn tunes arranged for classical guitar