Bethel Music (Feat. Zahriya Zachary) – Back To Life

Bethel Church was founded in 1952 in Redding, California.  They release their music under the label Bethel Music, which became active in 2001.  They produced several albums, so many that I dare not count them all.

They won two GMA Dove in 2016: one is Worship Song of the Year for their work on No Longer Slaves.  The other Instrumental Album of the Year for their album Without Words: Synthesia.

Check out my other Bethel Music reviews.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Bethel-music-back-to-life-live-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.  I strongly encourage you to consider this artist’s theology’s potential blessings and dangers by visiting Resources.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Bethel Music has been set free from the shackles of sin and shame, redeemed by Jesus Christ and belonging to Him.

My only criticism is Bethel Music’s proclamation that they are worthy.  The word “grace” means “undeserved favor”.  Worthiness is about works righteousness.  When they say they are “worthy”, they are communicating that they have or show the qualities or abilities that merit recognition.  Yet, the sum of their works is filthy rags.  Their wages are death.  They are unworthy, just like the rest of us.  Yes, there is a sense in which “worthy” means “valuable”; However, most people are not likely to view it that way.  There are better ways to communicate their worth, such as:

“When something says I’m not valued
I’ll point to that empty grave”

If written this way, people will understand Bethel Music’s intent.

Site Note: To those annoyed by massive repetition, Verse 4 repeats the same line 4 times in a row, and Spontaneous essentially repeats the same two lines 10 times in a row.

Score: 8/10

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

Almost all of it is Scriptural, except when it says that Bethel Music is worthy to receive Jesus. They are not.

[Chorus]

Line 1: Essentially quotes from Galatians 2:20.

Line 2: The concept of being born again comes from John 3:3.  Freedom is described in Psalm 119:45, Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah 61:1, John 3:16-21, John 8:31-36, John 10:10, Acts 13:38-39, Romans 6:1-23, Romans 8:1-4, Romans 8:20-21, 1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 7:21-23, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 3:13, Galatians 3:22, Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:13, Colossians 1:21-23, Hebrews 2:14-15, and 1 Peter 2:16.

Lines 3 and 4: Contrasts Bethel Music’s deadness in their former sin with their new life in Jesus (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).

The word ‘Hallelujah” is a compound Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song” when we use this word.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-6: Lazarus in John 11:43 is a literal example of a figurative truth described in Chorus, lines 3 and 4.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: Dead religion is probably a reference to James 1:26 and James 2:26.

Lines 3 and 4: Bethel Music’s only hope is in Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 5:1-8, Romans 8:24-39, Romans 15:13, 1 Corinthians 15:54-58, and 1 Peter 1:3-6).

Lines 5 and 6: Repeats Verse 1, lines 5 and 6.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1 and 2: Not that Bethel Music is guilty of sin, but that they don’t have to suffer the heavenly consequences of their lawbreaking given that their sin was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14).

Lines 3 and 4: Yes and no.  Yes in the sense that they have worth as proven by the cross (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8, and 1 John 4:9-10).  No in the sense that Bethel Music does not deserve to receive God’s forgiveness.  Grace means undeserved favor.  They are forgiven despite unworthiness (Luke 18:9-14, Acts 13:39, Romans 3:20-30, Romans 4:1-7, Romans 8:3, Romans 9:16, Romans 9:31-32, Romans 11:6, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 2:21, Galatians 3:10-12, Galatians 3:21, Galatians 5:2-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 3:3-9, 2 Timothy 1:9, Hebrews 6:1-2, and James 2:10-11).  Most people will likely interpret this as the latter, not the former, which is blasphemous.

Lines 5 and 6: Repeats Verse 1, lines 5 and 6.

[Verse 4]

Lines 1-4: In other words, there is no way to “make up” for what Jesus did for them.  They must simply receive it as a gift and show gratitude through praise (Matthew 2:11, Matthew 14:33, Matthew 21:9, Matthew 28:8-9, Matthew 28:16-17, Luke 24:50-53, John 12:13, and John 20:28) and obedience (Matthew 25:34-40, John 14:15, John 14:21-24, John 15:10-14, 1 Peter 1:14-15, 1 John 2:3-5, 1 John 4:19-20, 1 John 5:2-3, and 2 John 1:6).

Lines 5-8: Repeats/essentially repeats Verse 1, lines 5 and 6.

[Spontaneous]

Lines 1 and 2: Yes, and He will not lose anyone who is His (John 6:39, John 17:12, and John 18:9).

Lines 3-20: Repeats/essentially repeats lines 1 and 2.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will think this song is about praising Jesus because of what He did for Bethel Music.  They will probably think Jesus died for them.  This dead giveaway is Bethel Music’s explicit usage of “Christ”, “born again”, “faith”, “hallelujah”, and “heaven”.  Bethel Music uses mostly everyday language.  “Dead religion” will likely give them pause; However, “born again” will likely elude them without deeper research into the matter.

My chief complaint in sections 1 and 2 is especially troublesome for unbelievers, who think that if they are worthy, then they don’t need to obey God’s commandments or change their behavior.  They are fine the way they are.  Such an ideology stinks of false conversion, leading those who are ensnared by it to everlasting death.

Score: 6/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus as Bethel Music’s source of life, whom they celebrate for His efforts to save them from eternal damnation.  However, it does not glorify Jesus when stating that they are worthy to receive Him when they are not.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

Bethel Music’s Back To Life is mostly good. They bring us back to the moment that they decided to follow Jesus, remembering what He did for them. That is, He freed them from sin and death and gave them newness of life. These things glorify God. However, it also says that they are worthy, which sounds more like deserving rather than valued. Unbelievers will likely interpret similarly, both the good and not-so-great things about this song, though likely not understanding what “born again” means.

If “worthy” could be addressed such that people understand this to mean value, then it has the potential for corporate worship. However, in its present state, I cannot recommend this song.

Final Score: 7.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Back To Life (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: Bethel Music (Feat. Zahriya Zachary)

Album: Homecoming (Live)

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2021

Duration: 6:36

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