{source}<iframe style=”float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #c0c0c0; padding: 2px; margin: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;” width=”400″ height=”225″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/RVocf1Z-kZg?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>{/source}MercyMe has been my favorite Christian band for a while now and, short of DC Talk getting back together, that’s not likely to change any time soon. The reason is that they masterfully combine enjoyable music with accurate and thought-provoking theology. While Christian music has come a long way since the 90’s, that can still be a difficult combination to consistently find. Their latest song “Flawless” is no different.
That said, I must admit that when I first heard the song, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. While the idea that “the cross has made you flawless” sounds great, I know myself well enough to realize that I am far from flawless despite my salvation in Christ. Moreover, both scripture and experience demonstrate that the same is true for all of us. So what exactly do they mean when they say that we are flawless?
As Bart Millard, the band’s lead singer, explained in the story behind the song, “Grace says that no matter how beat up you are, no matter what you go through in life, no matter how difficult life is, the cross made you flawless…It may not make you perfect yet, but it’s made you flawless.” He goes on to describe how the beauty of salvation is that there is nothing we can do, no sin we can commit that will ever tarnish us in God’s eyes. “As far as Christ’s concerned, he looks at you and says ‘this is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever cherished is you.’ In that sense you’re flawless.”{source}<iframe style=”float: right; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #c0c0c0; padding: 2px; margin: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;” width=”320″ height=”180″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/BRPGRdbGHSs?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>{/source}
{source}<iframe style=”float: right; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #c0c0c0; padding: 2px; margin: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;” width=”320″ height=”180″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/xJtKdjaH2nY?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>{/source}
{source}<iframe style=”float: right; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #c0c0c0; padding: 2px; margin: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;” width=”320″ height=”180″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/h-Bp1d_pQL8?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>{/source}That’s God’s promise to everyone that has placed their faith in him. As Paul told the church in Corinth, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). The apostle goes on to say that the Father “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
When God looks at us, he sees Christ. That imputed righteousness is why we can sing with joy and assurance that “No matter what they say or what you think you are, the day you called His name He made you flawless.”
MercyMe has produced a number of great songs. They’ve made us imagine what it will be like when we meet Christ, reminded us that we need to say so long to self because there’s just no room for two on God’s throne, and helped us grieve by putting words to the homesick feeling that goes along with losing a loved one. But I needed this song in a way that hasn’t happened in a while. Maybe the same is true for you today.
So the next time you hear this song on the radio, pay attention to the lyrics and embrace the liberation that comes from the fact that the cross has made you flawless in God’s eyes. That’s a message someone in your life needs to hear. Will you be the one to tell them?
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