Justin Bieber stepped onto the stage this weekend for a powerful performance during Kanye West’s Sunday Service in Chicago.
The 25-year-old entertainer, whose new album “Changes” just dropped, sang gospel singer Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It.” The words to the chorus of the song are:
I’m stronger, I’m wiser
I’m better, much better
When I look back over all you’ve brought me through
I can see that you were the one I held on to
Last summer, Bieber expressed interest in performing at one of West’s Sunday Service events, noting how church has helped him to engage his faith in difficult times.
“My whole message at church the other day was there’s power in your weakness,” he said. “There are so many people in this world that are struggling, but when you step out, there’s just power in weakness. When you fight through that sense, usually you get to the other side, and it gets better.”
After his performance, Bieber’s latest album reached No. 1 on Billboard.
Bieber, during a recently released interview with Apple Music host Zane Lowe, explained his understanding of the Gospel.
“The way I look at my relationship with God and with Jesus is, I’m not trying to earn God’s love by doing good things,” he said. “God has already loved me for who I am, before I did anything to earn and deserve it. It’s a free gift by accepting Jesus, and just giving your life to Him.”
“And what he did is the gift — the forgiveness — is the thing that we look at, and, ‘I’m going to worship you, God, because you gave me something so good,’” he continued. “And so you live that life of like, ‘I don’t want to cheat on my wife, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because I don’t want to hurt her.’ See the difference there?”