A Big Word in the Bible: "IF"

As Christians, we MUST understand that we have a role to play in our relationship with God. Yes, God made the first move when Jesus came to earth, but it is our responsibility to respond to what God has done. There is no such thing as a one-way relationship...

The Bible has a lot of conditional statements. A conditional statement is a statement that contains the word"IF" in it. In other words, "IF" something happens, then a favorable result will occur. On the other hand, "IF" something doesn't happen, a negative result will occur. Let's look at a couple examples from Scripture:

• Romans 10:9 - "IF you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
• 2 Chronicles 7:14 - "IF my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
• 1 John 1:9 - "IF we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
• 1 John 2:3 - "And by this we know that we have come to know him, IF we keep his commandments"

Let's flip this around:

• IF we DON'T confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we will NOT be saved.
• IF we DON'T humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, God will NOT forgive our sin and heal our land.
• IF we DON'T confess our sins, we will NOT be cleansed from all unrighteousness.
• IF you DON'T keep his commandments, then you may NOT have come to know Him. (this one is scary)

Not many people like to read the Bible this way. It is not warm and fuzzy.

We have a role to play in our relationship with God. Do not expect to have a good relationship with God if you do nothing. A real relationship is never one-sided. He has already made the ultimate sacrifice. How will you respond?