Chris Tomlin - Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) Lyrics
Lyrics
Amazing grace How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear And grace my fears relieved How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed
My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy reigns Unending love, amazing grace
The Lord has promised good to me His word my hope secures He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures
[2x]
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
Will be forever mine.
You are forever mine.
Video
Chris Tomlin - Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Meaning & Inspiration
John Newton wrote the original verses over two centuries ago, but Chris Tomlin brought them back to the center of our communal worship when he included this specific arrangement on his 2011 record, How Great Is Our God: The Essential Collection. It is easy to treat these words as background noise in a church service, yet the theology here hits with the weight of a sledgehammer. When we sing about being a wretch, we are acknowledging the brutal reality of Romans 3:23, confessing that we fell short and had no inherent merit to pull ourselves out of the mud. Newton realized that his sight was a gift, just like the blind man in John 9 who simply stated that while he was blind, he now could see. The transition from the original hymn to Tomlin’s added chorus is where the modern believer finds a sharp focus on the work of the cross.
To claim that my chains are gone is to speak the language of Galatians 5:1, which tells us that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. We stop living as prisoners to our past sins or current struggles because the ransom has been paid. Romans 8:2 tells us the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death, and that is exactly what the bridge of this song declares. We are not just patched up; we are legally and spiritually liberated. When the lyrics describe mercy reigning like a flood, it brings to mind the imagery of Lamentations 3:22-23, where God’s compassions never fail and are new every single morning. He does not provide a trickle; He provides a deluge of grace that washes over our failures.
The promise that God will be our shield and portion draws straight from the heart of Psalm 16 and Psalm 119, anchoring our shaky feelings in the rock-solid reliability of His word. We are prone to wander, but the song reminds us that His promise secures us. Even when the physical reality around us begins to crumble and the sun fades, as noted in the final verses, the covenant relationship holds firm. Our security rests entirely on the fact that He called us, and because He called us, He will keep us. We belong to Him, and that ownership is the only thing that stands when everything else turns to dust. Stop looking for your worth in your own performance and start resting in the finished, ransomed reality of the God who loves you enough to break your shackles.