IF__________THEN

[A conditional sentence is a two-clause sentence in which the first clause states a supposition or hypothesis and the second clause states the results if  that condition is met. The hypothetical clause which states the condition ("If this . . .") is termed the protasis and the conclusion clause is called the apodosis (". . . then this.").
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN THE  NEW TESTAMENT by  William E. Elliot]

This will certainly NOT be any kind of in-depth study or commentary of “conditional sentence verses.” That would take a lifetime. I merely wish to raise the awareness of what scripture says.


If  the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. Ezek. 33:18

And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto You my son, who has a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he takes him, he tears him: and he foams, and gnashes with his teeth, and pines away: and I spoke to Your disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
He answered him, and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto Me.”
And they brought him unto Him: and when He saw him, straightway the spirit tore him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
And He asked his father, “How long is it ago since this came unto him?” And he said, Since he was a child. And oftentimes it has cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if  You can do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Jesus said unto him, “If  you can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Mark 9:17-24

IF?  IF?
Two big Ifs in that passage. The man ignorantly and faithlessly asks Jesus… IF You can do anything?
I do not think this man was “testing” Jesus…he had a very real sorrowful situation in his son being possessed. And after having implored the disciples, who were themselves healing people (Mark 6), to heal his son and they could not, he was no doubt discouraged. Mere men will affect us that way sometimes. But we cannot approach the Lord with doubt and without the faith that moves mountains. Oh yes! THAT is our calling…to have THAT faith. Jesus’ answer was, “If  YOU  can believe, all things are possible to you.”

If is a qualifying word. I have brought up the discussion of “IF” a few times with brothers and the take-away is… we don’t like to talk about it. That attitude is one of the elements of stagnation, a pit-fall of complacency, not to mention an intimidation of satan’s.

The qualifier presents a choice, really, it sets conditions… and therein lies our failings. We too often make our own bad choices for various reasons… lack of knowledge, lack of wisdom, comfort zones, fear of man, etc. So bottom line…the choice MUST be made by God, and we must OBEY. And here are some choices God has made for us:
If  thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if  thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 
Gen. 4:7 KJV
If  you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if  you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. 
Gen. 4:7 HCSB
If  you would prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward Him; If  iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away, and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; Then surely you could lift up your face without spot; Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear. 
Job 11:13-15 NKJV

And the “biggies”….
If  My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 
2 Chron. 7:14
If  you confess (the protasis) with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (apodosis). Rom. 10:9

According to Quickverse Bible software, the word "if" is used 1,595 times in 1,420 verses in the KJV (post 1820 version).

Are there “qualifiers” in the New Testament? YOU BET!
If  you love Me, (you will) keep my commandments. John 14:15

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if  indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if  anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if  Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if  the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Rom. 8:9-11
Do we fully understand the "if - then" conditions of that passage?

Now here is a difficult passage for me….
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 led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if   children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if  indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Rom. 8:13-17. (emphasis mine)

Beginning with the very first part of the sentence…. if you live according to the flesh you will die! Now REMEMBER, Paul is writing to believers.
“To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…”
…called to be saints. Could this mean they had not yet “attained?” But Paul himself was called... "to be" an Apostle. Called literally means, "invited" OR "Divinely selected and appointed." The words "to be" are added in the KJV (and many other translations). The verb "to be" has the most forms in the English language. To try to define its grammatical usage will make many peoples (my) brains tired.
A few examples:
Infinitive: to be
Present: am, is, are
Past: was, were
Present Participle: being
Past Participle: been
Present Subjunctive:  be
Past Subjunctive: were
Imperative: be

I like to think of the inclusion of "to be" in the above verse as being ALL OF THE ABOVE forms..... "I am, was, is, were, been, being and will BE a saint." I am particularly struck by the Imperative... BE! I am reminded of Paul writing in 1 Cor. 9:27...
"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be (or become) a castaway."
The dynamics of Paul's life were to "continually and steadfastly BE not only an Apostle, but a saint! He was CONSTRAINED!

And then Paul goes on…
"I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world."
Well, Paul is impressed with their faith. It is spoken of throughout the whole world! See Matt. 5:16. So how could they not be believers? And yet he says, “if you live according to the flesh you will die!”
Matthew Henry said (commentary), "If ye do not kill sin, it will kill you."

Romans 6:20- 22 says: For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
Can one be saved but a slave to sin? Can one be saved but effectively spiritually dead?

I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
So these Romans Paul was writing to were believers, as were the carnal, idolatrous Corinthians, in the mutual faith. But??? Had they not received the indwelling Holy Spirit yet? What was the spiritual gift Paul wanted to impart? And MOST importantly…have some today never received it? Oh God….am I one? Am I trying to live “in the Spirit” by my own power?

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If  anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1 Cor. 3:16-17.
DESTROY???

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if  children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if  indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Rom. 8:16-17.
If we suffer not, does that void our inheritance? How do we define “suffering?” The Interlinear and Strong’s define it as: “the afflictions which Christians must undergo in behalf of the same cause which Christ patiently endured.” The Bible is full of faithful believers who suffered for their faith and their God, of whom James 5:10 teaches us to take as examples.

We believe we cannot lose our salvation. So be it. But we should take care to fully understand the “conditional” verses when we study the Word. To indifferently say we merely lose “rewards” if we do not meet the conditional exhortations of the Christian life only trivializes this serious matter.

[…too many professing Christians live their lives, day in and day out, on the basis of something other than the Bible. As a result, their priorities reflect the world’s priorities, not God’s priorities. Their patterns of behavior and their plans for the future differ only slightly from those of their unsaved friends and neighbors. Their expenditures reveal that their perspective is temporal, and that they are vainly pursuing the elusive American Dream. Their shortcomings, when they admit to them, receive the same fault-free labels that the world ascribes (“mistakes” or “diseases” or “addictions” rather than “sins”), as they search for answers in psychology, medication, or the self-help section of the bookstore. Though they adhere to an external form of traditional Christian moralism, there isn't anything particularly biblical or Christ-centered about how they live…..

Yet it is in the lives of sinners who have been transformed by the Gospel of grace, that a distinctly Christian ethic must be fleshed out. True Christianity is not defined on the basis of external moralism, religious traditionalism, or partisan politics; but on the basis of a personal love for Jesus Christ and a desire to follow Him no matter the cost. --John MacArthur]

Grace to you.