If
Conjunction
1. in case that; granting or supposing that; on condition that: Sing if you want to.
2. even though: an enthusiastic if small audience
3. whether: He asked if I knew Spanish.
4. used to introduce an exclamatory phrase: If only Dad could see me now!
5. when or whenever: If it was raining, we had to play inside.
Noun
6. a supposition; uncertain possibility: The future is full of ifs.
7.a condition, requirement, or stipulation: There are too many ifsin his agreement.
There are two Greek words for if used in 1 John.
They are: ean and ei.
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines ean as:
A conditional particle, which makes reference to time and to experience, introducing something future, but not determining, before the event, whether it is certainly to take place; if, in case.
And ei as:
First a conditional particle, if; secondly, an interrogative particle, whether.
Chapter 5
Verse 9 “”If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he testified of his Son.”
If-ei
If we receive the witness of men…how many times a day do we trust what men say to be true? Many times…we trust men for the weather forecast, for the making of laws and so many other things. We also trust men for everyday information and I am sure the list can get long. But the point here is that if we are willing to trust the witness of man, which could be false at times, what about God?
...the witness of God is greater…God’s witness is greater than man. No matter what, His witness will never be wrong. Man’s witness will lie, God’s will not; man’s will deceive, God’s will not; man’s will not last forever, God’s will. While we must on a daily basis trust to a certain degree the witness of man, we must put more trust in God’s witness for it will remain forever.
…for this is the witness of God which he testified of his Son…this is speaking of the previous verses, but I believe can be applied to the entire Bible. Jesus testified of His Father by the life that He lived. Then many testified of that life and wrote it down under the guide of the Holy Spirit. John was one of these eyewitnesses. John was there at the transfiguration, he was at the cross, and so many other places with Jesus. He can say that these things are true of Jesus and God for he was very close to Jesus and God (through Jesus). Knowing these things should clear up an doubt on whatever things we doubt about Jesus and what He did for us.
Verse 14 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:”
If-ean
This verse carries a huge conditional. …if we ask anything according to his will…all that we ask for must be in accordance to His will. We will be praying in vain if we do not pray with His will always in the forefront of our thoughts. The condition here is very important. If we do not pray that things be done in His will, He will not hear us. When we do this, we will have confidence toward him that He will hear us. This is a very important verse to the Christian life. Prayer is our way to talk to God, and we must use it well and right if we are to have a personal relationship with Him. And we must have a relationship with Him if we are to be saved.
Verse 15 “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
If-ean
This verse finishes the thought in 14. When we have prayed according to His will we know, (the confidence) that He will hear us. We know that He will consider the petitions that we have set before Him. This includes the forgiveness of our sins, our petitions for others, for strength, etc. We are to cast all our cares on Him, and when we do this in accordance with His will, we will grow as Christians, ans be close to God.
Verse 16 “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”
If-ean
If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he (God-EP) shall give him life for them that sin not unto death…as Christians we are to pray for each other, especially when one has sinned and repented. We can be instrumental in the salvation of their souls when we do this. We are not told exactly what sins here John is talking about, but from the context, I would hold that they are sins which can be forgiven, sins which will not lead to instant physical or spiritual death. When this person that has sinned had repented and prayers have been offered to God in his behalf, then God will give him life again. This is a beautiful promise that we must hold on to…and not just talk about…but DO IT! Another this in this part of the verse is the first few words…if any man see his brother sin…we must be close to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must be close enough to see when they sin or at least be close enough to them that we are there for them when they stumble. Yes, there will be “secret sins” that are only between a person and God, but there will be times that our sins will affect others and then we must be there for that person.
…there is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it…this sin would be the nature of a sin that cannot be forgiven. John is saying that when one sins this kind of sin that he would be wasting his time to pray for it. This seems very harsh and not like God to not forgive. But, God has His rules and will not change them for anyone. We must be ever so careful to not sin and especially not sin in a way that we will not be forgiven. This must drive us to be ever so careful to keep our lives in step with God’s will, for then we will not be as likely to sin these sins that are unto death.
If, such a small word, but as we have seen…has a huge meaning. There is so much…no, all of our salvation hangs on that one word. So much depends on us doing what we know we must do. When we do these ifs, we will grow as a Christian, we will be closer as a body, and above all we will secure our eternal salvation with our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.
