Jeremy Camp’s latest single can now be heard in rotation on 89.5 KTSY!
It’s a clever play on words. In “No Survivors” Jeremy Camp cries out to God to help him overcome the parts of his humanity that need to be surrendered to God. He sings: “You told me it’s Your battle, God, so I need You to fight/’Cause if I’m gonna live then there’s some things that need to die My ego, my pride/My grip on my life/Throw it all into the fire/And leave no survivors.”
Honestly, this sounds like a prayer we all need to pray. And these lyrics remind us of some important truths from Scripture about life transformation.
Similar to “No Survivors,” the Bible uses the metaphor of “dying to ourselves” or “dying to our old, sinful nature” to describe what happens when we give our lives to Jesus (salvation) and then yield to His work in our lives to make us more Christ-like over time (sanctification). In Ephesians 4:17-24 and Colossians 3:1-17, the Bible tells us to put off our own sinful nature and the deeds that come from that life and to instead put on our new nature that is holy and righteous–like God is–and to embrace the deeds that come from our new life in Christ. God calls us to put off things like greed, rage, and lying and to instead put on things like kindness, humility, and gentleness.
And these passages teach us one more vital thing that Jeremy Camp captures in this song when he recognizes that it’s God’s battle to fight these areas in his life that need change. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers the kind of life change in us that God calls us to in His Word. Yes, we must surrender to His work in us, but He is the fuel. He is our strength, and our teacher, and the one who makes life change possible. He makes us a new creation spiritually the moment we believe in Jesus and then He gives us the power and desire to start living like the new creations in Christ that we are.
You don’t have to fight your battles on your own. You don’t have to figure out how to live righteously or grow spiritually on your own. You have the Holy Spirit to help you. So, let this song be a prayer of surrender for you, asking God to change the things in your life that may not be fully aligned with the character of Jesus and His Word. And let it be a prayer of hope that if He’s called to you to live a certain way, He’ll help you do it, through the power of His Spirit.
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (Ephesians 4:23-24 NLT)
Lyrics
I’m at war with my humanity
Trying to reclaim my sanity
Nothing in my veins but vanity
It’s the same old, same old
You told me it’s Your battle, God, so I need You to fight
‘Cause if I’m gonna live then there’s some things that need to die
My ego, my pride
My grip on my life
Throw it all into the fire
And leave no survivors
Survivors
Somebody give my past my sympathies (woo)
Tell the old me I’m not missing me (woo)
He can call, but I’m not listening (woo)
To the same old, same old
My ego, my pride
My grip on my life
Throw it all into the fire
And leave no survivors
Survivors
You’re pushing back the dark to get me closer to the light
Somebody tell my enemies there’s nowhere left to hide
You told me it’s Your battle, God, so I need You to fight
‘Cause if I’m gonna live, then there’s some things that need to die
My ego, my pride
My grip on my life
Throw it all into the fire
And leave no survivors
Survivors
‘Cause if I’m gonna live then there’s some things that need to die (survivors)
Survivors
Throw it all into the fire
And leave no survivors
