CityAlight – There is One Gospel

CityAlight, in the same structure as Hillsong, Elevation Worship, and Bethel, is a band run by a church organization. They hail from St Paul’s Castle Hill in Castle Hill, Australia.  They aim to reach a larger audience with theologically accurate lyrics based on Scripture, realized in my glowing CityAlight reviews!

CityAlight released three albums and one EP, including:

• Yours Alone (2014)
• Only a Holy God (2016)
• Yet Not I (EP; 2018)
• There is One Gospel (Live) (2022)

Also, check out my reviews of Your Will be done, Jesus, Strong and Kind, It Was Finished Upon That Cross, Jesus Is Alive, Ancient of Days, Only a Holy God, Christ is Mine Forevermore, and Yet not I but through Christ in Me.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Cityalight-there-is-one-gospel-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 the potential blessings and dangers of this artist‘s theology by visiting Resources.

1. What message does the song communicate?

This song essentially proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and contains all the elements of the Gospel, including:

• Former life of sin that leads to death.
• Jesus’ substitutionary atonement on the cross.
• Christ’s resurrection.
• Implied repentence and trust in Jesus.
• Implied obedience.
• Eternal life in the final resurrection.

For this, CityAlight praises Jesus.

Score: 10/10

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

The whole song aligns with God’s inspired word, either directly or indirectly.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-6: The joyous Gospel of Jesus Christ that CityAlight stands forever is that Jesus rescued them.  Rescued from what and to what?  CityAlight answers this in Verse 2.

Line 7: Jesus is light (John 1:1-8, John 8:12, and Ephesians 5:14).

Line 8: See commentary on lines 1-6.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: There is only one Gospel that CityAlight holds.  All other gospels are considered rubbish, which borrows from the language of Philippians 3:8 to describe the Gospel.

Lines 3-7: CityAlight offers their definition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Namely, that CityAlight, who once bore the weight of sin (and implying eternal separation from God, see Matthew 18:7-9, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43, Romans 6:23, Jude 1:7, and Revelation 14:11), realize that God’s grace saves them not works lest they should boast (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).  It is through Christ’s death on the cross that God rescues them, paying for their lawbreaking (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15-26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).  They will add the resurrection of Jesus as part of the Gospel in Verse 3.

Line 8: Repeats Verse 1, line 8.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1-4: Jesus rose from the dead (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).  He also granted CityAlight freedom (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).

Line 5: As commanded in Hebrews 12:2.

Line 6: CityAlight implies obedience to Jesus through surrender (Psalm 43:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).

Line 7: References the final resurrection (Luke 20:34-38, Acts 24:15-16, Romans 6:1-5, Romans 8:11-13, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Line 8: Repeats Verse 1, line 8.

[Verse 4]

Line 1: The church is united under the banner of this Gospel (Psalm 133:1-3, John 17:20-23, Romans 6:5, Romans 12:3-8, Romans 12:16, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 3:26-28, Ephesians 1:7-10, Ephesians 2:11-22, Ephesians 4:1-16, Philippians 2:1-2, Colossians 3:11, and 1 Peter 3:8).

Lines 2-4: More specifically, He lives inside CityAlight (Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14).  he is CityAlight’s guide (John 16:13).

Lines 5-7: CityAlight will praise Jesus post-death (Revelation 5:9-13).

Line 8: Repeats Verse 1, line 8.

Lines 9-12: Repeats lines 5-8.

[Coda]

Line 1: References God’s sovereignty over creation (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 10:14, Joshua 2:11, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 45:6, Psalm 50:7-15, Psalm 93:1-2, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Isaiah 43:13, Isaiah 45:9-10, Isaiah 46:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:35, Romans 9:19-21, Ephesians 1:11, Hebrews 1:8, James 4:15, Revelation 4:11, and Revelation 20:11).

Lines 2 and 3: Repeats Verse 1, line 8.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will hear the entire Gospel in a mostly clear and accessible format.  Although CityAlight could have more explicitly explained repentence and obedience, those outside Christianity will get the general gist that it’s the Christian Gospel.  Those who don’t know will hear it for the first time.

The words “sin” “and “death” are probably unclear to unbelievers.  To them, sin is mere mistakes and death is merely physical.

Score: 8/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God that CityAlight tells us that they proclaim just one Gospel and explain what it is.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

CityAlight’s There is One Gospel is Gospel-centered.  It tells us that there is one Gospel that they follow, namely, the Christian Gospel that Jesus paid for sins that lead to death, whose resurrection is the first-fruits of our spiritual, and eventually, final resurrection.  Implied are calls to obedience and surrender to Christ, bringing Him glory.  Though unbelievers will receive the general gist of this Gospel, obedience, sin, and death could be explained better.

I recommend this song for churches that are not seeker-sensitive.  Seeker-sensitive churches may want to explain these terms before worshipping with this song.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: There is One Gospel (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: CityAlight

Album: There is One Gospel (Live)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2022

Duration: 4:21

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

Updates:

11/07/2022 – Fixed a typo in section 2 where the intro said “impaired” instead of “inspired”.  Thanks to Genilyn McCaffrey and Joe Wright for pointing it out!