If-then
I came to Christ in the mid-1980s, during the time of what some
called ‘cheap grace’. A time when sermons were filled with
name-it-and-claim-it prosperity teaching. I frequently heard this
verse; it was on many TV sermons.
“All of God’s promises are yes and amen.”
This verse is 2 Corinthians 1:20 and seems to me, was used wildly out of context, when it was preached to encourage donations and ‘seed money’ as a means to financial prosperity.
Now, I would like to seemingly contradict the “All of God’s Promises are yes and amen” with this scripture:
1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
Do these two scriptures butt heads?
Not if you understand that God has a conditional, 'if-then' side to Him.
One weekend, I looked up the word ‘if’ in Strong's Concordance. There are about 1500 times the word ‘if’ is used in the Bible.
God is a guaranteed-conditional God. If we do a certain thing, or don’t do, a certain thing, then a certain result is guaranteed.
When I began college (in the mid 1980s) one of my classes was ‘Basic Programming’ for writing simple computer code.
"I am given a value of 5, then the command of ‘+’. I am given another value of ‘2’ and a command of ‘=’.
"So I must add ‘5’ and ‘2’ and display the accurate total."
"Because of the values and commands I have received, I must display the response of ‘7’. This is my only option."
You just saw a machine use a series of if-then commands. If 5 is added to 2, then the total is 7.
Life has a lot of 'if-then' commands. If the speed limit is 25 mph, then expect a ticket if you get caught driving 45 mph on that street.
God too, gives us many if-then commands, even if they aren’t worded exactly that way.
“Those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” is an if-then command:
“If you call on the name of the Lord, then you will be saved.”
As I said before the Bible contains ‘if' about 1,500 times,
1Samuel 12: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
“All of God’s promises are yes and amen.”
This verse is 2 Corinthians 1:20 and seems to me, was used wildly out of context, when it was preached to encourage donations and ‘seed money’ as a means to financial prosperity.
Now, I would like to seemingly contradict the “All of God’s Promises are yes and amen” with this scripture:
1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
2You
desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get
what you want, so you quarrel and fight.
You do not have because you
do not ask God.
3When
you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that
you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Do these two scriptures butt heads?
Not if you understand that God has a conditional, 'if-then' side to Him.
One weekend, I looked up the word ‘if’ in Strong's Concordance. There are about 1500 times the word ‘if’ is used in the Bible.
A lot of those ifs, are God speaking
to people.
‘If’ denotes a condition; almost always stating that if a condition is met, then a certain response from God can be expected.
‘If’ denotes a condition; almost always stating that if a condition is met, then a certain response from God can be expected.
God is a guaranteed-conditional God. If we do a certain thing, or don’t do, a certain thing, then a certain result is guaranteed.
When I began college (in the mid 1980s) one of my classes was ‘Basic Programming’ for writing simple computer code.
The prompt for
action in Basic is the ‘if-then’ command.
If a certain value was entered, along with certain commands, then a certain result would occur.
If a certain value was entered, along with certain commands, then a certain result would occur.
This is how all
calculators work. (Calculators are just computers with a very narrow
focus.)
If we punch in 5 + 2 = the calculator ‘thinks’:
If we punch in 5 + 2 = the calculator ‘thinks’:
"I am given a value of 5, then the command of ‘+’. I am given another value of ‘2’ and a command of ‘=’.
"So I must add ‘5’ and ‘2’ and display the accurate total."
"Because of the values and commands I have received, I must display the response of ‘7’. This is my only option."
You just saw a machine use a series of if-then commands. If 5 is added to 2, then the total is 7.
Life has a lot of 'if-then' commands. If the speed limit is 25 mph, then expect a ticket if you get caught driving 45 mph on that street.
If a woman catches
her husband kissing another woman, then expect problems to follow.
If I write a check
for more money than is in my bank account, then I will get a bounce
notice.
God too, gives us many if-then commands, even if they aren’t worded exactly that way.
“Those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” is an if-then command:
“If you call on the name of the Lord, then you will be saved.”
A sentence doesn’t
have to contain an exact if-then statement - to be an if-then
command.
As I said before the Bible contains ‘if' about 1,500 times,
Many of them are
conditional commands:
1Samuel 12: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
25 But
if ye shall still do wickedly, (then) ye shall be consumed, both ye and your
king.
This is a conditional command, exhorting good, but warning of poor outcomes if evil is practiced.
1,500 times of ‘if’.
And the result depends on the free will of us mere mortals, for God pre-publishes His expectations, so no one can claim to be surprised when poor results come their way.
This is a conditional command, exhorting good, but warning of poor outcomes if evil is practiced.
1,500 times of ‘if’.
And the result depends on the free will of us mere mortals, for God pre-publishes His expectations, so no one can claim to be surprised when poor results come their way.
And I believe this applies to forgiveness also. "...if repents (then) forgive him..."