The “But” Effects
One of the things you do not want to miss when you read and study the Bible is how God uses various conjunctions in His communication to us (e.g., for, and, or, yet, therefore, now, then, so that, because, as, if, etc.).
Conjunctions are crucial for understanding Scripture and they reveal the relationships between ideas, clauses, and sentences. For example, the conjunction “and” connects ideas and clauses of equal importance (Gen. 1:1: “God created the heavens and the earth”), “for” explains or clarifies a preceding statement (Eph. 6:1: “Children, obey your parents I the Lord, for this is right”), and “since” indicates a reason or cause (Heb. 9:17: “a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive").
The conjunction “but” introduces a contrast or exception, and in Scripture we find some powerful “buts” God uses to motivate us both with conviction and with blessing as we strive to live out our faith in Him.
Notice a few of the convicting “buts”:
Numbers 33:54–55: “You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you."
Joshua 23:11–13: "So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God. For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.”
Judges 2:2–3: “'And as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? Therefore I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.'"
Judges 2:19: “But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways.”
Psalm 106:34–36: “They did not destroy the peoples, as the Lord commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices, and served their idols, which became a snare to them.”
1 Corinthians 4:14: “I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.”
1 Corinthians 5:11–12: “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?”
Notice a few of the blessing “buts”:
Romans 5:7–8: “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
1 Corinthians 1:26–27: “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.”
1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”
1 Corinthians 6:9–11: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
2 Corinthians 4:8–12: ”We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.”
2 Corinthians 4:17–18: “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Ephesians 2:3–4: “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.”
Thank the Lord for His comprehensive truth that repeatedly reminds you and me of the positive and negative effects of profound conjunctions like “but.” And one of my many favorites is “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
Pastor Jeff
“The Bible teaches that we are not just saved for individual spiritual growth but for community. Relationships in the church are not optional; they are an essential part of the Christian life.”