03/19/2019

I returned from Florida Saturday and promptly fell ill with an old fashioned chest cold.  I got to an M.D. yesterday and today I’m mending quickly. In general promises are either conditional or unconditional promises.  The best he can do is say “if I live”.  He has no guarantee of life and he cannot give his promise.

God makes both conditional and unconditional promises.  Any promise of God that has an “if” in it is a conditional promise.  In the final chapters of Deuteronomy you will find conditional promises to Israel with the blessings that attend the promises if they meet the conditions.  But you can also find the curses they can expect if they fail to meet the conditions.

John 3:36 is an unconditional statement.  You can take this to the bank.

  ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

There is the fact that the believer has eternal or unending life.  This is not a conditional potential.  It is a present fact.  The unbeliever spends 24/7 with the determination of judgment before an Almighty Holy God and eternal destruction to follow.