Just outside the fence - (Redemption)

Our front yard, the neighborhood. Our country, the world.

Boundaries abound: legal, physical, mental, and spiritual.

While legal boundaries seem open to interpretation, and physical boundaries are being pushed every day by scientific advancement, I'm going to focus on the last two.

Because the strongest mental and spiritual boundaries we encounter tend to be the ones we have created by our own hand. We lock ourselves into patterns of behavior by the judgments we pass on our actions. We cut ourselves off from spiritual experiences because of what we choose to believe is true.

We draw our map of the world, and sit down in the middle.

Jesus came to draw a new map. To surround us with His promises, and cover us with His presence.

But we have to give up ours. We have to surrender, to be Redeemed.

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I think that I can pay my way out of this mess...
...if I just work hard enough
That if I really stop to think, I won't react so quick...
...I can still fix this
I think that I can cause myself enough pain...
...I deserve it all anyway
To outweigh all the suffering that I inflict...
...my past mistakes have become my shadow

I know I should've done things a bit different
Chosen the high narrow path from the start
I know I should've payed closer attention
To the secret desires I've held in my heart

The answer is staring me right in the face
But the last thing I want to consider is grace
Someone should pay and I think its me
Freedom is expensive not given for free

I hold myself hostage with these lies that I yell
Condemning myself to this personal hell
Freedom is clawing at my reinforced walls
As I subject myself to life's bitterest galls

I think I have control of my heart and mind
I won't let anybody in because of what I know they'll find
I'm locked inside myself and I've thrown away the key
I've given up on getting out but I still long to be set free

How can I be forgiven if not by grace alone
No sacrifice of mine can earn the love that you have freely shown
I can't keep holding on I've got to let myself go free
Before the wages of my sin become the death of me

When you value punishment above Christ Jesus' sacrifice
You climb inside the grave from which He rose to give us life
You keep your anger and resentment and your poisonous thoughts
You feed the guilt that ties your soul up in a thousand knots

You cannot save yourself with an intellectual design
There's only ever been one way to turn this water into wine
The shed blood of Christ is the key to your chains
To unlocking your heart and releasing its pains

I'm finally ready to let you take command of my heart and mind
I give you the power to destroy what I know you'll find
Save me from myself Take every part of me
I finally surrender I want to be free

How can we be forgiven if not by grace alone
No sacrifice of ours can earn the love that He has freely shown
We can't keep holding on we've got to let ourselves be saved
Before the wages of our sin drag us to our own grave

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Go listen to Redemption - finding the freedom offered through grace
performed by aTemporal Chaos, words and music by Michael Brown