Another Purpose of "if" Clauses in the New Testament

"He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."  (Col 1:22-23 ESV)

And then I think also, with reference to the saints, it helps them to remember that God's warnings and admonitions are often means for the preservation of us by causing us to be more diligent in our Christian activity. We say to our children, "Do not step off of this building." If they were walking by on a parapet of a building, -- why they would be doing that I haven't the slightest idea, but some parents are just that ignorant of what children are liable to do, that they will let them do it, they will let them walk on a parapet -- they'll say, "Don't ever jump off of that you will be killed," but at the same time the parent is grasping that child to be sure that it does not happen. We teach our children things not to do, but at the same time we are as careful as we possibly can to keep them from doing it even if they wanted to. So these "ifs" in the word of God serve a purpose.   -  S. Lewis Johnson in a sermon on Colossians 1:23.