“Come All You Unfaithful!”

Remembering With Humility Christ’s Sacrifice At Christmas

By Richard Allen – December 22, 2025

Over the past several years, besides singing traditional Christmas Carols, my church has sung a new song by ‘Sovereign Grace Church’ in Louisville, Kentucky, entitled: “Come All You Unfaithful.” I’m certain that this title may be confusing, thin king that this is just another version of “O Come All You Faithful,” the traditional Christmas hymn written several hundred years ago. But this is not a version of that wonderful old hymn, no, this is a modern hymn that has a slightly different audience from the “joyful and triumphant” who are beckoned to come and celebrate the traditional hymn. To be clear, “Come All You Unfaithful” is not pitching a perverted gospel message to reprobates, but rather acknowledges that most Christians feel they don’t always measure up to the “joyful and triumphant” accolades of the older hymn. But this wonderful new hymn does acknowledge several “Gospel Truths” that need to be understood if anyone would really grasp the “true meaning of Christmas” at this Season of Advent:  “Jesus came into this world to seek and save those who are lost!”

I guess there is a sense in which all believers “have triumphed in Jesus Christ,” His death and resurrection. So, to joyously receive Him as the “Promised Son, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), is still a high calling of our faith!  But this new hymn stirs up something else, a personal struggle that echoes Jesus’ own words in Matthew 11. Here’s how the Amplified Bible phrases Jesus’ pointed invitation:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened by religious rituals that provide no peace, and I will give you rest, refreshing your souls with salvation” (Matthew 11:28).

This wonderful new song starts with an invitation to “come” as well, calling the broken, the lost and those who are struggling with sin, to “come and consider what God has done in Christ!”  Here are lyrics to the opening two verses:

O come, all you unfaithful.  Come, weak and unstable.  Come, know you are not alone.

O come, barren and waiting ones, weary of praying.  Come.  See what your God has done!

Without apology, these verses speak volumes of Gospel Truth: Jesus came – not to call the “righteous,” but “sinners to Repentance!” We are often victims of the Church’s success, that is, our desire to “do all things decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).  This often encourages local churches to put on our “best show” each Lord’s Day. This isn’t a recent problem with Western Churches which are affluent.  Believers have struggled with this temptation for centuries. James, the half brother of our Lord Jesus, warned congregations in the first century about putting on a show – sometimes at the expense of the poor and the downtrodden:

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:1-5).

To be clear, our new hymn: “O Come All You Unfaithful” is not just talking about physical poverty, it’s also speaking of the isolation, fear and poverty of spirit that poor sinners struggle with – even after coming to faith in Jesus. The “Gospel Call” has always gone out with power to the “unrighteous” whom Jesus came to seek and save: 

“And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance’ ” (Luke 5:31-32).

But even for those who have come to Christ in repentance and faith, life is not perfect. Not everyone is an immediate success at Christian Living. Past and present struggles still abound:  Broken Relationships, Addictions, Sexual Sin, Dishonesty, Thievery, Childlessness, Disappointment, Bitterness and even A Broken Spirit can plague those who come to Christ. Now Scripture does teach that for those who believe, Christ has delivered us from the bondage to sin:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

Herein lies the rub: We are freed from the penalty and consequences of our sin when we trust in Jesus (Justification), but throughout the Christian Life we still strive  to “put sin to death in our bodies” (Sanctification), and be freed from the “power and dominion of sin!”  The Apostle John gives us two very serious and seemingly contradictory warnings as to Christians struggling with sin. First, he warns us to not boast or presume that we’ve attained a sinless and holy life:

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10).

This is a serious admonition to Christians. As believers, we need to “preach the Gospel to ourselves” daily. Pretending that we are “sinless” in any form is a recipe for failure! The invitation of “O Come All You Unfaithful” should be a reminder that we all still struggle with sin, and often feel unworthy of Christ’s love and sacrifice! We all still desperately need Jesus to “seek and save the lost,” humbly keeping ourselves in a posture to accept His grace and mercy! But there is a Second warning from the Apostle John – he pleads with us not to sin, but then offers us respite if we do sin – through our Advocate (Defense Attorney) Jesus, if we repent and confess our sins to God our Father:

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:1-4).

Notice, John’s warning tells us that If we continue to “practice sin” with impunity, our faith is not real. I’m also aware that some of these admonitions appear to be contradictory. This is partly because we are still in our “bodies of sin” (Romans 7:23). We won’t be completely free from our struggle with sin until we “put off this body of death,” and are “resurrected into a glorious new life, with a resurrected body like Jesus!”  While both of John’s warnings are trustworthy and serious, they have an actual function: “To promote humility toward God, and mercy toward our fellow man." Jesus instructed His disciples from the beginning that "the meek will inherit the earth!” (Matthew 5:5). I remember asking the question as a young believer, “Who exactly are the Meek?” The best definition I’ve heard over the years is:  Meekness means that we have “no self will toward God, and no ill will toward our fellow man!” 

At this Season of Advent, it’s important for us not only to celebrate a “baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger,” but to humbly grasp that this baby was born to die. When He was born in Bethlehem so long ago, there was no room at the inn. So also today, the Jesus who was crucified is not well accepted by most – even those who have a “Manger Set” in their homes or yard. That Child was the greatest gift ever given, and we should rejoice in His birth. But as Jesus presented Himself as “the sacrifice for sin,” He wasn’t accepted by “the world or His own people” – but those who “humbly received Him, were given the right to everlasting life!” This is the real message of Christmas, “Jesus came into this world to save those who are aware that they are broken, and in need of His “So Great Salvation!”

Our song, “O Come All You Unfaithful” is not excusing us for “our sinfulness or need,” but it is pointing us to the “Christ who was born to die for us!” And while the lyrics give hope to those struggling with sin, bitter, broken, guilty and hiding – the chorus crescendos as it leads us to Jesus and His perfect Redeeming Love!  We acknowledge that we are sinful and helpless, and in desperate need of the One who was born to die! But the song challenges us to look up, “To See what our God has done!” Again, it may seem a contradiction, but we need to remember our broken and unworthy condition to keep us humble – while at the same time – looking at “what Our God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ!”  Even mature saints, after a lifetime of living in obedience to Christ, should be able identify with this song. As Scripture teaches us, “if we are growing closer to Christ, our opinion and estimation of ourselves should not increase, but rather decrease. The Apostle Paul’s assessment of himself and his own struggles with sin – even with his thorn in the flesh – led him to think less of himself, and more of Jesus Christ as he grew in grace.  And he also grew in his compassion toward other sinners, struggling to “trust and obey.” It all comes down to these words of encouragement from the chorus:  “Christ is born, Christ is born. Christ is born, for you!”

Soli Deo Gloria!