The Belonging Co (Feat. Hope Darst) – Love Like This

The Belonging Co is an American Contemporary Christian worship band.  Much like Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation Worship and their respective organizations, this band originates from The Belonging Co church.  Created in 2017, they hail from Nashville, Tennessee.

They released five live albums, including:

• All the Earth (2017)
• Awe + Wonder (Live) (2019)
• See the Light (2021)
• Here (2022)
  
• Now (2022)

Also, check out my review of The Dove, Just the Mention of His Name, and Every Victory.

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?

“You” is a very loving person, one that The Belonging Co has never experienced before.  “You” is someone who:

• Rescues
• Gives
• Promise-keeper
• One to whom The Belonging Company is willing to yield

Who is “You”?  The Belonging Co doesn’t tell us.  The only reason why I lean towards God is because the word “sin” is present.  Sin is a technical term that describes the violation of God’s laws, commandments, or both.  However, even then, sins aren’t “covered” under the New Testament.  That is Old Testament thinking.  There was a sacrifice required and Israel’s sins were covered up.  Not so with Christ’s sacrifice.  Our certificate of debt was not merely covered but nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14).  Still, I appreciate that The Belonging Co stated that “You” overcame our sin.

Score: 8/10

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

All the lyrics are Scriptural except the end of Verse 1.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

Oh the wonder of Your love
Leaves me speechless, undone
Oh the mystery of Your grace
That it covers my mistakes

Colossians 2:14 tells us that sin was taken away.  Sins covered is an Old Testament concept (Hebrews 10:4-11).

[Pre-Chorus]

In awe of You, I’m in awe of You

Also known as the fear of the Lord or deep reverence or respect for God.  This is the beginning of:

1. Wisdom (Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 15:33, and Isaiah 33:6)

2. Knowledge (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 2:5, and Isaiah 33:6)

3. Prolonged life (Psalm 34:8-14, Proverbs 10:27, Proverbs 14:27, and Proverbs 19:23)

4. Salvation (Isaiah 33:6)

5. Confidence (Job 4:6 and Proverbs 14:26)

6. Blessing (Psalm 112:1 and Psalm 128:1-4)

7. Hatred of evil (Proverbs 8:13)

8. Cleansing from sin/Righteousness (Exodus 20:20, Psalm 19:9, Proverbs 14:2, and Proverbs 23:17)

9. Wonder (Psalm 33:8-9)

10. Obedience (Deuteronomy 14:23 and Colossians 3:22)

[Chorus]

I’ve never known love like this, so beautiful

It is beautiful because it’s a loving act of sacrifice (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8, and 1 John 4:9-10).

I’ll never get used to this, my heart is Yours

The Belonging Co surrenders to God (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).

Of this I am convinced, from now until the end

The Belonging Co believes.

I’ll never know love like this, so beautiful

Repeats line 1.

[Verse 2]

When I think of what You’ve done
Every sin You’ve overcome

Christ bore all our sins (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).

That You would do it all again
I will never comprehend

The Belonging Co will never fully grasp this concept.

[Tag]

So beautiful
So beautiful

Repeats the end portion of Chorus, line 1.

[Bridge]

You don’t leave me where You found me
You pull me up out of the mess
You don’t leave me brokenhearted

He saves (Isaiah 53:7-11, Matthew 1:21, John 1:29, Galatians 1:4, Galatians 3:13, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 3:18, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 3:5, and Revelation 1:5).

Never break Your promises

He keeps His promises, though on His timing not ours (2 Peter 3:9).

You keep giving second chances
Far above what I deserve
You keep telling me I’m worth it
Not a love I have to earn

Grace is undeserved favor (Genesis 15:6, Exodus 33:19, Psalm 32:1-2, Romans 3:21-24, Romans 4:3-8, Romans 5:1-2, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 5:15-21, Romans 6:14, Romans 8:1-4, Romans 9:14-16, Romans 11:5-6, Galatians 2:21, Galatians 3:6, Galatians 5:4, Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians 2:4-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:16, Titus 2:11, 1 Timothy 1:15-16, and James 2:23).

In one sense, worth can be measured by the price one is willing to pay for it.  In this case, God values us so much, He was willing to sacrifice His one and only begotten Son for us (See Scripture in Chorus, line 1).

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will think it’s Christian given the presence of the word “sin”.  Yet, for them, this likely means mere mistakes and not lawbreaking.  They probably won’t know about the difference between covering and removing sin.  However, they will easily conclude that this song is about God saving Christians from hellfire and that The Belonging Co is perplexed about this.

Score: 6/10

4. What does this song glorify?

While it glorifies Jesus that His lovingkindness on the cross compels The Belonging Co to capitulate, it does not bring Him glory that it describes sin as “covered” rather than “removed”.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

The Belonging Co’s Love Like This is decent, though not flawless.  While I celebrate their willingness to sacrifice for God just as Christ sacrificed for them, amid aweness of His wonderful and undeserved payment for their lawbreaking, it also errs on sins covered.  That’s not how it works.  The cross removed sins once and for all.  Unbelievers should comprehend the song’s general gist, but will likely not understand the error that is plaguing this song.

If “covers” were replaced with “removes”, then that would be a substantial improvement.  However, even then, I hesitate to recommend this for corporate worship given that it barely qualifies because the word “sin” is present in the song.  Without it, this would have been a much more negative review.

Final Score: 7.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Love Like This (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: The Belonging Co

Album: Awe + Wonder (Live)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2019

Duration: 5:14

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*Copyright © 2019 Eight26Publishing (ASCAP) TBCO Music (ASCAP) TBCO Publishing (BMI) Andrew Holt Music Publishing (BMI) Augustas IV Publishing (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com), Fair Trade Global Songs (BMI) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.