Initially when I had written this song (5 or so years ago) I had a vastly different understanding of the biblical doctrine of salvation. I had believed like most do in the modern evangelical church, that Jesus died for everyones sins (potentially) and that to be reconciled to The Father all you had to do was say a magic prayer and then you were cool. Sweet. Then why don't people just believe? If that was true, then that means all someone needed to do to be saved was choose (by they're own will and intellect)
to bow the knee to Christ. Potentially all could be saved. Only that means no one is actually saved by God-ultimately, but by their own choice. What if that wasn't so? This song was inspired after a band practice at my old bass players house-a pagan I might add (to my knowledge...). I noticed on his front yard a suprise in the form of a news paper. The article on the front page was describing the prophet Ezekiels vision: The Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37). I was curious as to why this newspapers was on my bass players lawn, but was even more interested in this vision. I did not understand the full implications of Ezekiels vision at the time, but assuming my doctrine of salvation I decided to make application. With my feeble hermeneutic I saw the valley of dry bones as those who were without the spirit, those who are dead; unbelievers in The Bible. Those who would believe only needed to choose life and that decision for life or death was so easy to make, but those who seemed to make it, in my experiece, kept acting as though they were dead, so I attempted to write a song that would encourage potential believers or those that already beleved to live what they professed. Years later I became more of an avid reader of The Holy Scripture and newly Reformed. It occurred to me that salvation was not what I had thought it was before. Passages such as Ephesians 1 and 2, John 6, 10, Romans 9 (the book of Romans in general) just to name a few spoke of a salvation that was not dependant upon man, but one dependant on God-actually the complete innability of man to come to God rather than a potential willingness. We by nature are actually so sinful we're dead-as dead as Lazarus...

So then, why would I keep this song? I thought of this and other songs I had written as imature in comparrison to my Christian walk to date. At that point I decided to give up the work all together. It wasn't until the Lord put the burden on my heart to make a subtle change that it made sense to release this song; to demonstrate His active sanctification on my heart soul and my mind in regard to His spitiual Truth. If mans salvation is dependant on God Alone, then when a man is made alive he CAN'T ever be dead again. Going back to Ezekials vision (read it, it is so dope!), the dry bones he saw belonged to the covenant people of Israel. These bones were given flesh and blood, muscle tissue-everything before Ezekials eyes. Still...only corpses. Then God with breath filled thier lungs and they came to life. Looking at this on the other side of the new covenant (that gentile believers had been grafted into)...that valley of Dry Bones was us too. We were dead and now are alive if we are in Christ. I do belive it is a great reminder to remember how dead we were (REALLY DEAD! DEAD DEAD) so we can then in rememberance be humbled at the greatness of new life rather than fall to the unbiblical fallacius pride that comes along with beleiving iI can save saving myself.

-Ronnie