This is the second post in a series highlighting some of the songs we sing together on Sunday mornings. As I reminded us last time, when we gather as a church and sing, we are seeking to drive the truths of the Gospel down into our hearts and minds that it might overflow into a life of worship. Our singing has Gospel implications, and so it matters.

I Boast No More is a hymn written by Isaac Watts, who is widely considered the Father of English Hymnody, as he is credited with roughly 750 hymns. The chorus and melody that we sing and have become familiar with at Coram Deo were once again written and composed by Sandra McCracken. The verses of this hymn, taken almost right out of Phil. 3:7-9, speak quite beautifully of the righteousness we have in Christ alone. This righteousness is not due to any merit of ourselves, rather it is a gift of grace from God so that no one may boast (Eph. 2:8-9). The truth of the verses drive the response/resolve of the chorus.

Righteousness is a fundamental attribute of God which speaks of His perfection; He is right, just, and good in ALL His ways (Ps. 145:17). And because God is righteous, He also requires righteousness, which is set forth by His righteous law. This is God’s standard for all people. This is God’s standard for us.

Of course we do not meet this standard: “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’ (Rom. 3:10-12)” We stand condemned before a holy God; we are under His righteous judgment and wrath. This should produce in us fear and trembling. If it does not, maybe we have not truly experienced the character and nature of God. Before God, even our best acts are like filthy rags…

The best obedience of my hands
Dares not appear before Thy throne;

But here is the beauty of the Gospel: In Jesus, the righteous demands of God’s law are answered. The Gospel reveals to us the righteousness of God in a whole new way (Rom. 1:17) — not only is righteousness God’s standard, it is also His provision for us through Christ. This is called passive righteousness. God justifies us while we are still sinners, through faith in what Jesus has accomplished on the cross…

But faith can answer Thy demands,
By pleading what my Lord has done.

In the Gospel, not only do we receive forgiveness, we also receive the perfect righteousness of Christ so that we are acceptable before God. The cry of this hymn is that “we find all comfort in Jesus’ wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, which renders believers perfect (righteous) forever.” We quit the vain things we turn to for hope, our self-righteous duties/acts, our constant striving for our own pride and glory. No more do we boast in those things, we have died to our former selves. May our lips sing and hearts boast only in Jesus Christ, and Him crucified!

And since you have made it to the end of the post, I will let you in on a little insider information: I Boast No More will be included on our soon-to-be released Coram Deo worship album.