Newsboys – I Am Free (Who the Son Sets Free)

Newsboys (referred to in this review as “the Newsboys”) are a Christian rock band.  It was formed in 1985 in Australia by Peter Furler and George Perdikis, who went to school together.  Originally called The News, they changed their name to Newsboys to prevent confusion with Huey Lewis and the News.  They are currently led by former DC Talk member Michael Tait.

They released 21 Studio albums and received four awards for their work, including Rock Album of the Year (Going Public, 1994), Rock Recorded Song of the Year (Shine, 1994), Recorded Music Packaging of the Year (Take Me To Your Leader, 1997), and Short Form Music Video of the Year (Entertaining Angels, 1999).

Also, check out my reviews of I Am Second, Hallelujah For The Cross, God’s Not Dead (Like a Lion), and We Believe.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Newsboys-i-am-free-who-the-son-sets-free-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Through God, the Newsboys and others will experience:

• Cures physical and spiritual blindness
• Causes the dumb to sing
• Raises the dead physically and spiritually
• Light that removes darkness
• Freedom in Christ, to dance, sing, and live for Him
• His Kingdom coming to earth as in heaven
• Victory
• Lack of fear
• Jesus’ payment for us

In addition, all will bow their knees to God.

Question: In what does Christians have victory over?  It’s not stated anywhere in this song, and it could be made clearer, but referencing Jesus’ death gives us a subtle hint, alongside basic Christian knowledge, that our victory is over the consequences of our sin.

Score: 9/10

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

If we assume that the freedom found in God is victory over the consequences of breaking God’s laws, then the entire song is Biblical.  I’ve deducted one point because it could be clearer.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: God cures both physical blindness (Matthew 9:27–30, Mark 8:22–25, and John 9:1–7) and spiritual blindness 2 Kings 6:17, Luke 24:31, John 3:3, John 9:39, Acts 26:12-18, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, 2 Corinthians 4:6, and Ephesians 1:18.

Line 2: According to Matthew 15:31 and Mark 7:37, Jesus caused the mute to speak.  Therefore, it seems reasonable to think He can help them sing as well.

Line 3: He raises people both physically (Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 7:11–17, Luke 8:40-56, and John 11:38-44) and spiritually (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).

Line 4: Every knee will bow and confess Christ as Lord (Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11).

Line 5: God’s light drives out the darkness (Psalm 107:10-16, Luke 1:79, John 1:1-13, John 12:46, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, and 1 Peter 2:9).

Lines 6 and 7: There is freedom in God, presumedly, from the consequences of our sin (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 8: Essentially repeats line 7.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-3: Examples of freedom expressions that flows from Verse 1, line 7.  Based on line 3, we can ascertain that running is about the race described in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Hebrews 12:1-3, where the Newsboys will follow Jesus to their death.

Lines 4 and 5: Repeats Verse 1, lines 7 and 8.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: As stated in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:10 and Luke 11:2.

Line 2: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 6 and 7.

Line 3: If God is with Newsboys, there is no reason for them to 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 4: References Christ’s payment for sin (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).

Line 5: Through God, the Newsboys have victory (Romans 8:37, 1 Corinthians 15:57, 2 Corinthians 2:14, 1 John 5:4-5, and Revelation 12:10-11)

Lines 6-8: Essentially repeats Verse 1, lines 6-8.

[Bridge]

Line 1: Borrows from John 8:36.

Line 2: Repeats line 1.

Line 3: The beginning part of Chorus, line 1, repeated several times, as filler.

[Outro]

Line 1: Yes, and a call to Casper the friendly ghost.

Score: 9/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Despite the only mention of God as “the Son” in Bridge, the majority of this song are common Christian phrases that unbelievers will recognize and easily comprehend.  The only thing that’s confusing is the Christian concept of freedom.  There’s potential that “freedom” means that they can do whatever they want, and express themselves any way they choose, or that “victory” is physical healing.  As stated previously, this song can improve by mentioning that our war is against lawbreaking, and victory is over the consequences of sin.  Without it, I fear that this song will lead some to false conversion.

Score: 6/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God that He does many things for Christ-followers, including physical and spiritual healing, removing fear, and giving us victory over sin.  However, as stated previously, this “over sin” portion could be clearer.

Score: 9/10

Closing Comments

Newsboys’ I Am Free (Who the Son Sets Free) is a decent song.  It lists many things that God does for His children, including spiritual and physical cures, removing fear and darkness, and giving us freedom and victory, bringing God glory.  However, it could be more clear that our victory is over sin, potentially leading unbelievers to false conversion.

If this song is contextualized by the worship leader, explaining what “victory” and “freedom” means, then I can recommend it for corporate worship.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Artist Info

Track: I Am Free (Who the Son Sets Free) (listen to the song)

Artist: Newsboys

Album: Go

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2006

Duration: 3:37

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

Updates: 

10/18/2022 – Corrected a typo in section 1 that stated Newsboys were free to sin.  Thanks to James S. Frazier for finding it!