If I could name but one hymn that defined American Evangelicalism in the 1900s, it would be the song “Just as I Am, Without One Plea.” It has a simple lyric, a melodic cadence, and a profound message. The song declares the precious truth that Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain in our place, that his blood makes atonement, and that he invites us to come to him. And that refrain, “O Lamb of God, I come, I come,” reminds weary Christians that Jesus invites us to enjoy fellowship with God by his blood. In Christ, we are welcomed, pardoned, cleansed, and relieved.
The Evangelist Billy Graham thought fondly of this song and would often ask that the song be played at his ministry’s “crusades,” while calling men and women to turn to Jesus, forsake sin and its entanglements, and be saved by God’s redeeming grace. And so this popularized song received a certain rapport as the “Come to Jesus” song.
Growing up in a theologically conservative, Bible-believing home and church environment, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this song! But a number of years ago, one line gave me pause while listening to the lyrics. Perhaps you’ve noticed this verse before as well:
“Just as I am—though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without—
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
Talk about an honest introspection!
See, the hymn “Just as I Am” isn’t just about coming to Christ for salvation from sin—it’s about a lifestyle of repentance and faith, coming to Christ in every season, longing for the peace he alone can bring to a war-tattered soul.
The hymn truly goes hand in hand with the Lord’s Prayer, especially the sixth petition in the Prayer: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).
As Christians we often talk about temptations to give in to the momentary pleasure of sin. Sin is deeply rooted within us and we are often blind to our own foibles. And it affects us far more often that we care to admit. For instance, let’s say you want to look good in front of someone else. What’s the quickest way of doing this? Taking a jab at someone else’s character by bringing up one of their follies to divert from your own. Let’s say you want to feel better about your position in life. What’s an easy avenue to manipulate your psyche and self-esteem? Simply create a post on Instagram or Facebook about a recent accomplishment and let the likes and hearts stroke your ego! Do you want to exact a wrong that was done against you? Easy. Just let your anger out on someone else and call it venting.
Whether we care to admit it or not, these things are all pretty relatable, aren’t they? And these are just the sins that we might pass off as lighter or harmless in the grand scheme of things.
Yet the Lord Jesus, in wisdom and holiness, taught us, his disciples, to be acutely aware of sin that crouches at the door of our hearts—to be mindful of it and pray for protection against it. As those who are saved, we are called to be holy as God is indeed holy; we are designed to mirror his goodness and mercy upon others wherever we walk.
When we are cognizant of our sin, we become more in tune with the many conflicts, many doubts, the fightings and fears within our souls and outside of us. We become aware of the temptations that bombard our hearts and our minds, and so we pray for God our Father to deliver us from these temptations.
God alone is most wise, righteous, and gracious, and yet for his holy and just purposes, he has ordered our lives and the surrounding events—all of his history itself—in such a way that we are met with, assaulted by, sometimes foiled, and even led captive by temptations specific to us (Westminster Larger Catechism 195). But in his perfect saving grace, he has not left his children in such a place of helplessness, but rather leads us out of temptation, delivering us from the guilt and bondage of our sins. Through this, he teaches us to trust him, makes us become more disgusted by our sin, and become more enamored with him.
We ourselves are unable to resist temptations, recover from them, and improve them (or make them more manageable), but God is most certainly able to deliver us from sin. In so doing, he proves to be our Keeper, the one who safeguards our lives and thwarts the attacks of the Enemy. He also proves to be our Support and Deliverer when we are tempted, the mighty fortress whom the righteous man runs into and is found safe (Psalm 18:10; cf. WSC 106).
We face temptations and trials every day. We’re tempted to give into the corrosive power of sin in diverse ways that are specific to our own vices and desires (James 1:14).
As a church, sin not only corrupts us individually, but communally. So here’s a point of application for you, today. Would you be so inclined to not only pray “Lead me not into temptation” on a daily basis, but “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil?”
As Christ’s people here at Grace, the Enemy would love nothing more than to fracture our unity and disjoint our love for one another. So we must resist him together, firm in our faith, as we lean collectively upon the Lord, our Deliverer.