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 3
Verse 13 “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.”
If--ei
This verse is really quite simple. Marvel not…the world will hate us as Christians. But this should be no surprise to us…the world hated Jesus so why would the treat us…who are trying to be like Him any differently? ...if the world hate you…if…I wonder why John did not say when? For he knew that the world would indeed hate Christians…so why use the word if? When looking at the original Greek and referring to Thayer’s it is said that if can also mean that which is assumed. So when we add this meaning to the word if in this case, it makes sense. Also, when we couple the meaning of marvel not with if the world hate you…then you understand the idea that the world will hate us, and the we should not be surprised.
Verse 20 “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.”
If--ean
For if our heart condemn us…our hearts will know and convict us of hidden and secret sins. The world may not see them be we know what we have done. If our hearts are in line with the Word of God, then we will be hurt in our heart when we sin. But if our heart tries to hide a sin…
...God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things…we cannot hide from God. No matter how good we may appear on the outside, if we are hiding things…we are not with God. Those hidden sins will rear their head…whether it is in this life, or the next one. God is greater than our heart…and if we dare to think something is right when it is wrong, God has the power to convict us though His Word that we are wrong and need to change. Because He knows all things, we must constantly keep pure in action, thought and deed. Our hearts must be reprogramed to be in line with God and not in line with us.
Verse 21 “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God.”
If—this a different word combination for if. It is ean me, which means: if not, unless.
The word not in this verse is also the same Greek phrase ean me. That makes the below phrase have a deeper meaning. It could be reworded to say if not our heart condemn us…
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not…when we have cleared our lives of secret sin then our hearts can no longer condemn us for those things. This is the state that we as faithful Christians must be in at all times. Our hearts should be clean and pure and no condemn us. When this is the case…
…then we have confidence toward God…we can then stand before God with confidence because our hearts are pure and right before God. The word confidence caries the meaning of “free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness and assurance.” This makes this part of the verse give us a higher level of assurance that we can stand before God. Not perfect…but with boldness that we are right with Him. This should give one the comfort that we can be pure before God as well as the desire to make things right before it is too late.
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