Helped in part by a newly inked distribution agreement between Word and A&M that would give Petra and other Word-distributed bands placement in mainstream music stores for the first time, "Beat the System" sold more than 200,000 copies in four months, and by the end of the year, "Billboard" had certified Petra as the biggest-selling gospel music group in the country. When it debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard Top 40 Inspirational LPs chart in February 1985, "Beat the System" trailed both "Not of This World" (No. 6 in its 56th week on the chart) and "More Power to Ya" (No. 15 in week 115). Not for long: It leapt to No. 4 on the next chart, giving Petra two top 10 albums for the first time, and by June it had taken over the top spot on the chart, which it held for more than two months. In the end, "Beat the System" was one of the nation's top two Christian albums for nearly half a year.