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“But God”

Eph. 2:4a

But God . . .

 

Having seen “Our Condition Before Christ” (vs. 1‑3), we are now ready to study “Our Position In Christ” (vs. 4‑10). Chapter 2 of Ephesians deals, of course, with “The Believer’s Reconcilia­tion To God.” We emphasize this again because of how dramatically it is seen in verses 4‑10. This section divides itself into four emphases:

 

·        The Cause of our reconciliation (vs. 4, 5b)

·        The Consequences of our reconciliation (vs. 5a, 6)

·        The Character of our reconciliation (vs. 7‑9)

·        The Challenge of our reconciliation (v. 10).

Before launching into that study, however, we should first notice the two pivotal words that begin this passage: But God. How marvelous these words are! As commentator William MacDonald observes:

 

The words, But God, form one of the most significant, eloquent, and inspiring transitions in all literature. They indicate that a stupendous change has taken place. It is a change from the doom and despair of the valley of death to the unspeakable delights of the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.

 

We should especially appreciate MacDonald’s comment about eloquence. We usually think of eloquence being found in a long or dramatic speech or sermon, but MacDonald views just these two words as the ultimate in eloquent speech.

 

Another expositor writes, “The most astounding interruption in human history is the word ‘but’ in this passage.”1 And another observes, “But God! Here is where the beauty and wonder of the Christian gospel comes in . . . If you understand those two words—‘But God!—they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely.” 2 And still another adds, “Still another, “The hinge point between gloom and gladness . . . are these two little words, ‘But God.” 3

 

To get the full force of these words, let us take the time to reread verses 1‑3 and then these two words of contrast:

 

And you who were dead in trespasses and sins; In which in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; Among whom also we all had our manner of life in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by na­ture the children of wrath, even as others.

 

BUT GOD. Hallelujah! What a contrast! As Paul goes on to write:

 

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

 

Tragically, some modern translations totally destroy the impact of these words by rearranging the text. The Greek literally reads, ho de theos, But God.  But the NIV, for example, paraphrases thusly: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ.” While the essence of the meaning is retained, the force and impact of the text is lost. 4

 

In a sense, these two words contain the entire Gospel message. Why? Because they show THE ULTIMATE CONTRAST: They show man’s plight but God’s provision; they picture man’s impotence but God’s intervention; they describe man’s helplessness but God’s hope.

 

In general, the Greek word for But (de) shows “distinc­tion.” However, it also serves to mark a transition to some­thing new. 5 Therefore, as God is the subject of the sentence, He then is the distinction; He is the transition; He is the One Who marks the ultimate contrast between what we were and what we are! Without God’s provision, intervention, and hope, we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins, doomed for­ever.

 

Oh, how wonderful are those words BUT GOD. So wonderful are they, in fact, that they should command our attention for a few moments. As I meditated on them, I began wondering just how often this phrase appears in Scripture and what significance those instances have. The answer I found was 43 in the Authorized Version, 6 many of which show a dramatic contrast. Let’s look at several of these contrasts.

 

I. The Contrast of Revelation

As we saw in our examination of Truth back in 1:13 (Chapter 5), man looks to many things in the hope of discovering Truth, including, science, philosophy, and religion. But we read the contrast in I Corinthians 2:9-10: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

 

As a pastor, one of my greatest burdens is a lack of depth among God’s people, the lack of Truth. We hear such things today as, “Keep it simple,” “Don’t go too deep,” “Keep it light and entertaining.” But what Paul is saying, is that God wants to reveal His depths to us through His Spirit. That verse is actually a loose quotation of Isaiah 64:4:” For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”

 

Paul’s statement is not speaking of heaven, as is often misinterpreted. As the context clearly shows, he’s talking about the wisdom that believers can have right now. In himself man cannot understand God’s wisdom, but God gives that understanding to those who love Him. Earlier in the same letter Paul wrote: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (I Cor. 1:26-27). Again, Truth and wisdom are not to be found in the things of the world, but in God alone, in His Word.

 

II. The Contrast of Deliverance

Another dramatic contrast is found in God’s deliverance. The world looks to his own devices to deliver him from trouble, but it is God who is the source of true deliverance.

 

We all recall how Joseph’s brothers, out of their almost murderous jealousy, mistreated him and finally sold him into slavery (Gen. 37). In Genesis 45:8, however, they are reunited, and while Joseph’s brothers fear his retribution now that he was a ruler in Egypt, we read in 45:8: “So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” In 50:20, we also read: “As for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

 

So important is that story that we read about it again in the New Testament:: “And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house” (Acts 7:9-10).

What an example this is of God’s sovereign deliverance! What an illustration it is of God working all things to our good and His glory! This reminds us again of God’s ultimate purpose, which we saw in Ephesians 1—to bring glory to Himself. There are perhaps no two words in Scripture that can bring more glory to God that these the words, But God. It is in that contrast that we see everything. That is why we went into so much depth in examining verses 1-3; we could never understand But God until we understand what we were in ourselves.

 

Additionally, men think they are in control, that they are “the masters of their destiny” and “the center of the universe.” But God is the one on the One who is really in control, the one who sits on the Sovereign Throne. As Proverbs 16:9 declares: “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”

 

Another wonderful example of God’s deliverance is found in I Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” God has promised that temptation to sin will never overwhelm us. Never can we say, “The devil made me do it,” “It’s my spouse’s fault,” “It’s my children who are the problem,” or, “It’s my environment and my background that are to blame.” God delivers us when we obey Him.

 

III. The Contrast of Protection

God not only delivers His own, He also protects them. While the world looks for protection and security in wealth, position, and power, only God assures us of protection. An example is found in I Samuel 23:14: And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.”

 

With all Saul’s military power and intelligence network, he would certainly have found David and killed him were it not for God’s protection. On the other hand, David was himself a brilliant tactician and might very well have killed Saul, as he had opportunity to do in his stealthy approach to Saul in a cave while Saul slept (I Sam. 24:1ff). But he realized that it was better to allow God to give the victory instead of taking matters into His own hands. May this challenge us to do the same. As Paul declared to the Romans, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31)

 

IV. The Contrast of Direction

Not only does God deliver and protect, He also directs. In contrast to the world, which is directed by fashion, fancy, and philosophy, God’s people are to be directed by faith.

 

After leaving the bondage in Egypt, one would think that the Israelites would have just turned “left” and taken the coastal road known as “The Way of Horus” back to Canaan. After all, that was only about a two-week trip. But that route was also a busy one and was under constant watch by the Egyptian army. Additionally, this route would have taken them through Philistine country. So to prevent His people from being attacked and discouraged, we read in Exodus 13:18 that God told them to turn “right:” “But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.” This was the safer more southerly route through the Sinai Peninsula.

 

No, God’s direction is often not the most obvious route from our point of view, but it is always the “right” way, the one that is the safest and of the greatest benefit. Even in ministry today, more and more Christian leaders are taking the obvious route, the easier road of Pragmatism and Relativism, but God’s way is the right way. Just as the Israelites had God’s promise and direction in the form a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, we have his promise and direction in His Word alone.

 

V. The Contrast of Strength

Flowing from deliverance, protection, and direction, we also see strength. Again, the world looks for strength in its own resources, but real strength is found only in God. As the Psalmist exults: “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (Ps. 73:26). As Calvin writes of this verse:

 

There is here a contrast between the failing which David felt in himself and the strength with which he was divinely supplied; as if he had said, “Separated from God I am nothing, and all that I attempt to do ends in nothing; but when I come to him, I find an abundant supply of strength.” 7

 

Indeed, in ourselves, we are nothing. The world declares, “We are each our own person,” and pop-psychology says, “We each have out own self worth and self-esteem.” But David declares that in ourselves we will fail, that we need God’s “strength.”

 

The Hebrew word translated “strength” (tsuwr or tsur) literally speaks of a rock, boulder, or cliff. David is, therefore, saying that our Lord is the “spiritual Rock, Boulder, and Cliff” on which we stand and are thereby “strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power” (Col. 1:11) and are “renewed day by day” (II Cor. 4:16). May we each realize with as commentator Matthew Poole that:

 

In myself, I confess I am a poor weak creature, and my body and spirit may fail and be ready to faint under such temptations and tribulations as these, and I know I shall shortly return to the dust, out of which I was taken. But though I have no strength in myself; I have it in God, my never-failing refuge, to whom I will trust whilst I live, and who will be my portion to eternity.

 

A major reason for today’s misunderstanding of salvation doctrine comes from man’s puffed up view of himself. We are so self-sufficient that we think we have something to offer God. We even hear some people witness to a lost person by saying, “Oh, you have so much to offer God.” What nonsense! In himself, as we’ve seen so clearly in verses 1-3, man is nothing but a spiritual corpse.

 

VI. The Contrast of Judgment

All is not positive in this study of contrasts, however. In contrast to man’s idea that he can do as he wishes with impunity, many times the Scriptures declare the judgment of God:

 

The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind (Is. 17:13).

The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness (Prov. 21:12)

They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded (Ps. 64:6-7)

 

As mentioned in our last study, a common teaching today is that God is infinitely merciful. Even some of our otherwise wonderful hymns declare such. 8 But again, as God declared right before commanding Noah to build an ark, “My spirit shall not always strive with man” (Gen. 6:3). God’s mercy does, indeed, have limits.

 

VII. The Contrast of Ministry

In our day, when church ministry has been totally and thoroughly redefined to stay in conformity with modern thought and even fleshly emphasis, I am constantly reminded of the contrast that Paul painted to the Corinthians: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase” (I Cor. 3:6-7).

 

We are told today that we must “stay current,” we must “be relevant,” we must “keep pace with the times.” This attitude has given birth to Relativism and Pragmatism, where anything goes as long as it “gets results.” In stark contrast, however, God says that He just wants us to proclaim the Truth and He will do everything else. Jesus said, “I will build MY church” (Matt. 16:18, emphasis added), but many today seem to be building some other church.

 

VIII. The Contrast of Salvation

We have come full circle and return to the greatest contrast of all. Think of it! Once we were dead, now we are alive (Rom. 6:13; I Cor. 15:22); once we were enemies of God, now we are friends (Col. 1:21; cf. Lk. 7:34); once we were aliens, now citizens (Eph. 2:12-13); once we were lost, now found (Lk. 15:6,9,24,32); once we were far off, now near (Eph. 2:13); once we were cut off from God, now have access to Him (Rom. 5:2); once we were at war with God, now at peace with Him (Rom. 5:1); and once we were condemned, now justified (Rom. 5:9).

 

All that because of the words, But God. As the Psalmist declares: “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me” (Ps. 49:14-15). And as Paul echoes in Romans 5:7-8: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

That is the contrast of salvation. That is what Paul contrasts between the verse 1-3, where we were corpses in the grave, and verse 4-10, where were are given life by His grace.

Ponder this sonnet in closing:

 

                                                “But God”

                  There are countless words in God’s Holy Writ

                        That warm the heart and bring tears to the eye;

                  Words that tell us in Heaven we now sit,

                        And ‘tis God in Christ Who did justify.

                  There are momentous words that strike a chord

                        And play lovely melodies in the ear;

                  Challenging words that make us draw a sword

                        And stand for Truth with not a single fear.

                  There are words to answer every question,

                        Words to make us strong when we are but weak.

                  Words for ev’ry attitude and action

                        Telling us what to say and how to speak.

                  But as we go forth and on this Earth trod,

                  No greater words can we read than, “But God.”

 

1  The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible.

2  Boice, p. 53, 54.

3  Stedman, p. 84.

4  Inexplicably, Stedman (p. 83) actually defends the NIV reading, saying that “it renders the passage a bit differently” but that “the meaning is still the same.” It is incredulous to me that evangelicals continue to defend a Bible version so riddled with bad translation.

5  Oddly, both Lenski (p. 413-414) and Hendrickson (p. 116) argue against “But” being translated at all, maintaining that “de is not adversative” (Lenski). We must disagree; it is at least transitional, as the sheer weight of other commentators agree, not to mention the obvious contrast in the text between the preceding and following verses. Eadie, for example, writes: “The apostle resumes the thought started in ver. 1. The de not only intimates this, but shows also that the thought about to be expressed is in contrast with that which occupies the immediately preceding verses” (p. 140). Gordon Clark adds another thought: “This part of the long sentence opens with an adversative, contrasting man’s death and depravity with God’s mercy and love. We might have expected the strong adversative alla; but Paul makes do with the weaker de. Perhaps he thought that ‘children of wrath’ and ‘mercy and great love’ were by themselves a sufficient contrast” (p. 64).

6  41 in the NASB, 45 in the NKJV, 61 in the NIV, etc.

7  Commentaries (Psalms).

8  For example, “Redeemed how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.”

 

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