I have been thinking a lot about the protestations offered by Christians.
Especially in mainstream churches:
"God will take care of you but. . ."
"God loves you, but. . .
This issue of but, but , but suggests that God's love and caring is not unconditional.
The word "but" does feature prominently in some Scriptures, but the emphasis is on what God is doing for us, not vice versa:
"One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18: 24)
That friend is Jesus!
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15: 13)
More regarding "but" in the Bible:
"These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father." (John 16: 25)
No longer will we have to settle for parables, but plain truths revealed to us.
In the Bible, but is all about moving from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, in which the grace of God teaches us all things (Titus 2: 11-14).
Here is a perfect example of "but" taking us from law to grace:
"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Noah 6: 8)
This verse contains the first mention of "grace", by the way, and grace stands in connection with Rest, for Noah means "rest".
When we talk about God's love for us, there are no buts:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3: 16)
and then
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 38-39)
As I have written before, we have to be persuaded of God's love for us, that it is unconditional, especially in a world which presents God as just as demanding as our earthly parents or our peers.
There is no buts to God's love for us, for you and for me.
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