Boldly I Approach: Hymn Study

Here is the link to "Boldly I Approach": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QDnVD7gu5Y

“Body I Approach” by Rend Collective is a song that reminds us of the incredible gift we have to come before God’s presence.  It points to the beautiful working of God that, although He is completely Holy, and therefore sin cannot be in His presence, we, sinful people, are allowed access to Him such as never before in history.  This amazing story is due to Christ’s death and resurrection which paid for the sin that ought to separate us from God.  A passage that beautifully parallels this song is Hebrews 4:14-16, “Since then 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 is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The first verse begins in a timid manner.  It makes us recognize how strange it is that sinners can stand before God and in the presence of the Heavenly Host.  It attributes this strange meeting to the fact that Jesus has redeemed us.  It begins, “By grace alone somehow I stand/ Where even angels fear to tread.”  It is truly by grace alone that we are able to come before a Holy God.  We know God is Holy because of passages such as Isaiah 6:3 where the angels surround God’s throne crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;/ the whole earth is full of his glory!.”  Even Christians are instructed to be holy in 1 Peter 1:16, “since it is written,’You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”  And we know that this holiness of God is not something to be trifled with.  Isaiah 6 paints a picture of the well-known prophet coming into the presence of the Almighty, and the light of the purity of God reveals Isaiah’s sin to such a degree that in terror Isaiah exclaims, “‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’” (Isaiah 6:5) When God came into the tabernacle and lived with His people, His presence was so holy that a priest could only come into the room, the Holy of Holies, but once a year, and this was such a terrifying job, that there were measures to retrieve the man of God if he were to be struck dead in God’s presence.  There are many other examples of God’s Holy presence being a terrible thing.  One last account of the Holiness of God’s presence is told in 1 Samuel 5 and 6.  Here the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, but when they stood the Ark next to the idol Dagon, Dagon kept having mishaps and falling off its stand.  Eventually the Philistines sent the Ark back to the people of Israel.  When the Ark was being brought through the streets of Jerusalem, Uzzah, in order to keep the Ark from falling, reached out and took hold of it.  Because a sinful man had come into contact with the resting place of the Holy God, Uzzah died. (2 Samuel 6)  Yet, God allows those who are born again access into His throne room.  Ephesians 2:18&19 tell us, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” reminding us that because of Christ’s work we are citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom.  This access to the place where even angels are afraid to enter comes only by grace.  Just earlier in Ephesians 2 we are told, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (5) and “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (8&9)

Verse one continues, “Invited by redeeming love/ Before the throne of God above.”  God has truly invited us to come and live in His presence.  In John 6:44 Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”  As mentioned before, we were dead in our sins, alienated from the love of God when Jesus ransomed us from sin.  We have been invited to come into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The last two lines of verse one are “He pulls me close with nail-scarred hands/ Into His everlasting arms.”  This poetic and beautiful phrase reminds us that it is the hands that were pierced for our transgressions that call us into a relationship with the Father.  In John 20:27 Thomas feels and sees the scars in Jesus’s hands, “Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  We are also reminded that God is everlasting.  “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” (Isaiah 40:28)

The second verse describes a scene where the singer is being tempted by Satan to not focus on his redemption, but instead on the condemnation (the guilt which demands punishment for sin) which has been removed by Christ’s work on the cross.  “When condemnation grips my heart/ And Satan tempts me to despair/ I hear the voice that scatters fear/ The Great I Am the Lord is here.”  The lyrics do not leave the singer in this place of guilt, but instead reminds him that God speaks to us.  This same God who is inviting us into His presence is the one who paid for our sin.  When believers are before God they need not fear His wrath, because it has been satisfied.  This is why they ought not to remember their condemnation, but instead their forgiveness.  God’s voice gives us peace and hope and drives away our fear.  “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)  This verse goes on with a spirit of praise to the God who would sacrifice Himself so that we could be sanctified, “O praise the One Who fights for me/ And shields my soul eternally.”  God is on our side, and He does fight for us.  1 Corinthians 15:56-57 states, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Our natural response to God’s gifts of salvation, protection, and sanctification should be that of praise.  If Psalm 136 is any indication, we ought to be praising and thanking God for His steadfast love, which empowered Jesus to bear the cross.

Verse three paints a picture of the beauty of Christ and how incredible it is that we are allowed to behold such majesty.  “Behold the bright and risen Son/ More beauty than this world has known/ I’m face to face with Love Himself/ His perfect spotless righteousness.”  We are told that when we come face to face with God he will be literally luminescent.  “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)  “His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power.” (Habakkuk 3:4)  We also know that the Son, Jesus Christ, is risen.  An angel speaks in Matthew 28:6, “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.”  This verse also reminds us of the truth that God is love.  “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8)  Also, Jesus is not only described as, but He must be a perfect, spotless, and righteous sacrifice.  Only a perfect sacrifice could pay for the debt of sin.  This is described in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  The last two lines of verse three echo the thoughts of Psalm 145:2, “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.”  The song states it this way, “A thousand years a thousand tongues/ Are not enough to sing His praise”

The chorus takes the singing believer from the door of the throne room and recognizing the truths about the situation to the foot of the throne itself, so that he is able to rejoice in the fact of redemption.  The chorus sings, “Boldly I approach Your throne/ Blameless now I’m running home/ By Your blood I come welcomed as Your own/ Into the arms of majesty.”  Again Hebrews reminds us, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.” (Hebrews 4:16)  We are allowed to come into God’s presence with unashamed confidence.  Colossians 1:22 states, “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”  reminding us that we are now considered blameless when we come to God.  Another beautiful truth that is in this line is the fact that our home is not this earth, but heaven.  It is implying that we are running to God’s presence and it calls this place home.  “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ[.]” (Philippians 3:20)  The only way this incredible circumstance could have come about is by the blood of Christ.  “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18&20)  This line is also a pairing of truths, reminding us that not only are we saved through the blood of Christ, but that we are adopted into the family of God as well.  We read about this truth in Ephesians 1:5, “he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will[.]”  This intimate picture is not without the weight that the Creator God deserves.  The chorus ends reminding us that the God who is embracing us is not only loving but also majestic.  Psalm 8:9 praises, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

The final piece of this song is the bridge.  This section reminds the singer that he ought to be rejoicing at that fact that salvation has been shown to him.  “This is the art of celebration/ Knowing we’re free from condemnation/ O praise the One praise the One/ Who made an end to all my sin.”  It is interesting that the word condemnation reappears here in the bridge after we are reminded of Satan recalling it to our minds in verse two.  We can know that we are not bound by the condemnation that once would have sent us to Hell and that Satan brings to our memories, but we are free from it.  Romans 8:1 simply states this truth, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  As in verse two, we are again given an opportunity to praise the God who has made all of this possible.  We are also given another reason to praise God, and that is that our sin has been ended.  This incredible truth is told to us through a passage previously discussed--1Corinthians 15:54-57 “‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’/ ‘O death, where is your victory?/ O death, where is your sting?’/ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We have great reason to praise and to celebrate just in the fact that Jesus Christ is our perfect sacrifice.  Not only can we praise God for the process of redemption, but we can come before Him and speak with Him.  “Boldly I Approach” is a beautiful way to remind ourselves of these truths.