TEXAS GOSPEL CANADA VOLUNTEER

There are moments in scripture when two small words carry the weight of everything. The late theologian Martyn Lloyd-Jones identified just such a moment in Ephesians 2:4, calling the word “but” in that verse the mightiest adversative in all of human history. It is a bold claim, but it bears examination.

The verses that precede Ephesians 2:4 constitute one of scripture’s most thorough and unflinching assessments of the human condition. All of humanity is declared to be dead in trespasses and sins, unresponsive to God, shaped by the influence of the prince of darkness, enslaved to the passions of the flesh, and deserving of righteous wrath. There is no softening here, no room for the comfortable reassurance that things are not quite as bad as they seem.

And then: but God.

Two words. And in those two words, the entire direction of human possibility reverses. Not because humanity found within itself some unrealised resource, not because we improved or repented on our own initiative, or earned a second look. But because God, rich in mercy, moved toward us out of the great love with which He loved us. Even in our rebellion. Even in our darkness. Even when every inclination of our hearts had turned away from the One who made us.

Those two words changed everything. They changed the verdict. They changed the destination. They changed what it is possible for human beings to become.

But God. Two words upon which eternity turns.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8