Confusing ‘If’ with ‘Is’

My wife and I take care of our two young grandkids after school until one of their parents comes to pick them up after work. Still, after raising a house full of kids, we can usually tell when one of them swaps “is” for “if.” “Pawpaw, Gramma said it is okay for me to have some ice cream.”

They sound like angelic beings making pure, godly requests when, in fact, they are playing me. And yes, I’ve been tricked a couple of times. I can’t get too upset, for I’ve seen this same behavior in the Body of Christ Jesus.

If

The word “is” declares a fact, but the word “if” introduces options. It is how we identify an outcome based on a choice.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 ESV

“If” is God’s way of giving people the opportunity to use faith to come to Him. He has told us that “without faith it is impossible to please God.¹” So here is a marvelous promise from God, but it has an “if.” We do much harm if we say, “When I sin, I ask God to forgive me.” God’s promises are always accessed by meeting some condition. Conditions are actually gifts from God because without them, we could not show true faith. In 1 John 1:9, forgiveness comes ONLY “if we confess our sins.”

Is

The word “is” refers to an objective truth. “Is” cannot be redefined by circumstances, subjective ideas, or emotional appeals. Consider the following verse from the Apostle John.

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. – 1 John 1:5

John was not only an eyewitness to Jesus’ actions, but he was also Jesus’² closest friend. So, John states objective truths. Also, notice the number of absolute “is” statements that Apostle Paul makes in the following verse:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. – Philippians 4:8 ESV

Each “is” tells us a thing to think about and verifies that it is an objective truth. When we think about a seed and how it must die before new life comes from it, we are thinking about objective truth. We wonder if the Lockness Monster is real. That may be entertaining, but there is no objective truth about it, so it does not feed our souls – I’m not saying you can’t think about cookie monsters 🙂.

The Holy Spirit guided Paul to provide us with clear solutions for countering carnal thinking. If you battle “bad” thoughts, here is God’s way of escape – think about these things. God makes it a point in Scripture to give us absolutes, truths that will never change. We see this again in Paul’s letter to Timothy, his “true child in the faith.³”

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. – 2 Timothy 3:16 NLT

The word “is” contains astonishing power, but causes great harm when misused.

If ≠ Is.

A dear brother in the Lord taught me, when I was a young man, that all of God’s promises come with conditions. A common, but dangerous mistake Christians make is to confuse “if” with “is.” As an example, some ignore the implied “if” of this promise:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28 ESV

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “All things work together for good.” This mangles the two implied “if” conditions and incorrectly applies the intent of “good,” We can see that the misquoted verse contains three errors.

1. The promise is available only if the person(s) loves God.
2. The promise can be claimed only if the person(s) are called according to God’s purpose – this point is a great Bible study.
3. The promise “for good” means for God’s plan. “Not everything is inherently good, nor does everything work together for everyone’s benefit.⁴”

Conclusion

We can now see the damage caused by replacing “if” with “is.” When my grandchild tells me that some person of authority told them that they can eat a box of Milk Duds®, it’s my job to confirm that he or she is telling me an objective truth.⁵ Trick me once, shame on you. Trick me twice, shame on me!

Footnotes

1. Hebrews 11:6 – The Faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved October 24, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-6.htm ↩︎
2. John 20:2 – The Resurrection. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved October 24, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/john/20-2.htm ↩︎
3. 1 Timothy 1:2 – Paul’s Greeting to Timothy. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved October 23, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/1_timothy/1-2.htm ↩︎
4. This is a quote that I wrote down because it is true. Sadly, I have lost the reference. ↩︎
5. Milk Duds is a trademark owned by Highlander Partners, a private equity firm based in Dallas, and produced and marketed under license by The Hershey Company. ↩︎