Photo by Daniel von Appen
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. I strongly encourage you to consider the potential blessings and dangers of this artist‘s theology by visiting Resources.
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.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
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 God 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.
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. These bring glory to God.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Bethel Music’s No Longer Slaves biblically accurate. Its chief focus on transformation as children of God, formerly slaves to our sin and now servants of the Most High, bringing glory to God. It is rife with Christianese that makes it difficult for unbelievers to comprehend.
While it’s not my favorite, others may consider it for corporate worship. I can’t recommend it for seeker-sensitive churches.
Final Score: 9/10
Artist Info
Track: No Longer Slaves (Live) (listen to the song)
Artist: Bethel Music
Album: We Will Not Be Shaken (Live)
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:
01/09/2024 – Neal Cruco found a substantive typo in Chorus! I updated it.
09/30/2022 – Fixed commentary on Interlude, lines 3 and 4. Thanks to Neal Cruco for finding it!
06/11/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Bethel’s theology.
03/18/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. Also, my personal feelings towards this song should not affect how I rate its message. I’ve rehauled almost my entire review, significantly raising its score from 7/10 to 9/10.
10/15/2020 – 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.
Comments
Ray
Hello, I realize that I’m pretty late to the conversation, but I noticed that many commentors were complaining that freedom from the slavery to fear should not the focus, freedom from slavery to sin should be . While that is true for Romans 6:16-17, I believe this song is actually based out of Romans 8:14-16. In this passage, Paul specifically says that we didn’t “receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but… the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Therefore being children of is in opposition to fear/being slaves, because of Who He is (our Father), and who we are in Him (His sons/daughters). If its important enough for the Holy Spirit to have Paul focus on it for a passage, I think its perfectly acceptable for a song. I hope this brings some clarity. Blessings!
Kristyn
I think this rating gives Bethel music too much credit that they’re referring to being free from slaves to sin. If that’s what this song was about, why wouldn’t they say, “I’m no longer a slave to sin, I am a child of God?” In fact, the word sin doesn’t appear in the song at all. But Bethel doesn’t talk about sin in their songs much in general. (Even their statement of faith and beliefs from their website there’s almost nothing about sin). I agree with you that if this is about no longer being slaves to sin that everything in it is Biblical, but I think that’s putting a Biblical theology on the song that isn’t really found there. Jesus didn’t die to free us from fear. He didn’t die to give us Christian liberty freedom. He died to free us from sin. And this song doesn’t say that. It’s only Biblical to those who already have this foundational knowledge and for those who don’t, I believe it’s a dangerous message and I think it should score a lot lower when compared to Scripture.
Anoymonous Christian
I am wondering why The Berean Test places high emphasis on evangelism in songs. We worship to glorify God, that includes lifting biblical phrases, verses and allusions to praise him. So why do you also rate songs on how unbelievers might understand the song?
Not criticism, just wondering.
Vince Wright
Anoymonous Christian,
Great question!
Some people want to know how unbelievers would interpret this song primarily for evangelistic purposes. Corporate worship isn’t the only reason why songs are written.
-Vince Wright
Rusty J Silvey
This song misses the most important truth in scripture. That is we are all a slave to sin before being born again. Sin, not fear is our problem. I would hate to think they avoid the word sin and use fear instead because sin sounds so old school. After all even the Christian experience has to be updated to be more popular today. Scripture talks about fear in some places as a good thing. It is a valuable thing to fear hell and we should have a healthy fear toward the one who can not only destroy our body but our soul in hell fire. Jesus did not hang on the cross to simply set me free from fear, He set me free from sin!
Antonio James Higgins
I’ve sang this song for youth camp one time. It’s okay. The chorus reminds me of the much better hymn “I am a Child of God” by Barney Warren.
Pat
I don’t take issues with the song in particular. I think scrutinizing every song is a bit ridiculous, unless blatantly not doctrinal. I think it’s more important to scrutinize the publishers. I’m glad I learned about Bethel AU and how they basically use Tarot cards, and do divination etc. I might listen to a song, but I definitely won’t have anything to do with their teaching. I think the trend in general is to use flowery verbiage in worship to caress our emotions, and tickle the ear. Like the new “Passion bible” is a sign of the times. Not good. Keep in mind we are the servants. God makes His Way, so that we can do His Will, he is not a genie in a bottle that we call upon to make our way. Let me have my grandpa moment here and say ‘ah, the good old days’, because in the 70s almost all our songs were straight scripture. You just don’t hear that much anymore. What happens when you no longer feel the Passion?
Vince Wright
Pat,
Thank you for your thoughts!
-Vince Wright
past0r_r0bert
Pat – that’s interesting that you said, “in the 70s almost all our songs were straight scripture.” I have thought about that a good bit, because I am a little too young and sadly missed that era. Ironically, THOSE songs are not what are getting repeated by worship teams pretty much anywhere. Churches either sing the old songs (1960s and before) or the new songs (1990s and up) – but we skip that era in between. I wonder why that is?
Chad Hoffman
I really like this song. I also agree with your review. I can see from others comments how this is a praise song, however I also see a trend in contemporary worship that is more about us than God. I wouldn’t mind singing this as a praise song to Him once in a while but I would like it better as praise if it specifically said “thank you” to Him for these things and if it talked more about Him and not just what He’s done for me.
Don’t get me wrong. The message here is important and inspirational. It’s a good song to have stuck in my head to remind me of some of God’s truths. I just don’t prefer this type of song for praise and worship.
Vince Wright
Chad,
Thank you for your comment! I agree.
-Vince Wright
racefangurl
So it should say “Thank You” in an ending tag or some such? Maybe you could sing it that way, when you sing it as a praise song once in awhile. If you so chose to do as you said you don’t mind doing.
Alex
Hi Kat,
I certainly think your points regarding the errant theology of Bethel Church are valid, and they should cause Worship Pastors/Leaders to think twice when selecting them for corporate worship within their congregations and to cover the decision in prayer. It requires great discernment and caution, and we must absolutely factor these things into our decisions when evaluating appropriateness for congregational singing. Thank you so much for your post.
However, to your point, I would add that some congregational worship songs that have rock-solid, biblically accurate theology and have become somewhat “standards” were written by people with heretical views. For example, take Horatio Spafford’s “It Is Well With My Soul.” All 4 verses of this hymn are indisputably theologically correct, and the song is often hailed as a paradigm and consummate example of a theologically rich hymn that all churches should be singing. That said, Spurgeon espoused a universalist theology later in his life, and attended a church that denounced the reality of hell, amongst other things. Another example is Russell Robinson, who wrote “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Later in his life, he fell away from the Christian faith. That raises the important question: are we to not sing their music? For at least these two hymns, I still do choose them, with the rationale that, though the songwriters are imperfect and may have flawed/heretical views, that does not change the fact that the words they penned are biblically accurate, point others to Christ, and can be used to edify a congregation. God can use anything to bring Him glory, and there are countless examples of that throughout scripture. I agree, though, that any decision of this nature requires careful consideration and prayer.
Just my two cents. I would love to discuss this further! I also love this website.
past0r_r0bert
Great point – and one I have been thinking about recently. I did not know that about Spafford, but I do know that whatever our denomination is (I’m Baptist), we sing old songs (typically wrongly title “hymns”) written by people with varying doctrinal beliefs (Methodists, Presbyterians, Nazarenes, Non-conformists, etc.) – and those are just the ones I know about!
Neal Cruco
I agree that this song is focused less on God’s nature and more about what He has done for us, but is that so bad? Can we not glorify God by testifying about what He has done for us? Simply “following the I’s” is not sufficient to determine whether a song glorifies the singer or God.
tastywallet
Neal,
Thanks for reading and commenting on my review! I thought I had connected it with section 1, but I left that out. I added additional text to the end of section 4 to connect the two together.
-TastyWallet
JohnP
Just found this site … Regarding verse 1, lines 2 and 3 seem like a pretty clear reference to Psalm 32:7: “You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”
tastywallet
JohnP,
Thank you so much! I updated my review and rescored it.
-TastYWallet
Michael Q
Thank you so much for your reviews! I definitely appreciate the care you’re using to make sure the songs we’re singing are Biblically accurate!
Just a quick observation – Verse 1, lines 2 & 3 (“You surround me with a song / of deliverance from my enemies”), is actually a slightly-reworded quotation from Psalm 32:7 NIV (“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”), although “songs of deliverance” could be more of a reference to David being surrounded by God’s people who are singing songs about how God has delivered them. God DOES sing over His people in connection with His deliverance of them (e.g. Zeph. 3:17), but I agree that the means by which He delivers is not necessarily singing.
That being said, I take more issue with the Verse 1, line 1 (“You unravel me with a melody”)…in my opinion, God singing over us would have the opposite effect! (like in Is. 40:29)
Thanks again for reviewing this song!
tastywallet
Michael,
Thank you for taking the time to read my review and comment! I suppose I can see your point about the first verse, but she could have been more clear about it.
-TastyWallet
Alex
A good, fake $50 note has less than 10% error in it. It is recognised only by those who have studied what a real $50 looks like. Same is true for Christian songs. This song only has some slight errors in it, as outlined in these comments. But in my book, that’s enough to call it fake…false teaching! Whether it was the authors intent or not, I would not pass this song on to others to sing.
past0r_r0bert
The only reason a fake dollar is considered counterfeit is because the government deems it as counterfeit. A real dollar and a fake have just as much material value (as a piece of paper). So who gets to be the final judge on the biblical accuracy of a worship song – God, right? So on one extreme unless we are simply copying Scripture verbatim, it is not EXACTLY like Scripture and every song is anywhere from 0-99% Scriptural – meaning counterfeit (according to your analogy). Instead, humans write songs with artistic freedom and try to get as biblically accurate as possible. But if you’re going for 100% (or even 90%) we’re going to have to take out a LOT of songs written over the past hundreds of years – including songs in hymnals. For example… I’ll fly away? Is that true or will I be “translated” and gone immediately to heaven?
Scott Willard
I love this song. I love Bethel Music. For me this is a song of comfort and Faith. When I worry or fear. My go to Scripture is MATTHEW 6:25
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for. your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; … what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet. for your body, what you will wear.
No Longer Slaves assures me Jesus is my Father so not to Fear 🙂 Thank you Jesus
tastywallet
Scott,
Thanks for sharing! I am glad you find comfort listening to this song, despite my commentary on it.
-TastyWallet
Henry Hugh McAuley
Sorry, I’m up to my neck in “praise” which is subjective rather than objective … one of the lyrics says ‘Chosen from my mothers womb’ … scripture tell me I’m chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world … and also, can someone explain how “the blood of Christ flows through me” … when scripture tells me at conversion, I receive the Spirit of Christ, not his blood which saves me … not flow through me.
tastywallet
Henry,
You are correct: praise is subjective and I take that into consideration for reviews. Also, I’m not sure if you read my entire review, but I did mention that “the blood of Christ flows through me” is spiritual rather than literal.
-TastyWallet
Steve Kuhn
I agree with Tasty in that some of the words of this song are meant to be taken figuratively not literally. As for “Who does this song glorify?”, without a doubt it glorifies our heavenly father. Yes, there are a lot of I’s and me’s in the song, but that’s necessarry to praise the Lord for what He has done for us, and how it has changed our lives! It is a beautiful song and the audience is the Lord our God. Tasty, I do have a question concerning using “How would an outsider interpret the song?” as a criteria to determine the Godliness of a song. For example, this song is meant to be sung as a congregation praising God, not something a non-believer will identify with because he/she has not gone through the life changing experience the Lord brings, and the song supports. JMO…
tastywallet
Steve,
Thank you for taking the time to read my review and comment! I don’t get the sense that congregational worship is the intent here, but it seems you see something in these lyrics that perhaps I am missing. As for the glorification test, I do my best to separate it from the outsider test, but in some cases, the intended audience plays a factor in my grading. In this case, I did not consider it. Perhaps I was too harsh on the outsider test. I’ll pray on it.
-TastyWallet
Steve Barhydt
I agree with Steve Kuhn that this song glorifies God in it’s entirety.
I believe that this song is very similar to the sentiment from Exodus 10:
[Exo 10:1-29 KJV] 1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: 2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I [am] the LORD.
I can picture in my mind an elderly Israelite sitting on the banks of the Sea of Galilee saying to his grandkids, “We were delivered by God from Egypt. We were feed every day with bread from Heaven. We walked right through the Red Sea when God split it for us.” Who would those statements glorify? The old man or God?
Vince Wright
Steve,
Thank you for your comment! I see your point and will pray on it.
-Vince Wright
Joshua Adam Heffner
Words have the power to give life or death. When Bethel uses words repeatedly it is to drive home His great love and repeating words or phrases helps turn your heart from the things that may he binding you. This song is powerful. And life changing. I have been set free, I am no longer a slave to the sins of my past. This song shows His great love for us, even when we stumble, He is there.
tastywallet
Joshua,
Thank you for voicing your opinion! I appreciate that.
-TastyWallet
Nikki
I was quite stunned to see a Berean review that heralds all of the lyrics in this song as Biblical. I am particularly perplexed by the statement in vs. 2 that declares, “I’ve been born again into a family HIS BLOOD runs through my veins.” I find this line not only heretical, but blasphemous. If this statement is true, I am born again and my blood has been changed and it is no longer mine, but the blood of Jesus, am I not stating that MY [new] blood now has the power to cleanse all unrighteousness? How is this not blasphemy? This supports a Bethel theology which I have heard preached with all the hellfire and brimstone of “gods honest truth!!” And that is: when we are born again, our DNA [physical blood] is changed tho that of God’s or Jesus’. I understand we have received a SPIRIT of ADOPTION, not a physical birth, but a spiritual one into the family of God as His ADOPTED sons and daughters. But to say that we have His blood in our veins, I would love to see the verse that says being born again changes our blood!
Vince Wright
Nikki,
Thank you for your comment!
What makes you think it’s literal blood? My commentary states that it’s not. Also, none of my friends nor the pastoral staff at my church interpret it as literal blood. So, I’m interested to see how you came to that conclusion.
-Vince Wright
Neal Cruco
Nikki,
I would also be interested in hearing your argument for this being literal blood, since the “blood = life” metaphor is found throughout the Bible. See Leviticus 17:14 and Romans 3:25, for example. When I combine this with the Scripture that speaks of Christ Jesus giving us new life (John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 6:4, Romans 8:5-9, Galatians 2:20, etc), I find a pretty strong argument for verse 2, line 5. And with this metaphor in mind, I’d say that this is the verse that you asked for:
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
Finally, I hope Vince will allow me to make a scientific note here. You say above that DNA is (or is within, or contains, etc) physical blood. That is incorrect. Mammalian red blood cells, such as those within humans, have no nucleus or organelles, and thus no DNA or other genetic information. They are essentially hemoglobin within a plasma membrane.
Vince Wright
Neal,
Thank you for your comments! You’ve made a solid argument based on the blood/life analogy. It is not the DNA that is altered, but the inner-spirit of our being.
As for the DNA/blood commentary, according to https://www.biology.arizona.edu/human_bio/problem_sets/dna_forensics_2/06t.html, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/donor-blood-transfustion/, and https://thesequencingcenter.com/knowledge-base/how-much-dna-is-contained-in-human-blood-cells/, as well as several other articles I’ve looked at, blood contains human DNA. However, that doesn’t mean that blood = human DNA. They aren’t the same thing, nor does DNA contain blood. It’s the other way around.
-Vince Wright
victor
Hola Joshua: Como relacionas esclavo del pecado con esclavo del temor?
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: Hello Joshua: How do you relate slave of sin with slave of fear?
Neal Cruco
Victor.
I am not Joshua, of course, but Vince answered your question pretty well in his introduction. “It uses a subset of the “slave of sin” aspect of Romans 6:16-17, focusing on fear as one’s own enslavement.”
Vixtor
Hola Neal… Es que no entiendo que exista ese subconjunto… En la 2da parte del versículo.. Aclara que.. O eres esclavo del pecado para muerte o de obediencia para justicia… Son los únicos subconjuntos que expresa el versículo.. Sino.. Es un mal análisis del versículo
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: Hi Neal … I just don’t understand that this subset exists … In the 2nd part of the verse … Clarify that … Either you are a slave to sin for death or obedience to justice … They are the only subsets that the verse expresses … But … It’s a bad analysis of the verse
Lucas Stutesman
I agree that outsiders would struggle to get what I get out of this song. To believe that we can exist without fear in your life is hard to accept. Fear is the manifestation of when we don’t believe a truth that God provides.
The blood of Jesus flowing through us is in reference to your brother Jesus. It tells how completely God “adopts” us into his family. We now share the same bloodline and all authority therein. As a result, we don’t need to be afraid any longer.
Chosen from my mothers womb is meant to convey how he has known us from the moment of conception just as you described. Not that he waited until conception to do that. He waited untill we accepted to grant us the authority he promised us before the creation of time.
It’s all connected and once we see it, it becomes a song that inspires us.
Vince Wright
Lucas,
Thanks for your thoughts!
-Vince Wright
Dixie Ross
Hello everyone! I like the song, but it is hard these days to find even a beautiful and theologically strong song that doesn’t need a little tweaking or explanation. The idea of “from my mother’s womb” could be taken from Psalm 139 and from Jeremiah 1:4-5 “Then the Word of the LORD came unto me saying, ‘Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. . .” God’s people who are born again hold these things in common, that we are to live and be a prophetic people, strangers in the world, and pilgrims on our way to the Holy City. Also, we are no longer slaves to fear, because as children born again into the kingdom of God’s Son, we “have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7 I commend you all for your thoughtful questions and grace for answering. God bless you all! Dixie