Disciple – By God

My reviews are highly saturated with Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), Hymns, Pop, and Rock songs.  However, severely lacking is representation from the Metal genre.  In fact, this will be my first entry into that collection of music with the understanding that some may not consider Disciple’s By God as metal.  The constant screaming says otherwise in my mind.  As does Google.

One of the great things about Disciple is that they include Bible verses in the booklet to show their listeners the source material of their music.  I am genuinely curious to see if they quoted from it legitimately or out of context. Given that Disciple provides their own Scripture, this review will be different in that I will compare their lyrics with the Scripture they provide, adding my own commentary, and occasionally including additional passages as I see fit.  I offer two sets of scores for section 2: one containing my regular review and the second their usage of Scripture.  The second will not impact their overall score.

This will be my second review of Disciple’s music, the first being Dear X (You Don’t Own Me).

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Disciple-by-god-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.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Disciple carries forth a heavy saturation of Scriptural passages throughout these lyrics.  The main theme, as I understand it, is this: recognizing our own depravity, we receive God’s salvation only by His grace.  Purchased by the price God paid for our redemption, our response is obedience, forsaking self to do as God commands.  Disciple’s request and prayer are for God to fill us, His holy temples, with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  We are to use our bodies to glorify God using spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit bestows upon us.  Should we fail in our task, God is faithful to help us.

I have nothing critical to say about Disciple’s message.  It is crystal clear.

Score: 10/10

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

All lines are not only Scripturally sound, more than 80% paraphrase portions of it.  Though there is one case of Scripture that does not convey the message Disciple intends and at least one case of not including enough of it, in all cases, I found Scripture to communicate their intent.

The original lyrics have sections “B” and “B2” That I combined as “Pre-Chorus”.  I designated Section “C” as “Chorus”.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1 and 2: Holiness is the outcome that comes from Christ’s cleansing of our sins (Romans 6:22).

Line 3: That is, the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:10).  Also, see Acts 1:8.

Line 4: The individual houses the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 2:21).  Also, see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.

Line 5: Jesus’ example leads us to live our lives for others (1 John 3:16).

Line 6: Jude 24 is not precisely what Disciple describes.  It is part of a benediction that describes God as One who keeps us from stumbling, rather than as our rescuer if we fall.  1 John 2:1-2 is a far more suitable passage for this point.

Lines 7 and 8: Babylon is an excellent example used to make Disciple’s point regarding barriers, both in the literal and figurative sense.  Jeremiah 51:58 provides us a prophecy that their walls will be destroyed, marking the end of their kingdom.

While Disciple is not specific regarding the walls, the pre-chorus and Chorus focus on following Jesus.  It seems reasonable to think Disciple is praying for God to remove obstacles that the enemy builds that hampers our walk.

Line 9: As first seen in Acts 2:1-4.  Also, see commentary in line 4.

Line 10: Quoted from 2 Corinthians 3:17, with “of the Lord” removed and understood implicitly.

[Pre-Chorus (B and B2)]

Line 1: Disciple personally applies John 15:5 to themselves.

Line 2: Correctly paraphrases Philippians 4:13.

Line 3-5: Recognizing their own depravity, Disciple understands that they should have been crucified rather than Jesus.  While Isaiah 53:5, 1 John 3:5, 1 John 4:10 are great passages to describe Christ’s sacrifice, they only address the second portion. Romans 6:23 speaks to the first part.

Lines 6 and 7: Disciple expresses obedience to the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23, adding the famous phrase by one Kool Aid Man.

[Chorus (C)]

Lines 1 and 2: Not one to draw attention to themselves, they recognize that salvation is undeserved favor (Ephesians 2:8).

Lines 3 and 4: Quoted from the end of 1 Corinthians 6:19 and beginning of 1 Corinthians 6:20.  That price, of course, is the death of Jesus.

Lines 5 and 6: Expression of obedience to God’s commandment in Deuteronomy 8:3 and quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:4 to rebuke the Devil.

The sixth line read strangely to me at first until I realized that the antecedent of “by God” are the words, not the mouth!

Line 7 and 8: If you mess with God, you’ll get the horns.  Interestingly, Disciple borrowed much of the words from Psalm 44:5.  Galatians 6:7 is also a fine companion verse.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: I legitimately laughed out loud when I found this gem nearly quoted word-for-word in Psalm 81:10.  The addendum “Word of God” explicitly states an implicit truth found in this verse.

Lines 3 and 4: Disciple is requesting God for the spiritual gift of healing, utilized in Acts 4:30 and one of many of the Holy Spirit’s giftings found in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11.

Lines 5 and 6: That is, experiential evidence that rests upon God (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).  It is likely that spiritual gifts are the context that Disciple intended with these lines and falls in line with the Scripture provided, particularly with the gift of healing described in lines 3 and 4.

Lines 7 and 8: Disciple is being humble here.  Jesus Himself in John 14:12 said we would do greater works than He did, though probably not including paying the penalty for our lawbreaking.

Lines 9 and 10: In keeping with 1 Corinthians 14:1, Disciple expresses their desire for the Holy Spirit’s giftings.

Lines 11 and 12: In my opinion, and I do realize that this is a nitpick, Disciple should have included, in addition to Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17, Joel 2:29-32.  Without it, these passages do not tell us implicitly that the children described prophecy of God’s works, as described in the rest of Joel 2.

The Berean Test score: 10/10

Disciple’s usage of Scripture score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Notwithstanding the explicit Scriptural references in their booklet (as well as the Genius website), unbelievers may not understand that Disciple is quoting the Bible often; However, the message described in section 1 should be clear even to those who do not yet follow Jesus.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Line 4 in Verse 1, borrowed from 2 Timothy 2:21, summarize precisely who I think this song glorifies.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Disciple’s By God puts a huge smile on my face with every listen.  With nearly every line derived from God’s Word, while a few of the passages referenced in their booklet may not fit the lines to which they derive, this happy camper found Scripture to legitimize them anyways.  Disciple’s message is clear to anyone who listens and bringing God much-deserved glory.

I hope you enjoyed something slightly different!

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: By God (listen to the song)

Artist: Disciple

Album: By God

Genre: Hard Rock, Alternative Metal

Release Year: 2001

Duration: 3:51

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