But God..

But God! Every time I read a verse that says "but God" it is fantastically good news. There are literally hundreds of verses that have "but God" in both the Old and New Testaments. Especially by what follows. I have heard many people I witness to say that they have too much baggage, too many sins to overcome, too much to have forgiven. I can reassure them that Holiness is not the way to Jesus, Jesus is the way to holiness. One of the most powerful things I can tell them is would be the scriptures that contain "but God....".

Once we were dead in sin, BUT GOD made us alive!
Once we were captive to Satan, BUT GOD made us free!
Once we were children of wrath, BUT GOD has promised to spend eternity unwrapping the riches of his grace in kindness toward us!

Ephesians 2:1-9
And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God-not because of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:12.
REMEMBER that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel (THE CHURCH), and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

We were dead in sin, BUT GOD made us alive with Christ.

We were captive to the prince of the power of the air and enslaved to the course of this world, BUT GOD raised us with Christ and made us sit with him in the heavenly places.

We were children of wrath and deserving of an eternity in the torments of hell, BUT GOD, instead of pouring out wrath, will spend eternity showing the immeasurable riches of his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

DOOMED, DEAD, HELL-BENT......BUT GOD!!!!!!!!!!

ESPHESIANS Verses 2:4-7
4) But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, 5) even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6) and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7) that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Look at this!

We were dead in sin, BUT GOD made us alive with Christ

We were captive to the prince of the power of the air and enslaved to the course of this world, BUT GOD raised us with Christ and made us sit with him in the heavenly places.

We were children of wrath and deserving of an eternity in the torments of hell, BUT GOD, instead of pouring out wrath, will spend eternity showing the immeasurable riches of his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

O that you would reckon with God! Consider now what the Word of God says concerning those who trust in him. Here is the way we will handle the text.

EPHS 2:

Let's put verse 3 over against verse 7-we were children of wrath, but God promises endless kindness.

We will put verse 2 over against verse 6-we were enslaved to the spirit of this age, BUT GOD freed us to sit with Christ in heaven.

And we will put verses 1 over against verse 5 and 6-we were dead in sins, BUT GOD made us alive with Christ.

Brothers and sisters, this is good news!

IMPOSSIBLE FOR US....BUT GOD???? Nothing Is Impossible

Genesis 50:20
But 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.

Act 10:28
And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Psalm 49

14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
Death shall feed on them;
The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,
For He shall receive me. Selah something like "stop and listen"

Acts 13:29-30
29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead.

Rom. 5:7-8
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 1:26-27
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

1 Corinthians 3:6-7
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

1Corinthians 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].

No, we can't do it by ourselves. Holiness is not the way to Jesus, Jesus is the way to holiness. Just read "but God" and you'll see how the impossible becomes quite possible. For us, yes, it is impossible, "but God?!"

Originally published on Everyday Christian Blogs