Song Spotlight: Life Defined

by Makayla Guzman

Did you know that there are three stages to your salvation? It can be easy to think the gospel starts and ends at the cross, but in reality, our Savior has written a much more incredible story. One of our favorite new Impact worship songs, “Life Defined” by Shane and Shane, does a beautiful job walking us through the middle stage of salvation - sanctification. But before we dive into the lyrics, let’s talk briefly about how these three stages remind us that the gospel story is not about us, rather, it is entirely about our Savior.

Justification is the foundation of the gospel - the moment when you are made right before God and your sins are forgiven, because of Christ’s death and resurrection. (1 Peter 2:24)

Sanctification is the work of the gospel - the growth in our holiness to make us more like Jesus, because of the power of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-25)

Glorification is the hope of the gospel - this stage of salvation is God’s final and permanent removal of all sin from his Church (Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Corinthians 13:12). We will stand glorified when Christ is fully gloried!

The lyrics of “Life Defined” do a great job reminding us of what the Bible says about our sanctification, which should lead us to worship for three reasons. First, it reminds us of the holiness of our Savior. When we have a proper understanding of the righteousness and perfection of Jesus, our hearts should respond in awe. Secondly, it is a reminder of how deeply we are loved. Christ cares for his people not just simply to save us, but his love goes the greatest lengths to continue making us more like himself. He loves us too much to leave us in our sin. Which leads me to the third reason: we worship because we are reminded of the new freedom we have from old selves. We are no longer slaves to our burdens and fears, and that should bring us to a place of joyful worship!

Now, onto the song!

When my heart grows cold
And my flesh is failing
The Spirit is willing
To point me back to You

Verse two does a beautiful job reminding us that when we are weak, the Spirit is strong. What an encouragement to remember that sanctified is initiated by the Lord, so that even when we struggle (and we WILL struggle) that he is faithful.

Our FBC team actually rewrote a couple of the lines in the bridge:

Remember His approval
He gave His life to say so

These lyrics now read:

Remember our redemption
His blood for our salvation

The purpose of this change was to offer clarity where these lyricss could have led to confusion. We believe that it is important that every word we sing be rooted in truth to bring glory to the Lord!

All I am my life defined
By I've been crucified with Christ
The life I live I live by faith
In Jesus Christ who lives in me

The chorus of this beautiful song gives us an opportunity to sing Scripture. We love how these words from Galatians 2:20 remind us of our new identity. Praise Jesus that justification is just the beginning!