Going straight to the Cross
 
Saturday, 5. February 2005

Greek Conditional Sentences (Part 2)

(Author's note: In my last column, I mentioned that our third child was on the way. He was born on January 11th, 2005. Thanks to God, both he and his mother are healthy and doing very well.)

As we mentioned in the previous column, there are five classes of Greek conditional sentences. We discussed the first class conditional sentence in the previous column in which we noted that this condition assumed something to be true for the sake of argument. Hence, Satan uses this form in Matthew 5:3, "If you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread." The temptation was not to cast doubt that Jesus was the Son of God, but to tempt Jesus into obeying Satan for physical desires.

The second class conditional sentence represents that which the speaker believes to be contrary to fact. There aren't nearly as many of these in the Greek New Testament as first class conditionals (only about 50). We use this kind of conditional sentence quite frequently in English, most often when we express how we wish things to be. "If I were rich, then I could buy a new car." We use the past tense "be" verb "were," along with "if" to express this contrary-to-fact condition. There are other ways we express contrary-to-fact conditionals in English, but this example will best help us to understand the Greek. Hence, in Greek, a contrary-to-fact conditional contains the word "EI," (if) which must take either an imperfect or aorist verb (i.e. past tense verbs), in the conditional part of the sentence (the protasis) and the conclusive part of the sentence (apodosis) may or may not have the particle "AN," but will have a secondary tense verb (imperfect or aorist, that is, past tense verbs) in the indicative mood.

Some examples of the second class condition occur in the following passages:

Hebrews 8:4 "For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest ..." The point the writer is making is that Jesus is not on earth and so he isn't a priest according to the law, but according to the order of Melchizedec.

Galatians 1:10 "... if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Here, of course, Paul's point was that he was a servant of Christ, so he wasn't trying to please men.

1 Corinthians 12:19 "And if they were all one member, where were the body?" The whole context of this passage contains illustrative counterfactuals regarding the body. In verse 17, the verbs are not explicitly stated in the Greek, but they are implied, "If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?" The point being that the body is not one member, but many.

The counterfactual can even be used to perpetrate a lie as in John 18:30, "... If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee" as stated by those who delivered Jesus to Pilate. Of course, the truth was that Jesus was not a malefactor, but the Sanhedrim didn't want Pilate to know that. Hence, the second class conditional is used to perpetrate a false counterfactual.

There are several other examples. It would be good to look for these as one studies through the New Testament.

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The Roots of Most Doctrinal Mistakes

by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This evening read Matthew 22:23--46

The Roots of Most Doctrinal Mistakes

The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection, and without realizing it, the roots of their unbelief are two problems. Here is what Jesus says,

29 Jesus answered and said to them, You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God (Mat. 22:29).

He then goes on to explain that the Old Testament Scriptures teach the resurrection and that God has the power to raise people from the dead. If you examine carefully most doctrinal mistakes that people believe or teach, you will discover the same roots for most of them. Therefore, let us pursue zealously the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that we are not mistaken and that we shall be able to teach others.

It is for this reason that in 1990 I started publishing a monthly journal called The Bible Meditator. I was amazed by the numbers of people with relationship problems, and other problems of living, and the numbers of people who believe things contrary to the Scriptures, so that I thought to myself that putting out a monthly paper that is designed to help people read and meditate on the Scriptures would be a good thing. Pulpit Press, a little publishing venture that I started, used to print the paper, now it is a joint work of the Nile Street Church of Christ in Klamath Falls, Oregon and the Savage Street Church of Christ in Grants Pass, Oregon. Subscriptions to the hard copy are $8 annually (Send checks to: The Bible Meditator, 2521 Nile Street, Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603-6913) and the computer version is free (Send a request to: SSteinless@aol.com with PDF of TBM in the subject line).

Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100

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His Name Is Jealous

by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This morning Read Exodus 34 and 35

His Name Is Jealous

God orders the children of Israel to destroy all forms of idolatry, and here is why,

14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God) (Exo. 34:14).

God expects exclusive loyalty from His people. He gives 100% of Himself to us, shown when He sent Jesus to die for us. Can we not do the same for Him? Therefore, throughout this day look at yourself and see whether you give Him your all. Just think about the fact that He is a jealous God, so much, so that His name is Jealous.

Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100

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Can Anyone Entagle the Lord?

by Don Ruhl

Read the Bible in a Year This evening read Matthew 22:1--22

Can Anyone Entangle the Lord?

Ponder this sentence,

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk (Mat. 22:15).

President Reagan is known as the great communicator, and as gifted as he was, he was nothing compared to Jesus Christ, who is truly The Great Communicator. It is impossible to entangle Jesus Christ in His talk, yet, people since the days of the Pharisees have been trying it. Listen to people reason as to why they have to do what Lord Jesus commands in the Scriptures. In fact, it is a good idea to practice this exercise on us. Do I try to wiggle out of believing and obeying the Lord? Do I truly think that I can entangle Him in His talk?

Don Ruhl Church of Christ 220 NE Savage Street Grants Pass, Oregon 97526-1310 541-476-3100

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