The Word … If

I have noticed in many scriptures the conditional word … if … is included in many promises Jesus made as well as some statements the Apostles made. By being there, that one small word … if … adds a new dimension that can control whether we receive the answer or blessing needed in that promise.

In the English language, the word … if … subordinates an action, event, or happening to another condition, and makes it dependent on another event. The word if is a conjunction which connects two words or phrases together and usually points to a second event.

Normally the word if can be replaced or interchanged with the word "whenever" without changing the contextual meaning. But in dealing with scripture translated from the Greek, the word if doesn't always have the same root meaning. Most of the time, "whenever" would probably work … but not always.

So, I have chosen nine scriptures to look at containing this conditional word … if.

1.) Matthew 21:21 … "Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done."

The first if in this scripture is the Greek word "ean" and means … something is conditional; in case, or provided … and is often used to denote uncertainty. In the above verse, "provided" would be the proper translation ... provided ye have faith. The second if used in this verse is "kan" and means … even if, also if … which is the proper meaning as translated.

2.) Mark 9:23 … "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

Here in Mark, we have a third Greek word translated if. It's "ei" and means … conditionally if, whether or not. So, is Jesus saying all things are possible depending on whether or not you believe? It sounds like it to me.

3.) John 8:31, Jesus said … "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples …"
4.) John 15:7 … "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
5.) Romans 10:9 … "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

The word if in 3, 4 and 5 is the conditional word "ean" again … provided … you do these things.

6.) Galatians 6:9 … "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

In this verse, the three words translated if we faint is the singular Greek word "ekluo" which means to … relax … or as used here, (if we relax not).

7.) Colossians 1:21-23 … "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard …"

So here in this verse, we have yet another if with a different meaning … the word "eige" … if indeed, seeing that.

8.) Hebrews 3:14 … "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end …"
9.) Hebrews 6:3 … "And this will we do, if God permit."

The word if used in these last two verses is slightly different, in that it has the Greek word "per" co-joined with the word "ean" (still meaning provided) but now it places a stronger emphasis on the word if. It's now a great big … "IF" or "PROVIDED."

Most of us understand what the word if intimates in English. The word if often denotes uncertainty. But the uncertainty concerning God and His word, will He or won't He answer, give, heal or provide, etc., is all on our side of the … if … not God's.

God isn't the problem. By looking at the above nine scriptures and the emphasis on the word if in them … the conditional provision is very simple … will we or won't we do what each of them requires us to do in order for God to fulfill them.

If … means we must have faith, believe, continue, abide, confess and faint not in all of these things; which honestly are uncertain future choices we will have to make, if we want God's best for our lives.

If … leaves it up to us, doesn't it.

Does this help explain why many times nothing happens when we pray?


Comments welcome.