Saving Grace Lyrics
Guess I owe You some kind of apology
I've escaped death so many times, I know I'm only living
By the saving grace that's over me.
In a pine box for all eternity
My faith keeps me alive, but I still be weeping
For the saving grace that's over me.
Wherever I am welcome is where I'll be
I put all my confidence in Him, my sole protection
Is the saving grace that's over me.
But to search for love, that ain't no more than vanity
As I look around this world all that I'm finding
Is the saving grace that's over me.
There's only one road and it leads to Calvary
It gets discouraging at times, but I know I'll make it
By the saving grace that's over me.
Saving Grace is a term familiar to all Christians and encapsulates their salvation with Jesus Christ. It's not just that moment of conversion where they are "saved" but also the experience afterwards and throughout the rest of their lives. The "Saved" album with its poignant cover of a brand being plucked from the burning (Zechariah 3:2) is language used to describe getting saved. It was the second in a trilogy of Christian albums Dylan made between 1979 and 1981 when his apparent conversion to Christianity rocked the music world.
I like this song because I understand what he's talking about - the ups and downs of being a Christian. The distinction he makes between the saved and the unsaved is peculiar to many and at the time lots of people thought he had become a religious freak! When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, in John 5:24, He said that believers in Him, had "passed from death unto life". Elsewhere (Colossians 1:13) the experience is described as being, "translated into the kingdom of his dear Son".
The culmination in the last verse sums it up quite nicely as the final line from all the previous verses is repeated similarly as a felt reality to him:
The wicked know no peace and you just can't fake it, There's only one road and it leads to Calvary. It gets discouraging at times, but I know I'll make it By the saving grace that's over me.
@robertcousins The John 5:24 reference is correct but it does not relate to the Samaritan woman. These were comments Jesus made in the aftermath of Him healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. My apologies.
@robertcousins The John 5:24 reference is correct but it does not relate to the Samaritan woman. These were comments Jesus made in the aftermath of Him healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. My apologies.