Conditional Commands (by Walt Henrichsen)

“There He made for them a fixed rule, and there He put them to the test. He said, ‘If you will heed the LORD your God diligently, doing what is upright in His sight, giving ear to His commandments and keeping all His laws, then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the LORD am your healer.'” Exodus 15:25-26

Here God calls attention to the nature of conditional promises; they are tests God gives His people to see if they will be obedient. Note that God says this is both a command and a promise. When He makes a conditional promise that you consider essential, it becomes in your mind a command; you feel forced to meet the conditions affixed to what you deem essential.

Conditional promises are, by their nature, tests in that they are dependent upon the performance of the person to whom the promise was given. As you know, the word “if” identifies the promise as conditional; if you fail to meet the conditions then you fail to obtain the promise.

Grace is an unconditional promise, for God knows that we fail His tests. I cannot think of one test that I, or the nation of Israel, ever passed. Without God’s gracious unconditional promises I would be void of hope. God may test you with conditional promises and commands, but without His unconditional promise of grace, you would despair.