From S. Lewis Johnson sermon on Colossians 1:21-23:
Paul,
in the final verse, verse 23, speaks of the abiding condition of
those who are reconciled, or of reconciliation. This is bit of a
puzzling text. In Believers Chapel we talk very strongly about the
perseverance of the saints and occasionally, the term "security
of the believer" will come out. And then we will also
occasionally say, "Once saved, always saved," and things
like that. Well then how can you harmonize, "Once saved, always
saved," the security of the believer with the apostolic
language? The apostolic language contains "ifs." "If
you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away
from the hope of the gospel," that seems to say that there is a
definite conditional possession of eternal life. Is not the whole
program in jeopardy? Suppose our faith fails, doesn't this suggest
that it might fail? "If you continue in the faith grounded and
settled," why are these "ifs" in the Bible? If we
were allowed to rewrite the Bible, I think, the majority of
Christians would eliminate the "ifs" if they have grown up
in an environment in which they were taught the perseverance of the
saints, or the security of the believer. They don't really like to
look at these passages. They rather think there must be some
esoteric explanation that eliminates the "ifs." But they
are in the Bible. They are there.
So
we must deal with them. They are there. Why are they there? Well
one thing that comes immediately to mind is this. They are there
because there are people gathered in a company like this and who also
meet with saints everywhere who are mere professors
of the faith, and not really possessors
of a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's one of
the simple facts of Christian experience. There are many people who,
even over years, make a profession of faith but who fall away, who
evidence they were not really true believers. So, the question of a
man's profession, and the reality of it, is raised by these "ifs."
And they serve a very good purpose. Those who make a profession of
faith and if their lives do not conform to that standard of Christian
life that is set in the New Testament, not a sinless life, but the
standard of life set in the New Testament, we have no reason to
encourage them by saying to them, "You are a Christian."
We cannot pass judgment upon them. We don't know what their
condition is because we are human beings. But we have the word of
God, and we can say, by the word of God, we have no reason to
encourage you that as long as you live in manifest disagreement with
the teaching of the word of God you are one of the family of the
faithful. So that's one purpose that "ifs" would serve.
Sorry, you didn't go far enough. There are two primary Greek words in the New Testament regularly translated as "if." Strong's No. G1437 and G1487. G1437 is derived from G1487. In Col 1:23 the Greek word for "if" is G1489 which is also derived from G1487.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we have multiple Greek words and what is the difference in the meaning of these three? G1499 is also translated as "if" in 2 Cor 11:15 and is again derived from G1487. G1490 also derived from G1487 is translated as "if otherwise" in 2 Cor 11:16.
John Calvin's "election" doctrine is challenged as is the eternal security of the believer by the many "if" passages in the New Testament.
One needs a clear definition of the difference in meaning of the three most used Greek words translated as "if" to grasp what exactly God had in mind in these texts.
Reggie Kemp, Sr. reggiekempsr@msn.com