North Point InsideOut – Death Was Arrested

I’m starting to sense a trend.  It seems that many megachurches are creating their own music artists.  Hillsong is one of the largest (if not the largest).  There is also Mosaic and Prestonwood Worship, both artists I have reviewed.  North Point InsideOut is another one, this time residing in Alpharetta, Georgia, with the same target audience of high school and college students.

They debuted in 2012 with their successful album No One Higher, ranking #20 on Billboard’s Christian Albums chart.  Their next album Hear, released in 2015, was a better commercial success, debuting at number two on the Christian chart and appeared in Billboard’s top 200 albums.  Both were under the self-titled North Point record label.

In 2017, North Point InsideOut signed with Centricity and released Nothing Ordinary, parts 1 and 2.  Both are live albums.  Recently, they released several singles, including  All the World, Not the Same, and Wide Open.

This requested review is their 2017 single Death was Arrested.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/North-point-insideout-death-was-arrested-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 main thrust of North Point’s hit song is progression from eternal separation and spiritual death to eternal life with God.  From sin’s enslavement to freedom from sin.  From death’s freedom to its arrest, with presumed imprisonment.  It also touches on the resurrection and celebrates our salvation.

Speaking of salvation, when I examined the lyrics for myself, I saw nothing on how one receives it.  Though I understand that many Christ-followers know this information, there is an unintentional hint of universalism found throughout these lyrics.  Universalism is the doctrine that God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice lead to eventual universal reconciliation between man and God.  In other words, everyone will eventually end up in heaven to be with the Father, defeating the purpose of sharing Christ with other individuals and the urgency with which we share it.  Even a brief mention of action on our part (aside from celebration) would alleviate this concern.

For example, the Hillsong’s So Will I has a line that says “If You gladly chose surrender, so will I”.  This requires a lot more than an automatic “Jesus paid my sins/no action on my part” attitude that a lot of churchgoers employ.  It requires me to do something.  Ok great, Jesus paid for my sins, so what am I supposed to do with that, celebrate it and that’s it?

I enjoyed the lyrical structure and did not mind seeing the “death was arrested” line multiple times.  North Point did a fine job placing it at the end of each verse to alleviate the ills of repetition, adding poetic flair.  The explicit mention of Jesus and obvious allusions to His crucifixion and resurrection alleviate interpretive ambiguity.

Score: 7/10

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

While the majority of the lyrics are biblically accurate, there is also a minor issue with the Chorus and an interpretive difference in Verse 2.  The latter will not affect my rating.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1 and 2 – Describes our spiritual state due to breaking God’s Laws.  Left to our own devices, we will experience the second death: eternal separation from God (see Romans 6:23, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:6, Revelation 20:14-15, and Revelation 21:8).

Lines 3: This is described in more detail in Verse 4.  Also, see Romans 5:6-8.

Line 4: According to Revelation 20:14, death itself will be thrown into the lake of fire.  Death must be seized for that to occur and for eternal life, as described in Revelation 21:1-5 to start within the life of an individual.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: See commentary in Verse 1, line 4.

Line 2: This concept comes from Revelation 2:17, that we will be given a new name in heaven.  However, there are other people who disagree with this interpretation, concluding that it’s a new name added to the Book of Life, rather than a new name for the individual.

Line 3: An expression of praise due to the results in Verse 1.

Line 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.

 [Chorus]

Line 1: Yes and no.  While it is true, that salvation did not cost us anything, it cost Jesus something: His life’s blood on the cross (see Isaiah 53:3-5, Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19, Philippians 2:5-11, Galatians 2:19-20, and 1 Peter 3:18).  We must also count the cost of following Jesus; It will cost us everything, requiring us to love God more than our own families and life (see Luke 14:25-34).  Yes, I am aware that Jesus calls us to “hate” our family.  The word here in Koine Greek is the word “miseō”, meaning “to love less”.  Jesus is not advocating for disdain towards our relatives!  Rather, we are to love them less than God or, as I stated earlier, to love God more than family.

As for the title of the song, included in the Chorus, the context of “death was arrested” is towards believers.  Though Christ defeated death via resurrection, death will not be defeated for us until it is thrown into the lake of fire, a future event recorded in Revelation 20:13.  This sets the stage for 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) and the wonderful promises in Revelation 21.

Lines 2-4: See Verse 1, line 3.

[Verse 3]

Line 1: When receiving Christ, we migrate from slavery to sin to slavery to righteousness (see Romans 6:15-23).

Lines 2 and 3: Based on the word “τετέλεσται” (tetelestai) found in John 19:28-30, in English, it is translated “it is finished”.  However, a more literal translation would be “paid in full”, as seen in the backs if 1st-century legal documents, indicating that a debt was paid in full.  Also, Colossians 2:14 refers to a “certificate of debt” that consists of all our sins.  It was nailed to the cross.

Line 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.

[Verse 4]

Lines 1 and 2: Describes Christ’s death, with the (probable) rejoicing of Satan and his demons.  At the very least, the Pharisees got what they wanted.

Line 3: The part where Christians rejoice worldwide: Christ has risen from the dead! (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8)  Jesus has the keys of death (Revelation 1:18) meaning that even death and hades obey Him.  He has authority over them.

Lines 4 and 5: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.

[Bridge]

Lines 1-3: After we’re rescued from our enslavement to sin (see Verse 3), North Point calls believers to join in the celebration, much like the party that occurred in the parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11–32).

Line 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

An unbeliever with a cursory listen should immediately recognize this as a Christian song.  They probably will not understand many of the subtle issues that I brought up earlier, but should easily interpret this as Christ worship.  It may cause some to ask about the concept of arresting death, which may lead to a possible Gospel presentation that (hopefully) includes some action on the unbeliever’s part that is missing in these lyrics.

Score: 8/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Despite my criticism, I have every reason to believe that it glorifies Christ, calling us to enjoy the celebration.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

North Point InsideOut’s Death Was Arrested contains mostly God-glorifying, biblically accurate lyrics.  My biggest gripe is their mention of salvation, without a response from us on how to attain it, with the possible tinge of universalism; However, this is more an issue with the false converts and uninitiated than Bible-believing Christians.

Final Score: 8/10

Artist Info

Track: Death Was Arrested (listen to the song)

Artist: North Point InsideOut

Album: N/A

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2017

Duration: 4:53

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

Updates:

04/28/2022 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study North Point InsideOut’s theology.

03/27/2020 – I am uncertain why I scored section 4 lower than 10.  I updated it.