John 14:23 • IF anyone loves Me, he will keep (obey) My word;
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 15:14 • You are My friends, IF you do whatever I command you.
Does anyone get into heaven who does not love Jesus, is not His friend, does not obey Him?
Romans 8:13-14 • For IF you live according to the flesh you will die;
but IF by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Romans 11:21-22 • For if God did not spare the natural branches (the Israelites),
He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God:
on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, IF you continue in His goodness.
Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
1 Corinthians 15:2 • the gospel which I preached to you … by which also you are saved,
IF you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.
Galatians 5:18 • But IF you are being led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Colossians 1:21-23 • He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death,
to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight —
IF indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast,
and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel
Hebrews 3:6,14 • Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are
IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
… For we have become partakers of Christ IF we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast to the end
Hebrews 10:36-39 • For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done
the will of God, you may receive the promise: “… Now the just shall live by faith;
but IF anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition …
So, the writer is a seer who knows who will do what in the future?
No, this is wishful thinking … he does not say that God told him they would not fall back!
1 John 1:7-9 • But IF we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
… IF we confess our sins (to Him), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:3 • Now by this we know that we know Him, IF we keep His commandments.
The Greek in these passages do, in fact, mean "IF". In the Greek, there are sentence constructions
that indicate whether or not something is conditional. The Greek word "ean" can mean since,
or therefore, but when it is used in a construction that has "de" at the beginning of the sentence,
it is making a conditional statement. Therefore, the author really is saying what the "IF" implies.
(de) Condition #1 is true, "IF" (ean) condition #2 is met.
Mercifully, I have left out a couple of the most troubling/condemning passages!
Many other verses are conditional, even though they don’t have an “IF” in them, for example:
Revelation 21:7-8 • He who overcomes shall inherit all things … and he shall be My son.
This is the same as saying …
IF you overcome, you shall inherit all things … and you shall be My son.
Note: This is Jesus’ definition of who is an overcomer:
Revelation 3:21 • To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Some of the passages above are members of the category of verses which teach us:
Believers must endure in their faith until the end of their lives to receive eternal life!
Yes, both sanctification and salvation are life-long processes.
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 15:14 • You are My friends, IF you do whatever I command you.
Does anyone get into heaven who does not love Jesus, is not His friend, does not obey Him?
Romans 8:13-14 • For IF you live according to the flesh you will die;
but IF by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Romans 11:21-22 • For if God did not spare the natural branches (the Israelites),
He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God:
on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, IF you continue in His goodness.
Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
1 Corinthians 15:2 • the gospel which I preached to you … by which also you are saved,
IF you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.
Galatians 5:18 • But IF you are being led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Colossians 1:21-23 • He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death,
to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight —
IF indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast,
and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel
Hebrews 3:6,14 • Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are
IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
… For we have become partakers of Christ IF we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast to the end
Hebrews 10:36-39 • For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done
the will of God, you may receive the promise: “… Now the just shall live by faith;
but IF anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition …
So, the writer is a seer who knows who will do what in the future?
No, this is wishful thinking … he does not say that God told him they would not fall back!
1 John 1:7-9 • But IF we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
… IF we confess our sins (to Him), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:3 • Now by this we know that we know Him, IF we keep His commandments.
The Greek in these passages do, in fact, mean "IF". In the Greek, there are sentence constructions
that indicate whether or not something is conditional. The Greek word "ean" can mean since,
or therefore, but when it is used in a construction that has "de" at the beginning of the sentence,
it is making a conditional statement. Therefore, the author really is saying what the "IF" implies.
(de) Condition #1 is true, "IF" (ean) condition #2 is met.
Mercifully, I have left out a couple of the most troubling/condemning passages!
Many other verses are conditional, even though they don’t have an “IF” in them, for example:
Revelation 21:7-8 • He who overcomes shall inherit all things … and he shall be My son.
This is the same as saying …
IF you overcome, you shall inherit all things … and you shall be My son.
Note: This is Jesus’ definition of who is an overcomer:
Revelation 3:21 • To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Some of the passages above are members of the category of verses which teach us:
Believers must endure in their faith until the end of their lives to receive eternal life!
Yes, both sanctification and salvation are life-long processes.
