Bethel music publishing is everywhere. I wrote an article on Cory Asbury’s Reckless Love, a subject of much controversy and interesting discussion! As of this writing, this article received 6,520 page views, second only behind Hillsong’s So Will I, receiving more than double. I have also written on their other brainchild, Jesus culture, which itself began as a conference in 1999, reviewing Rooftops, You Won’t Relent, and Your Love Never Fails.

They have been active since 2001 and, as of this writing, produced 37 separate album releases, including We Will Not Be Shaken, which contains today’s song, No Longer Slaves.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Bethel-music-no-longer-slaves-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

The title partially summarizes the entire song. It uses a subset of the “slave of sin” aspect of Romans 6:16-17, focusing on fear as one’s own enslavement. It touches on other truths as well, including deliverance, adoption, predestination, and overcoming fear.

I’m not sure if it’s the lyrics or just me, but they don’t seem….exciting? It could be that the phrase “I am a child of God” repeats 15 times and “I’m no longer a slave to fear” 8 times. Given my annoyance of repetition, it’s certainly possible, maybe even probable. It’s not that these lyrics are necessarily bad, I think these are important truths. In fact, I think the contrast between “slave to fear” and “child of God” should be as front and center as Bethel placed it. But, it does little for me spiritually.

Finally, while Bethel showcases the benefits of following Jesus, they fail to explain the Gospel power that causes our metamorphosis.

Score: 6/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Strictly speaking, all lines are Biblical.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: Based on Psalm 32:7, God envelops Bethel Music with joyous songs that protects them. For additional Scripture on God as refuge, see Genesis 15:1, Deuteronomy 33:29, 2 Samuel 22:3, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 5:11, Psalm 12:5, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 20:1, Psalm 28:7, Proverbs 30:5, Psalm 33:20, Psalm 34:19, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 57:1, Psalms 59:1, Psalm 84:11, Psalm 89:18, Psalm 91:1-16, Psalm 115:9, Psalm 121:1-8, Psalm 140:4, Isaiah 41:10, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

[Chorus]

Line 1: Enslavement is a worthy descriptor for fear’s hold on our lives (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4), and will rescue us from fear (Genesis 15:1, Joshua 1:9, Deuteronomy 31:6, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 94:19, Psalm 115:11, Psalm 118:6, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 41:10-13, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 54:4, John 14:25-27, Romans 8:15, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 13:5-6, 1 Peter 3:13-14, 1 Peter 5:6-7, and 1 John 4:18).

Line 2: As we will see in Verse 2, this is so due to rebirth; a spiritual indwelling rises up when we receive the Gospel and live for God. We become His adopted sons and daughters (see John 1:12-13, John 14:18, Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:23, Romans 9:1-8, Galatians 3:26, Galatians 4:5-7, Ephesians 1:3-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, Hebrews 9:15, and 1 John 3:1-3).

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: An allusion to the doctrine of election, supported in Exodus 33:19, Deuteronomy 7:7-8, Deuteronomy 9:4-6, Isaiah 65:1, Matthew 22:1-14, John 15:16-17, Romans 8:29-39, Romans 9:10-24, Romans 11:1-6, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Ephesians 1:3-14, Colossians 3:12-14, 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, 2 Timothy 1:8-9, 2 Timothy 2:10 James 2:5, and 2 Peter 1:3-11.

Line 3: This is so because God is love (1 John 4:8).

Line 4: As originally stated by Jesus with His interaction with the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3:3-8, born again means that the Holy Spirit indwells within us, as first experienced by Jesus’ disciples in Acts 2:1-13 and spread forth for over two millennia.

Line 5: Not literally, but spiritually. When we become born again, our entire lives become saturated with the Word of God. Our actions take a different form, transformed and conforming to His mind and will (Romans 12:2).

[Interlude]

Lines 1 and 2: Figurative language akin to Psalm 91:4, God’s arms protect us from the things mentioned in my commentary on Verse 1.

Lines 3 and 4: A rehash of Verse 1, lines 1 and 2, suffering the same issues.

Lines 5 and 6: Contextually, this connects with Verse 1 and lines 3 and 4 regarding God’s deliverance through song.

Line 7: Recycles Chorus, line 2.

Line 8: Song is a proper response to God’s deliverance, explicitly stated in 2 Samuel 22:1 and Psalm 13:1-6.

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: Though I normally take exception with transformative on historical events by making points not intended by the original source material, this one happens to fall within the same context. It alludes to Exodus 14:21, where Moses split the sea and the Israelites safely crossed the Dead Sea on dry land, escaping their Egyptian masters. In the same way, and as previously mentioned, God delivers us from our enemies.

Line 3: This is so because perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

Line 4: Shares the same theme of deliverance described elsewhere.

Line 5: See Interlude, line 8.

Line 6: Repeats Chorus, line 2.

Lines 7-12: Essentially repeats lines 1-6.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

My concern is how much of it will sail over their heads? Slavery, for example, is a touchy subject. The typical American will reel at any thought of the word, assuming black slaves back in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the ensuing persecution that followed it, without considering the words in their proper context. That is not Bethel’s fault of course, but it does leave me wondering.

Terms like “child of God”, “deliverance”, and “split the sea” all have particular connotations within Christianity. Without a basic understanding, it seems to me that many outsiders will not comprehend this song. It doesn’t seem to be written with evangelical outreach in mind.

Score: 4/10

4. What does this song glorify?

This is a testimonial about what God has done for us, including rescue from enemies, calling our names, and even the concept of rebirth. While this does bring God glory, it is dimmed by the lack of connection to the Gospel.

Score: 6/10

Closing Comments

The biggest thing Bethel has going for it throughout No Longer Slaves is its biblical accuracy, though certainly not perfect. The message, though containing some major Christian theological themes, fails to inspire me. If you find spiritual benefit from listening to this song, that is great! I am happy for you. However, Its focus on the benefits of God rather than the Gospel’s power is highly disappointing and, in my opinion, makes it difficult to justify that God is glorified.

I expect some disagreement over this review and hope that you still found some benefit though reading it. For many of you, it will be a case of “take the meat and throw away the bones”. In any case, I can’t recommend it for corporate worship given that its focus is about me and what God has done for me, rather than proclaiming His value and worth.

Final Score: 7/10

Artist Info

Track: No Longer Slaves (live) (listen to the song) (buy the song)

Artist: Bethel Music

Album: We Will Not Be Shaken (live) (buy the album)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2015

Duration: 6:13

Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

10/15/2019 – As part of my conversation with others on my review on Cindy Walker’s Child of the King, I re-examined this song and my own comments wish a fresh perspective. In this review, I only brought it up in section 4. I replaced it with criticism regarding the lack of gospel. While the math did not change the score much, I realized that I misscored (mis-scored? miscored? miss-scored?) it after my first update. It should have been 7/10.

05/22/2019 – Commenter JohnP found a Scripture verse to support the first Verse, forcing me to update and re-score section 2 and bumping up the overall score from 6/10 to 6.5/10.

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