Related Resource: Take this self assessment What You Really Love

INTRODUCTION

1John 2:15-17 is a familiar passage to most Christians and is clearly a very important passage regarding John's instructions on how one can walk worthy of the Lord who called him (Eph 4:1-note) with a holy calling (2Ti 1:9-note). First, notice that John gives only one command (Do not love...) in this section, which serves to indicate that this is his main emphasis. The subsequent passages provide "incentives" to encourage us to obey this command.

(1) First "incentive" (1Jn 2:15b) =   The first "incentive" is the truth of the spiritual dynamic that love of the world will displace love of God. Conversely, love of God, will displace love of the world. In 1Jn 2:16 explains why this "incentive" is valid -- because everything in the world is not of God. If you love God you cannot set your heart on what is not of God! Jesus taught the same principle in Mt 6:24 (note) explaining that one cannot love God and money.

(2) Second "incentive" (1Jn 2:17a) = The world is passing away and also it's lust -- This truth explains the second incentive for not loving the world.  If you love what is passing away, you will pass away. In other words if your life is composed of loving the desires of the world which are passing away, so too will you!

(3) Third "incentive" (1Jn 2:17b) = If you do His will you have eternal life. Doing good as the general direction of your life does not save you, but it does prove that you are saved. The opposite of loving the world is not only loving God but doing the will of the Father (1Jn 2:17b, cp 1Jn 5:3, Jesus' words in Jn 14:15). The point is that if you love God, you love His will. Don't say you love God and don't love what He tells me to do.  (Adapted from John Piper's sermon Do Not Love the World - delivered in 1985)

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
LOVE FOR GOD
AND
SAVING FAITH

Dr. Piper goes on to explain the vital relationship between genuine or saving faith and love for God...

We have been well taught that we are saved by FAITH! “BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!” (Acts 16:31). But we have not been as well taught what saving faith is. For example, how often do we discuss the relationship between trusting Christ and loving Christ. Can you trust Him savingly and not love Him? Evidently John doesn’t think so, because the issue in this text is whether you love God or love the world, and the result is whether you die with the world or have eternal life with God. But John knows that eternal life comes through faith.

John says in 1Jn 5:13,

“I write this to you who BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

So eternal life does depend on believing in the Christ. But what is this “believing”? If we are courteous, and let John speak for himself, his letter fills out what he means. When he says that not loving the world but loving God so much that we do His will is what leads to eternal life, we learn that saving faith and love for God are inseparable. Both are the path to eternal life because they are the same path.

In John 5:42, 43, 44 Jesus confronts the Jewish leaders who do not believe on Him with these words,

“I know that you have not the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name and you do not receive Me … How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”

In other words the reason they do not receive or believe on Jesus is that they do not love God. They love the world—the glory of men—not the glory of God. So Jesus taught His apostles that where there is no love for God, there can be no saving faith. (See John 3:18, 19.) (Ed note: Dr Piper goes on to explain how an understanding of love for God and saving faith will unpack the meaning of other NT texts such as Ro 8:28, 1Co 2:9, 16:22, Jas 1:12, 2:5, 2Ti 4:8. A clear understanding of this relationship refutes much of the tepid teaching in the modern church which says "Just believe in Jesus" [which is true!] but the question is "What does that belief 'look like' when one examines other NT passages?" The interested reader is strongly encouraged to see Dr Piper's entire message on this important topic - Do Not Love the World - I strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, for the transcript does not pick up the passion of Dr Piper regarding this crucially important message for the Church of Jesus Christ in these last days!)

As Billy Graham has said,

No man can be said to be truly converted to Christ who has not bent his will to Christ. He may give intellectual assent to the claims of Christ and may have had emotional religious experiences; however, he is not truly converted until he has surrendered his will to Christ as Lord, Savior, and Master.

He loves Thee too little
who loves anything together with Thee
which he loves not for Thy sake.
- Augustine
(cp Ps 73:25, 26)

Hiebert sets this passage in context noting that...

In 1Jn 2:9, 10, 11 John insists that the Christian life must be characterized by love of the brethren; he now insists upon the complementary duty of separation from the world as the object of their love. As an appeal to the will, his negative command implies that love can be misdirected. His appeal again underlines that Christian faith and behavior are inextricably linked. His expressed assurances concerning their spiritual condition provide the basis for his appeal to maintain a proper attitude toward the world. It offers a danger no matter how far they have advanced in their spiritual maturity. (The Epistles of John An Expositional Commentary D. Edmond Hiebert)

The respected pastor Ray Stedman wisely remarks that in 1John 2:15-17 John deals with...

the supreme peril to fellowship and therefore the greatest peril to Christian maturity. Here is a great enemy of the Christian, the siren voice that seeks to lure us aside, trap us, delude us and ultimately to defeat us, in our Christian experience. (The Enemy Around)

William MacDonald notes that...

We are plainly warned not to love the world or the things that are in the world, for the simple reason that love for the world is not compatible with love for the Father. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

David Clarkson (1621-1686) rightly observes...

That which we most love—we worship as our God. For love is an act of soul-worship. To love and to adore are sometimes both one. That which one loves—he worships. This is undoubtedly true, if we intend hereby that love which is superlative and transcendent—for to be loved above all things is an act of honor and worship, which the Lord demands as His due in peculiar (Deut. 6:5). In this the Lord Christ summed up all that worship which is required of man (Mt. 22:37). Other things may be loved—but He will be loved above all other things. He is to be loved transcendently, absolutely, and for Himself. All other things are to be loved in Him and for Him. He looks upon us as not worshiping Him at all, not taking Him for a God, when we love other things more or as much as Himself (1 John 2:15). Love to the creature, whenever it is inordinate, it is an idolatrous affection. (From his paper entitled Soul Idolatry Excludes Men out of Heaven)

YOUR CHOICE:
LOVE THE FATHER
OR
LOVE THE WORLD

As discussed, love for the world precludes and even "pushes out" love for God -- the best "antidote" in our fight against this pervasive powerful pull to love the world is to be zealous to love the Father (cp Mk 12:30, Mt 6:24-note), and by fighting this good fight of faith (only possible by His Spirit and His grace - not by a legalistic lists of do's and don'ts!) we avoid the shipwreck of our souls on the "deadly reefs" of the world (cp 1Ti 1:5, 18, 19). The choice is between the world's lie and the Word's truth. The battle ground is our mind. And the battle will be life long. The battle will continually rage between being "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." (2Ti 3:4-note) And while it is important in our Christian journey to "pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart" (2Ti 2:22-note), not even godly companions can guarantee we will not fall prey to the subtle lies of the world, for as Paul wrote with much grief even "Demas having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica" (2Ti 4:10-note).

The world's philosophy continually shouts that "The only important thing that is important is this life". "Just do it". "You only go around once so grab for all the gusto you can get!". "It doesn't get much better than this!" (Wrong! It will get a whole lot worse! see Isa 66:24)

Ray Stedman offers the following secular quote of how the world describes the love of the world...

There is nothing better, there is nothing higher, there is nothing more precious than what this earth can give you: its money, its pleasures, its fame. You had best eat, drink, and be merry, for there is no nobler life than that. (The Enemy Around)

Love (verb) (25) (agapao - see related study of noun agape) means to love and in its highest, most pure form speaks of the unconditional, sacrificial love which God Himself expresses toward undeserving, sinful men (John 3:16), its the love with which He loves His Son (Jn 3:35, 15:9, 17:23, 24) its the love which He is by nature (1Jn 4:8), and it is the love which is produced in the heart of the yielded saint by the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-note).

Agapao speaks of a love which is based on evaluation and choice and reflects exertion of one's will and action. This quality of love is awakened by a sense of value in an object which causes one to prize it, in this case the fallen, evil world system! This love springs from an apprehension of the preciousness of the object (again the evil "world")!

O Lord, help us to recognize
When we begin to compromise;
And give us strength to follow through
With what we know is right and true.
-- Sper

Do not love is a present imperative coupled with a negative particle (me agapate) which can have one of two meanings. In one use this combination signifies an action which is in progress must be stopped. In this use, the implication is that the readers were loving the world to some degree. John is saying stop having a warm regard for and interest in the world! Don't cherish the world! Stop exhibiting affection for the world! Stop showing special devotion to the world. Stop loving the world with a love called out of your hearts because of its preciousness. Don't strive after the world (cp Lk 11:43)

The second sense of the present imperative with a negative is as a prohibition of a practice which could be paraphrased like this --"Don't be loving the world". This sense does not necessarily assert that the readers were actually loving the world. Loving the world was a danger which the readers must be continually on guard against. Don't we know that, beloved!

It is important that we not read into John's command something he did not say. John does not say: "Don't love the world too much" but "not at all" (cp Ro 12:2; Gal 1:4; Ja 4:4, Jn 3:19; Jas 1:27).

Remember also that in Scripture Jesus uses the verb ''love'' (agapao) at times to imply obedience (Jn 14:15). It follows that if we love the world we are obeying the dictates of the world system and going along with the crowd, walking on the broad way (Mt 7:13) of destruction, walking in darkness (Ep 4:17,18,5:8,15, Col 1:13). John is saying that if we really love the Lord, we will obey the Lord and avoid listening to the "commands" of the world ("buy this", "you've got to have this to keep up with neighbors", etc).

Guzik comments that...

John has told us that if we walk in sin’s darkness and claim to be in fellowship with God, we are lying (1John 1:6). Now John points out a specific area of sin that especially threatens our fellowship with God: worldliness....Do not love the world (means)... we are not to love either the world’s system or its way of doing things. There is a secular, anti-God or ignoring-God way of doing things that characterizes human society, and it is easy to love the world in this sense. Notice what the world wants from us: love. This love is expressed in time, attention, and expense. We are encouraged and persuaded to give our time, attention, and money to the things of this world instead of the things of God.

The world - Kosmos is used 6 times in these 3 verses (1Jn 2:15-17) and is a favorite term of the Apostle John (see discussion A Look at Kosmos in the Johannine Literature)

World (2889) (kosmos related to the verb kosmeo = to order or adorn, to put in order [Mt 25:7 = "trimmed"], to adorn literally [1Ti 2:9], to adorn figuratively [Titus 2:9-note]) means essentially something that is well-arranged, that which has order or something arranged harmoniously. Kosmos refers to an ordered system or a system where order prevails. As explained below however, kosmos as used here in 1John 2:15-17 with its moral/ethical sense to describe all that is opposed to God. In other words, the "world" here in 1John does not refer to the earth or even to its people (God Himself so loved the world that He gave His Son to save its people, Jn 3:16), but rather the world as a "system," with its possessions, positions and pleasures, all radically, irrevocably alienated  against the Almighty.

Marvin Vincent defines kosmos (in its ethical sense) as...

The sum-total of human life in the ordered world, considered apart from, alienated from, and hostile to God, and of the earthly things which seduce from God (Jn 7:7; 15:18; 17:9, 14; 1Co 1:20, 21; 2Co 7:10; Jas 4:4).

James Montgomery Boice writes that John's use of kosmos in this section is in its ethical sense...

The idea here is of the world of men in rebellion against God and therefore characterized by all that is in opposition to God. This is what we might call “the world system.” It involves the world’s values, pleasures, pastimes, and aspirations. John says of this world that the world lies in the grip of the evil one (1Jn 5:19), that it rejected Jesus when He came (Jn 1:10), that it does not know Him (1Jn 3:1), and consequently that it does not know and therefore also hates His followers (John 15:18, 19, 20, 21; 17:14). It is in this sense that John speaks of the world in the passage before us. (Boice, J. M. The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary. Baker Books)

H A Ironside explains that the "world" is that

system that man has built up in this scene, in which he is trying to make himself happy without God. You get it away back in Genesis, where Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and built a city, and there what we call the world really began (Ge 4:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24). It was a wonderful world; they were exercised in all kinds of arts, sciences, business, and pleasure, anything and everything to make them happy without God; but it ended in corruption and violence, and God had to sweep the whole thing away with a flood. (cp Ge 6:5) The principles of the world that caused the corruption and violence before the flood were carried into the ark in the hearts of some of Noah's children. They brought the world into the ark, and when the new world was started after the judgment of the flood, they brought the world out of the ark with them, and again set it up. (Addresses on the Epistles of John & an Exposition of the Epistle of Jude H. A. Ironside)

Eaton wisely observes that we need to understand what world or worldly does not mean...

 It is not ‘worldly’ to follow a career in politics, to get married, to have children, to be involved in earning a living. None of these are what John has in mind by ‘the world’. Nor is John concerned about a list of ‘taboos’. Every group of Christians has a list of activities or practices that are frowned upon. Christians tended to think, in days gone by, that ‘worldliness’ was a matter of whether one went to dances or to the cinema (Ed: Although I would add today one has to be very discerning in what movie or television show one chooses to watch, for there is a strong anti-god bias in the media. (cp 1Th 5:21, 22-note). Such ‘taboos’ vary from age to age. What was forbidden ten years ago is allowed today. Such banned activities also vary from culture to culture. In one part of the world Christians might frown upon bearing arms, or wearing upon earrings, or upon allowing the soles of the feet to become visible … or whatever! But none of this is what John has in mind.

(On the other hand world or worldly) ...is the anti–God mentality of the human race, the worldwide fondness for sin and self which causes men and women to stumble into wickedness. ‘Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling,’ said Jesus (Mt 18:7). It is rebelliousness, spiritual ignorance (1Jn 3:1-note; Jn 1:10), combined with hostility towards God (see Jas 4:4-note). Behind it is the grip of Satan (1Jn 5:19, Jn 12:31, Lk 4:6). ‘Worldliness’ is the inclination to be drawn into the ways of the people around us who do not know God. (Eaton, M. Focus on the Bible: 1, 2, 3 John)

The "world" is whatever
cools our affection for Christ!

See Puritan Thomas Watson's words on the world (click) and Pastor Steven Cole's definition of the world or worldliness (click)

John uses kosmos primarily with the moral/ethical sense (although there are some exceptions as noted) in this same epistle...

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world (kosmos here means the the inhabitants of the earth). (1 Jn 2:2)

See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world (the evil world system) does not know us, because it did not know Him. (1Jn 3:1)

Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world  (the evil world system) hates you. (1 Jn 3:13).

 But whoever has the world's (kosmos here is not the evil world system per se but is used in a more neutral sense) goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1Jn 3:17)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (Here the meaning of the word kosmos is somewhat unclear - it could mean the world filled with people but could also refer to the evil world system). (1Jn 4:1)

and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world (evil world system). (1Jn 4:3)

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (evil world system). They are from the world (evil world system); therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. (1 Jn 4:4, 5)

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. (1 Jn 4:17).

They are from the world (the evil world system); therefore they speak as from the world, and the world (which is opposed to God) listens to them. (1Jn 4:5)

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world (the evil world system and its influence even on believers); and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world (the evil world system and its influence even on believers), but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1John 5:4, 5)

In John 15 Jesus warned His disciples...

If the world (kosmos - evil world system opposed to God and composed of God's enemies) hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world  (continually) hates you. (John 15:18, 19)

In His prayer to His Father Jesus prayed...

I have given them (His disciples) Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world (cp similar sentiment expressed in 1Jn 3:1-note), even as I am not of the world. (John 17:14)

The basic meaning of kosmos is order which leads to the two main uses...

(1) Adornment, decoration, eternal adorning (used this way in NT only in 1Pe 3:3-note, where kosmos speaks of the woman wearing that which is fitting with her character as a believer and not incongruous or "out of order". In the context of Jas 4:4-note she should not be a believer who seeks external adornment that mimics that of the world [cp "friendship with the world"]! Beloved, a believing woman's attire should always be so "ordered" as to draw attention to her face, not her form! Compare God's desired "adornment" in 1Pe 3:4-note)

(2) The world, which as alluded to above has a variety of nuances which must be determined by examining the context. For example John used kosmos to refer to the people of the world in general in 1Jn 2:2 (much like Jn 3:16)

Kosmos/kosmeo give us our English words cosmos (the ordered universe), cosmopolitan (literally a citizen of the world!) and cosmetics (those things we put on in order to bring order out of "chaos"!) English terms. A matter of "cosmic" significance, is something which is important for the whole world. When one speaks of a "cosmopolitan" city, it means a city which has citizens from many parts of the world.

Kosmos is the absolute  antithesis of chaos (a Greek word meaning a rude, unformed mass), chaos being the fantasized condition with which the theory of evolution begins! The Bible on the other hand uses kosmos to describe the original condition of the universe (cp kosmos in 2Pe 3:6-note) as one of perfection ("it was very good" Ge 1:31, not very chaotic! Kosmos is used the first time in LXX of Ge 2:1 all their hosts = "and the whole world". The sons of God (the angels) did not shout for joy over chaos, but kosmos when they saw this universe come into existence by the creative fiat of God (Job 38:4, 5, 6, 7)!

Guzik comments on the meaning of John's use of kosmos in 1Jn 2:15 writing that...

One of the first examples of this idea of the world in the Bible helps us to understand this point. Genesis 11:1-9 speaks of human society’s united rebellion against God at the tower of Babel. At the tower of Babel, there was an anti-God leader of humanity (whose name was Nimrod - Ge 10:8, 9 where v9 "before the LORD" could be "in the face of Jehovah" or "against Jehovah"). There was organized rebellion against God (in disobeying the command to disperse over the whole earth). There was direct distrust of God’s word and promise (in building what was probably a water-safe tower to protect against a future flood from heaven). The whole story of the tower of Babel also shows us another fundamental fact about the world system. The world’s progress, technology, government, and organization can make man better off, but not better. Because we like being better off, it is easy to fall in love with the world. Finally, the story of the tower of Babel shows us that the world system - as impressive and winning as it appears to be - will never win out over God. The Lord defeated the rebellion at the tower of Babel easily. The world system will never win out over God.

Hiebert adds that kosmos...

basically denotes order, arrangement (the opposite of chaos; cf. our English word "cosmetics"), hence an ordered system. The term is used to denote the earth (John 21:25) because of the order and system observed in our material world. It is also used to denote the human race, mankind in its various organizations and systems (John 3:16). But because of the fallen nature of the human race, the term predominantly has an ethical import, the human race in its alienation from and opposition to God. John here has in view the world of humanity steeped in sin and dominated by the evil one (1Jn 5:19). As such, it is quite synonymous with "the darkness" in John 1.

John is not calling for a monastic separation from the world but for an inner attitude of separation from the sinful world and its practices. As those loyal to God, John's readers are to be on guard against a permissive or kindly feeling towards the world's evil and are not to establish intimate relations of loyalty with it.  (The Epistles of John An Expositional Commentary D. Edmond Hiebert)

THE WORLD'S
"MAGNET"
THINGS

Nor the things of the world - In other words, John is prohibiting his readers from a "love relationship" with any and all specific aspects of the fallen, evil world system and he will amplify this in the next verse 1Jn 2:16 as under the "umbrella" of those things that incite "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life".

 There's no room for double occupancy
in the Christian's heart!

Things can include material objects which are otherwise "ethically neutral" and which one can "innocently" desire to possess (e.g., fine clothes, expensive homes, sports cars, pleasure boats, etc). Those things are not wrong or evil in themselves, unless they disclose a heart attitude that loves and desires them more than it loves and desires the ineffably desirable God. Hear David's solution for this ever present danger...

Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Spurgeon comments on Ps 37:4: There is an ascent in this third precept. He who was first bidden not to fret, was then commanded actively to trust, and now is told with holy desire to delight in God. Delight thyself also in the Lord. Make Jehovah the joy and rejoicing of thy spirit. Bad men delight in carnal objects; do not envy them if they are allowed to take their fill in such vain idols; look thou to thy better delight, and fill thyself to the full with thy more sublime portion. In a certain sense imitate the wicked; they delight in their portion -- take care to delight in yours, and so far from envying you will pity them. There is no room for fretting if we remember that God is ours, but there is every incentive to sacred enjoyment of the most elevated and ecstatic kind. Every name, attribute, word, or deed of Jehovah, should be delightful to us, and in meditating thereon our soul should be as glad as is the epicure who feeds delicately with a profound relish for his dainties. And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. A pleasant duty is here rewarded with another pleasure. Men who delight in God desire or ask for nothing but what will please God; hence it is safe to give them carte blanche. Their will is subdued to God's will, and now they may have what they will. Our innermost desires are here meant, not our casual wishes; there are many things which nature might desire which grace would never permit us to ask for; these deep, prayerful, asking desires are those to which the promise is made.

You can be poor in things but still love them while one who is rich in things can use them as a good steward of God. So things are not the problem. John does not say possessing these things is in itself wrong. The problem as someone has well said is when the possessions begin to "possess" us, and specifically begin to "possess" our affections in such a way that it results in an attitude of alienation from God. Any affection of a thing which leads to love of the thing rather than the love of God is what John is prohibiting.

Note that John is not saying we are not to love the natural beauty of this world, God's creation, nor are we not to love the world's people with the love God loved them with on Calvary. He is speaking more of material things and/or ideas, etc that are at their core anti-God and anti-Christ. It is not true like the bumper sticker says that "He who dies with the most toys (things) wins!" In fact it is exactly the reverse, for as John says in 1Jn 2:17 this world is passing away (and that would include its "things"). Do not be lured, snared, trapped or deceived by the subtle seductions of the "serpentine" world system.

Eaton adds that...

The things of the world are the ways in which the world’s magnetism operates. To refuse to love the world means a decisive rejection of the ‘world’s’ aspirations and outlooks. It is not going out of earthly society altogether, but it is a refusal to be dragged into its grumbling, its bitterness, its covetousness, its obsession with ‘cares and riches and pleasures’ (Lk 8:14, 16:13, Lk 17:26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 18:24, 25), its preoccupation with receiving praise from fellow human beings. (Ibid)

Jesus warned His disciples to...

Be on guard (present imperative = Jesus commands us to continually be on "high [spiritual] alert", lest we fall prey to the lures of this evil world -- Disciples are to continually keep a guard posted at the door of their heart [Pr 4:23-note]! No downtime in wartime! If you become too absorbed with everyday worldly life  [cp 2Ti 2:3,4-note], you will stop guarding your heart and will be at grave risk for committing spiritual adultery against your Bridegroom Christ Jesus [Jas 4:4-note]), that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation (carousing and the [spiritual] dizziness and staggering that results from such empty behavior) and drunkenness and the worries of life (worries = merimna [word study] = from merizo = to divide or draw in different directions and here referring to one's heart and mind! See the deadening effect of the worries of the world on the Word of God [Mk 4:19]), and that day come on you suddenly ( = The Second Coming of Christ - It will come unexpectedly. How?) like a trap (a vivid simile!  Greek = pagis [word study] = a trick or stratagem [temptation] picturing that which springs suddenly even as a snare entices the bird who is suddenly trapped. Pagis further describes that which fastens and holds one fast! Look out!) for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth (and who live a lifestyle of loving the world rather than loving God!) (Lk 21:34, 35)

The apostle James also warned his readers of the danger of loving the world, which for a believer amounts to unfaithfulness and spiritual harlotry writing...

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (Jas 4:4-note)

Perhaps after reading John's words and these notes, your spirit is convicted of that tendency of your heart (like mine) to wander from the God you love. Let me encourage you to take a moment and sing the following stanza from Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (click for melody and all stanzas) as a prayer to your Father in heaven...

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

><>><>><>

ILLUSTRATION - When the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez landed at Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1519 he was intent on conquest. To assure the devotion of his men, Cortez set fire to his fleet of eleven ships! With no means of retreat Cortez’s army had only one direction to move, into the Mexican interior. Cortez understood the price of commitment—and he paid it. He did not want his soldiers to possess a divided loyalty (cp a double minded ["two souled"] man!, cp Lk 16:13, Mt 6:24-note). John is not quite as radical as Cortez! In fact John records that believers are to be in the world but not of the world (see Jesus' prayer in Jn 17:11, 16). Unlike Cortez's ships the world cannot be destroyed (at least not yet - cp 2Pe 3:7-note, 2Pe 3:10-note, 2Pe 3:11-note) and so believers are to be like a ship in water. A ship in the water (think "saints in the world") is by design (e.g., Mt 5:16-note) but a ship full of water is disaster!

><>><>><>

LOT, AN OT ILLUSTRATION OF LOVING THE WORLD - If we had only the OT account of Lot, we might not think Lot was a true believer. In Genesis he almost appears as a status-seeking opportunist, willing to put up with sin and corruption in order to make a place and name for himself in the world (cp "the world" of that day = Ge 18:20, 31, 32, 19:24, 25, 29). But Peter under the inspiration of the Spirit declares three times that Lot was a righteous man (cp 2Pe 2:6, 7, 8-notes). Yes, Lot was a righteous man but he had a spiritual heart problem, for he loved the world (And what world did he love? Sodom [hold mouse over link] and Gomorrah!) Tragically, there is a lot of Lot in a lot of believers today, yours truly included!

Lot looked, chose, and settled ("became comfortable" rather than living as an alien and stranger - see 1Pe 1:1-note; 1Pe 2:11-note) and missed the good hand of the LORD. In Genesis 19:16 we see that Lot was so settled in Sodom that the hand of God's angels had to yank he and his whole family out of that moral cesspool! Let us remember Lot's example, lest our looking and choosing in this fleeting life cause us to miss the good hand of the Lord on our life, our family, our ministry! Or as Jesus commanded his listeners in (Lk 17:32) "Remember (present imperative = keep on remembering. Why? Because our tendency is to drift, to forget!) Lot's wife" because she lingered and looked back (Ge 19:26) and paid for her disobedience with her life.

Believers must be separated from the world (cp Ps 1:1-note); 1Cor 6:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 2Co 7:1-note). The world is anything that separates us from God or causes us to disobey Him. Separation is not isolation but contact without contamination. One's seduction by the world is usually a gradual process. Notice the gradual decline in Psalm 1:1 (note). First, we are walking (Mark 14:54), then we are standing (John 18:18) and finally we end up sitting (Lk 22:55) with the world! Becoming worldly is progressive and happens by degrees. We make friends with the world (Jas 4:4-note). We become spotted by the world (Jas 1:27-note) We love the world (1Jn 2:15-note). We become conformed to the world (Ro 12:2-note). And if we are not careful we end up condemned with it. Lot is an example of someone who became worldly. He looked toward Sodom, pitched his tent toward Sodom, lived in Sodom and lost everything he had acquired in Sodom when God destroyed Sodom!

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him:  ean tis agapa (3SPAI) ton kosmon, ouk estin (3SPAI) e agape tou patros en auto: (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13; James 4:4) (1Jn 3:17)

If anyone - This introduces a hypothetical case and as noted below the verb loves (agapao) is in the present tense which pictures this "anyone" as continually loving God's enemy, the world. And for "anyone" who meets this "qualification", John gives the inevitable, fateful diagnosis of his spiritual condition - the love of the Father is not in him.

Loves the world...love of the Father - John is setting these two loves in direct opposition. They are like oil and water - they do not mix. Never. Ever! These two affections are by their very nature antagonistic and cannot coexist "amicably" in our heart (the "control center" of our being). This oppositional relationship is similar to the one John described in chapter 1, where he explained that spiritual light cannot coexist with spiritual darkness and vice versa (pun intended). The NLT paraphrases it this way...

The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (Jn 1:5NLT)

Loves (verb) (25) (agapao - see related study of noun agape) can mean to to love unconditionally and sacrificially as God Himself loves sinful men (John 3:16), the way He loves the Son (John 3:35, 15:9, 17:23, 24). In the present context the sense of agapao is that of showing a warm regard for the world, of cherishing the world, of showing affection for the world or of showing special devotion to the world.

Note that the present tense speaks of continuous action. In other words, this "anyone" is any person who habitually loves God's mortal enemy, the ungodly, profane, fallen world. Such an ungodly lifestyle hardly becomes a believer and in fact if one continually manifests such a "lifestyle", they would do well be examine themselves (2Co 13:5) and confirm that their salvation is genuine (cp 2Pe 1:10, 11-note).

No one (Greek word = absolute negation, no exceptions here) can serve (bow to and submit their will to) two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. (Jesus repeats this clear teaching now beginning to "meddle" as they say - honing down on "mammon" or wealth, something of value) You cannot  serve God and mammon. (Mt 6:24-note)

Matthew Henry illustrates how these two masters are in diametric opposition to one another...

The tragic truth concerning such an individual is that love for God "is not in him," is not a motivating reality in his heart and life. He does not have that love for "the Father" which is the mark of those born into the family of God. But since our love for the Father is the result of His love for us (1Jn 4:19), the subjective meaning, God's love for this individual, cannot be rigidly excluded. Smalley notes that "both ideas are probably present (cf. 1Jn 2:5): love for the world inhibits a love for God which both answers his and derives from it.' (The Epistles of John An Expositional Commentary D. Edmond Hiebert)

Love (26) (agape) describes an unconditional, sacrificial love and Biblically refers to a love that God is (1Jn 4:8,16), that God shows (Jn 3:16, 1Jn 4:9) and that God enables in His children (see note on fruit of the Spirit - Gal 5:22-note).  Agape love does not depend on the world’s criteria for love, such as attractiveness, emotions, or sentimentality.

Agape in the Greek classics spoke of a love called out of one’s heart by the preciousness of the object loved. This is the idea inherent in the Father's proclamation "This is My beloved Son..." Agape is the love that was shown at Calvary. Thus agape is God’s love, and is the love that God is. It is not human affection but is a divine love, commanded by God, produced as fruit in the heart of a surrendered saint by the Holy Spirit (God Who is at work in us to will and to work to His good pleasure) (Ro 5:5-note Gal 5:22-note), self-sacrificial in nature seeking the benefit of the one who is loved, a love which means death to self and defeat for sin since the essence of sin is self-will and self-gratification, a love activated by personal choice of our will (working out our salvation in fear and trembling) not based on our feelings toward the object of our love and manifested by specific actions (1Co 13:4, 5, 6, 7, 8-note is an excellent source definition of "love in action") not just to fellow believers but to all men everywhere.

...is spontaneous. There was nothing of value in the persons loved that called forth such sacrificial love. God of His own free will set His love on us in spite of our enmity and sin. [Agape] is love that is initiated by the lover because he wills to love, not because of the value or lovableness of the person loved. [Agape] is self-giving. and is not interested in what it can gain, but in what it can give. It is not bent on satisfying the lover, but on helping the one loved whatever the cost. [Agape] is active and is not mere sentiment cherished in the heart. Nor is it mere words however eloquent. It does involve feeling and may express itself in words, but it is primarily an attitude toward another that moves the will to act in helping to meet the need of the one loved." (Burdick, D W: The Letters of John the Apostle. Chicago: Moody, 1985, page 351)

Puritan preacher Thomas Watson (ca 1620-1686) warns us about the deadening effect of the love of the world on our spiritual health by asking a question...

How may we keep up the briskness and fervor of grace, in times of apostasy? Answer: Let us beware of having our hearts (cp Pr 4:23-note) too much linked to the world. The world damps zeal—as earth chokes the fire. We are bid to love our enemies (Mt 5:44-note); but the world is such an enemy as we must not love, "Do not love the world or anything in the world." (1John 2:15). The world bewitches with her blandishments (allurements, enticements, charms), and kills with her silver darts! He who is a Demas—will be a Judas (cp 2Ti 4:10-note, Jn 6:71, 12:4, 13:2, 18:2, 5, Lk 22:48, Mt 27:3)! A lover of the world will, for a piece of money, betray a holy cause, and make shipwreck of a good conscience (1Ti 1:19). (The Great Gain of Godliness)

Thomas Watson in his exhortation regarding our heavenly race (cp He 12:1-note; He 12:2-note) observes that the world is...

a golden weight which has hindered many and made them lose their race (cp 1Co 9:24, 25, 26, 27, 2Ti 2:5-note). "Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world!" 2Ti 4:10-note. So far as the world is a weight, throw it off. I do not say lay aside the use of the world—but the love of the world, 1Jn 2:15. When the golden dust of the world is blown in men's eyes, it blinds them so that they cannot see their race. (The Heavenly Race)

Congregational preacher John Angell James (1785-1859) writes that for believers the antidote for the love of the world is our love for Christ (cp 2Co 5:14)...

Christ is...the supreme object of a true Christian's love, the chief source of his felicity, the highest end of his life. The first object of a Christian's desire, pursuit and expectation—is the salvation of his soul. Our great business on earth—is to fit (ourselves) for heaven (cp 1Ti 4:7, 8-note). Our main concern in time—is to prepare for eternity (cp Ep 5:16KJV-note)...The world is, indeed, a very dangerous foe to the believer. To very, very many, it is the most destructive one. They are not so likely to be subdued by 'open vice' as by worldly-mindedness.... Worldliness is the sin of the age, and has deeply infected the church of Christ....

"If any man loves the world," says the apostle, in a passage which ought to ring through all Christendom, and make the ears of millions tingle, and their hearts to palpitate with fear and alarm—"If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

What is the world? Not merely open sin and vice, profligacy, idolatry, infidelity, heresy! Oh no, the world contains many things besides the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life—things more decent, more innocent, more rational, more commendable than these vile objects. Everything on earth, however fair, laudable and excellent in itself, everything besides God, is the world. Your business is the world, your family is the world; your house and comfortable home are the world, the wife of your bosom, the children whom God has given you, are the world. "What! then," you exclaim, "are we not to love these?" Yes, in proper degrees—but not more than God. You are not to seek from them your highest happiness. You are not to be more solicitous to secure them than heaven. It is of a 'supreme love' the apostle speaks.

How plain is this from our Lord's exposition and summary of the law, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind, and soul, and strength." (Mk 12:30)

How still more explicit from the other words of Christ, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Mt 10:37.

Christian professors, there is need to have these solemn, yet righteous, demands sent with a voice of thunder into your places of business and scenes of domestic comfort. You have need to be told that all this engrossing solicitude about business; all this eager haste to be rich; all this ambition to add house to house, and field to field; all this taste for elegance, show and fashion; all this competition for name and fame, which leads to a neglect of salvation, to departure from God, to indifference to heaven, is the love of the world, which is incompatible with the love of the Father; and not less so that supreme and exclusive concern about domestic enjoyment, that taste for fashionable amusements, or even that more refined and simple love of home-bred delights, which still leaves out God, salvation, heaven and eternity. Here, here, I repeat, is your peril.

WORLDLY-MINDEDNESS

Here the enemy with which you have to do battle. It is not vice, I say, it is not profligacy, it is worldly-mindedness.

Do we not see mere professors throwing themselves wholly—body, soul, and spirit . . .into their trade, into the cherished objects of their ambition, into their entire devotedness to a worldly life. In these things, and for them, they live! These things . . .bind round and overgrow their heart,  stifle all serious thoughts,  smother all heavenly desires... The road that leads to destruction is broad enough to comprise many parallel paths. And there is one path crowded with professors of religion, walking in company, with cheerful appearance, and elegant attire, and elastic step—but still walking to perdition! Oh, yes, there is a way 'through the church'—a decent, flowery, down-hill way to eternal destruction, and there are many who take that road! (CHRISTIAN HOPE)

Puritan theologian Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in his chapter Hindrances to a Heavenly Life on Earth warns that...

LIVING IN ANY KNOWN SIN is a great impediment to a heavenly life. If this be your situation, I dare say that heaven and your soul are strangers. These beams in your eye (Mt 7:4-note) will not let you look to heaven. They will be a cloud between you and God. When you attempt to study eternity and gather refreshment from the life to come, your sin will look you in the face and say, "These things do not belong to you." How can you take comfort from heaven when you take so much pleasure in the lusts of the flesh? Every intentional sin will be to your happiness as water to the fire. It will quench your joy. It will disable you, so that you can no more ascend in divine meditation than a bird can fly with clipped wings. We surely need to pray daily, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Mt. 6:13-note).

AN EARTHLY MIND is another hindrance to be avoided. When the heavenly believer is rejoicing in hope of the glory to come, perhaps you are blessing yourself with thoughts of worldly prosperity. You are rejoicing in hopes of earthly success. When he is comforting his soul with the views of Christ, of angels and saints, with whom he shall live forever; you are comforting yourself with your money, and in thinking of the advancement of your family. Your earthly mind may coexist with church membership and formal religious activities, but it cannot coexist with heavenly contemplation. Keep worldly matters as loose as a light jacket, that you may take it off whenever you can; but let God and heaven be next to your heart. Ever remember, that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (Jas 4:4-note). "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1John 2:15). This is plain speaking, and happy is he who faithfully receives it. (From his book THE SAINTS EVERLASTING REST)

THOMAS WATSON
ON
THE WORLD

The Puritan writer Thomas Watson (1669) has these words regarding the world...

It is a part of our Christian profession—to fight  under Christ's banner—against the world.

The world is a flattering enemy. It shows its golden apple. It is given to some—as a snare. Take heed of being drowned in the world's luscious delights!

It must be a strong brain that can bear heady wine. He had need have a great deal of wisdom and grace, who knows how to maintain a great estate. Riches often send up intoxicating fumes, which make men's heads giddy with pride. It is hard to climb up the hill of God—with too many golden weights!

The world shows its two breasts of pleasure and profit —and many fall asleep with the breast in their mouth!

The world never kisses us—except with an intention to betray us.

The world is a silken halter.

The world is no friend to grace; it chokes our love for heavenly things—the earth puts out the fire.

Naturally we love the world. Too many are wedded to their money—they live together as man and wife.

O let us take heed of being entangled in this pleasing snare! Many who have escaped the rock of scandalous sins—yet have sunk in the world's golden quicksands!

The sin is not in using the world—but in loving it. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1John 2:15)

Believers are called out of the world. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of it." (John 17:16). They are in the world—but not of it. A true saint is crucified in his affections, to the world, (Gal. 6:14). He is dead to the honors and pleasures of it. What delight does a dead man take in pictures or music?

Jesus Christ gave Himself "to redeem us from this present evil world." (Galatians 1:4)

Living fish swim against the stream. We must swim against the world, else we shall be carried down the stream, and fall into the dead sea of hell!

The world is DECEITFUL. Our Savior calls it, "The deceitfulness of riches." (Mt 13:22, cp Lk 8:14, Mk 4:18,19). The world promises happiness—but gives weariness. It promises us Rachel—but gives us bleary-eyed Leah (Ed: Her name means "weary")! The world promises to satisfy our desires—but only increases them. The world gives poisoned pills—but wraps them in sugar!

The world is POLLUTING. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: ...to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." It is called filthy lucre—because it makes men so filthy!

Men will damn themselves to get the world. Ahab would have Naboth's vineyard, though he swam to it in blood.

The world is PERISHING. "The world and its desires pass away." (1Jn 2:17-note)

The world is like a flower—which withers while we are smelling it! (Excerpt from Watson's book The Christian Soldier)

Thomas Watson warns believers that...

We may hold the world as a posy in our hand—but it must not lie too near our heart (cp Pr 4:23-note)! We may use it as an inn where we take a meal—but it must not be our home. Perhaps these secular things steal away the heart too much. Godly men are sometimes weighed down with an overabundance of temporal things, and drunk with the luscious delights of prosperity.

And having spotted their silver wings of grace, and much defaced God's image by rubbing it against the earth—the Lord, to recover them from this, hides His face in a cloud. This eclipse has good effects—it darkens all the glory of the world, and causes it to disappear. (The WORST things)

John Mason spares on words warning that...

If the world is our portion here, hell will be our portion hereafter.

Be not proud of riches but afraid of them, lest they be as silver bars to barricade the way to heaven!

As you love your souls, beware of the world! It has slain its thousands and tens of thousands!

What ruined Lot's wife? The world! (Lk 17:32, 33, Ge 19:17, 26, Lk 17:32)

What ruined Judas? The world! (Jn 12:4, 5, 6, Mt 26:14, 15, 16, 27:5, Ac 1:16, 17, 18, 19, 20)

What ruined Simon Magus? The world! (Ac 8:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)

What ruined Demas? The world! (2Ti 4:10-note)

(John Mason's Spiritual Sayings)

Thomas Watson asks us...

Consider how UNWORTHY it is for a Christian to have his heart set upon the world.

It is unworthy of his soul. The soul is dignified with honor, it is a noble coin that has a divine impress stamped upon it; it is capable of communion with God and angels; now it is too far below a man to spend the affections and energies of this heaven-born soul, upon drossy things. It is as if one should embroider sackcloth with gold, or set a diamond in clay.

It is unworthy of his profession. 'Are you seeking great things for yourself?" Jer 45:5. What! you Baruk? you who are a godly man? a Levite? Oh, how sordid is it for him that has his hope in heaven—to have his heart upon the earth! It is just as if a king should leave his throne—and follow the plough; or as if a man should leave a golden mine—to dig in a gravel pit. The lapwing has a crown on her head—and yet feeds on dung. A fit emblem of those who have a crown of profession on their head—yet feed with eagerness on these things below. Christians should deny themselves—but not undervalue themselves; they should be humble—but not base. If Alexander would not exercise at the Olympics, it being too far below him; shall they then who are the holy seed, the heirs of glory—disparage themselves by too eager pursuit after these contemptible things? "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Col 3:1-note, Col 3:2-note. (A Christian on Earth, Still in Heaven)

THE SECRET SIN OF
LOVING THE WORLD

Joseph Alleine (1671) in his famous treatise Alarm to the Unconverted classified a predominant love of the world with his list of 12 "secret sins" (secret sins on earth are open scandal in heaven). Let us all read Alleine's words with open hearts and minds, and ask God to search us and know our hearts, trying us and knowing our anxious thoughts, that His Spirit might point out anything in us that is offensive to God and then lead us in the path of everlasting life, now and unto the day of eternity in Christ Jesus, Amen. (cp Ps 139:23, 24-notes)

SECRET sinners. And now I imagine many will begin to bless themselves, and think all is well, because they cannot be reproached with these grosser evils. But I must tell you that there is another sort of unsanctified people, who carry their mark not in their foreheads—but more secretly and covertly. These frequently deceive themselves and others, and pass for good Christians, when they are all the while unsound at heart. Many pass undiscovered until death and judgment bring all to light. These self-deceivers seem to come even to heaven's gate with confidence of their admission, and yet are turned away at last (Mt 7:22-note). I beseech you deeply to lay to heart and firmly retain this awakening consideration—that multitudes perish by the hand of some secret sin, that is not only hidden from others—but from lack of observing their own hearts—is hidden even from themselves. A man may be free from open pollutions, and yet die at last by the hand of some unobserved iniquity; and there are these twelve hidden sins, through which souls go down by numbers into the chambers of eternal death.

These you must search carefully for, and take them as black marks wherever they are found, revealing a graceless and unconverted state; and as you love your lives, read carefully with a holy jealousy of yourselves, lest you should be the people concerned....

(Secret Sin #8) The predominant love of the world. This is the sure evidence of an unsanctified heart. 'If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him' (1John 2:15). But how often does this sin lurk under the fair cover of profession. Yes, such a power of deceit is there in this sin that many times, when everybody else can see the man's worldliness and covetousness, he cannot see it himself—but has so many excuses and pretenses for his eagerness after the world, that he blinds his own eyes and perishes in his self-deceit! How many professing Christians are there, with whom the world has more of their hearts and affections than Christ, 'who mind earthly things', and thereby are evidently after the flesh, and likely to end in destruction (Ro 8:5-note; Phil 3:19-note). Yet ask these men, and they will tell you confidently they prize Christ above all; for they do not see their own earthly-mindedness for lack of a strict observance of the workings of their own hearts. Did they but carefully search, they would quickly see that their greatest satisfaction is in the world, and that their greatest care and main endeavor are to get and secure the world—which are the certain signs of an unconverted sinner. May the professing part of the world take earnest heed lest they perish by the hand of this sin unobserved. Men may be, and often are, kept off from Christ as effectually by the inordinate love of lawful comforts, as by the most wicked lives. (Take a moment to read all 12 of the secret sins -  Alarm to the Unconverted)

><>><>><>

"Do not love the world or anything in the world."

Illustration of 1Jn 2:15-17 - Today in the Word - When rescuers were finally able to pull a middle-aged man from the wreckage of a horrible car accident, he was taken to a nearby hospital. But it soon became apparent that he would die. As the chaplain comforted him, the man, who was a Christian, exclaimed, “As I look squarely at eternity, I realize now just how much I wasted my life on things that don’t matter.”

What a sad revelation! Today’s passage offers a strong challenge to those who “waste their lives on things that don’t matter.” John opens this passage with uncompromising words: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.” At first glance, verse 15 may seem at odds with John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” Most likely, John is using the word world differently in these two texts. In John 3:16, world refers to the lost people of the world, whereas in 1 John 2:15, world refers to an entire system of beliefs and values–what we might call a “worldview.” This worldview is completely opposed to God and His ways.

To clarify what he means, John lists three elements of this worldview in verse 16. First, he warns against “cravings.” These are misplaced appetites for some of our most powerful drives such as for food, for intimacy, and for recognition.

Next, John talks about the “lust of the eyes.” This includes both what we can see and what we can imagine. This can best be summarized as our tendency to look at the external qualities without really inquiring about what’s inside. For example, many people are tempted by the pursuit of wealth because of all they imagine it will enable them to possess.

Finally, John addresses pride, or that self-sufficiency that attempts to manufacture what God has promised–or what He has forbidden–rather than humbly allowing Him to give what we need.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY- Today’s passage doesn’t condemn everything material as evil. Instead, it focuses on the affection that we have for the “stuff” around us. In others words, it’s not so much about what kind of car we drive, but rather the reasons we might have for wanting it or the intensity of our desire for it. What John is saying, however, is that we can’t ever let these things distract us from the eternal: God Himself. All these things will eventually be gone, but God is everlasting. That’s a reminder we all need to hear again. (MBI - Today in the Word)

><>><>><>

Pastor Steven Cole has an excellent message on 1John 2:15-17 entitled Choose Your Love: the World or the Father?...

Few problems have been more troublesome for believers down through the centuries than worldliness. In an effort to be “relevant” and reach our culture, there is the very real danger that we will become just like the culture and lose our distinctiveness. The apostle Paul warned of the danger in Romans 12:2, when he wrote, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind….” J. B. Phillips (The New Testament in Modern English [Geoffrey Bles], p. 332) paraphrases it, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your lives from within.”

Toward the end of his life, Paul sadly wrote to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:10), “For Demas, having loved this present world, has de­serted me and gone to Thessalonica.” Even though he had once been a fellow-worker with the great apostle Paul (Philemon 24), Demas succumbed to the lure of the world.

I would argue that with the pervasive influence of modern media, the tug of the world is greater now than it ever has been. Daily we are bombarded with attractive people telling us that we can’t be happy unless we own the product that they are selling or adopt the lifestyle that they are pursuing. We thumb through maga­zines that lure us with beautiful homes, new cars, luxury items, or expensive vacations that all can be ours, if we just get enough money or go into enough debt. There are plenty of credit card of­fers that will help us get hopelessly in debt, if we’re not careful. It is lust for the things of the world that prompts Americans to spend billions on casino gambling and lottery tickets. Just one lucky hit and you will have it all!

Christian attempts to counter worldliness often have swung to the opposite direction: withdrawal from the world, along with extra rules to reign in the flesh. This is the method of the monastic movement and of isolationist groups, such as the Amish. An extreme example of the ascetic approach was Simon the Stylite (c. 390-459), who lived in extreme austerity for 36 years on top of a platform on a 60-foot pillar. Thousands of people flocked to see this “unworldly” man and listen to his preaching. I doubt that Simon is a model of what John had in mind when he warned us not to love the world!

I grew up in Fundamentalist circles that had lists of what con­stituted “worldly” behavior. It usually included the “filthy five”: drinking, smoking, attending movies, playing cards, and dancing. Many Christian colleges required their students to sign pledges not to participate in these “worldly” activities. But they often went farther than that. When my dad was a student at one such Bible institute, he could not hold hands with my mother on campus, even though they were married! A student who was near gradua­tion was publicly dismissed from the school because he put his arm around his fiancée in the back of the Institute bus, and a supporter of the school saw this “worldly” behavior and reported him!

Concerning such manmade rules, Paul wrote (Col 2:23-note), “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wis­dom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” The rules approach to the problem of worldliness doesn’t work!

Worldliness is, at its core, a matter of the heart. If your heart is captured by the world, you will love the things of the world. If your heart is captured by the love of God, you will be drawn to Him and to the things of God. The only way that our hearts can be transformed so that we love God is by the supernatural new birth.

John wrote this letter to churches that were being infected and confused by certain heretics. They claimed to have enlightenment, but John says that they were still in the darkness. They tried to draw people into their inner circle of knowledge, but their doctrine and their practice revealed that they did not truly know God.

John gives three tests by which his readers could evaluate these teachers and by which they could tell whether their own faith was sound: the moral test (obedience); the relational test (love for others); and, the doctrinal test (believing the truth about Jesus Christ).

In 1John 2:3, 4, 5, 6, John applies the first test:

authentic faith obeys God’s commandments.

In 1Jn 2:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, he applies the second test:

authentic faith loves God’s people.

Then he pauses (1Jn 2:12, 13, 14) to give an assuring clarification, showing his confidence that his readers do have authentic faith.

Now, he resumes his application of the tests by showing that authentic faith is not of the world (1Jn 2:15-17), but rather it knows and believes the truth about Jesus Christ (1Jn 2:18-27).

John characteristically draws a sharp line, with no middle ground: If you love the world, you do not love the Father. He shows that…You must choose your love and then maintain your choice: you love either the world or the Father, but not both.

He’s saying the same thing that Jesus said (Luke 16:13), “You cannot serve God and Mammon.” He did not say, “You should not serve God and Mammon,” but, “you cannot” serve them both. You must make a basic decision in life: Will you live to know God and His eternal love, or will you live for this world and its fleeting pleasures? You can’t take a little of both.

Once you’ve made that decision, you must fight to maintain your choice against the strong current of the world. “Do not love” is a present imperative, indicating that it is an ongoing battle. “Love” is the Greek agape, indicating that it is a commitment, not a feeling, that John is commanding. The only way that you can fight the love of the world is to maintain and grow in your love for the Father. The old Scottish preacher, Thomas Chalmers, has a ser­mon, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection,” where he argues that the only thing powerful enough to drive out our love for the world is our new love for the Father. We need to define the key term:

WHAT IS “THE WORLD” OR “WORLDLINESS”?

The Greek word for “world,” kosmos, occurs 185 times in the New Testament. John uses it 105 of those times (78 in his Gospel, 24 in his epistles, and 3 in Revelation). It originally meant “order,” and it came to refer to the universe as the well-ordered ornament of God. (Our word “cosmetics” comes from the word. Applying cosmetics is an attempt to bring order!” It may refer to the physical world (Jn 1:10) or to the people of the world collectively (Jn 3:16; 1Jn 2:2). In those senses, there is nothing wrong with lov­ing the world. We should enjoy God’s creation and we should love sinful people who need to know the Savior.

But John also uses the word to refer to the evil, organized system under Satan, which operates through unbelieving people who are God’s enemies. He writes (1Jn 5:19), “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Jesus spoke of the world hating both Him and those who follow Him (John 15:18, 19). It operates on the basis of ungodly thoughts, attitudes, motives, values, and goals (Isa. 55:8, 9). It does not seek to promote God’s glory or to submit to His sovereign authority. It is in this sense that we must not love the world.

When John adds that we are not to love “the things of the world,” he does not mean that you must hate your house and your car, although I sometimes do hate my car! Rather, he elaborates on those “things” in 1Jn 2:16 as, “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.”

In other words, worldliness is primarily an attitude that is motivated by wrong desires and the wrongful promotion of self. A poor man who does not have many possessions may be very worldly because he desires those things as the key to happiness. But, a wealthy man may not be worldly in that he uses his possessions as a steward of God and as a means of promoting God’s purpose and glory.

So, to be worldly is to operate on the same principles as unregenerate people. It is to think and act out of selfishness, greed, pride, and personal ambition. It is to have a selfish desire for the things that you do not have and a sinful pride in the things that you do have. Rather than living to please God, who examines the heart, the worldly person tries to impress people, who look on things outwardly.

For example, if you refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages because you want to impress others with how spiritual you are, and you take pride in your not drinking and look with contempt on those who do, you are actually being worldly by not drinking! I don’t say that to encourage anyone to drink! I’m only pointing out that worldliness is not a matter of keeping some list of dos and don’ts. It is a matter of your heart motives before God.

John makes two main points:

1. Choose your love: either the world or the Father, but not both (1Jn 2:15).

John states the main command: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world.” Then, he gives the implication: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” It is ei­ther/or, not both/and. “The love of the Father,” could mean His love for us. But to be parallel to the first half of the verse, it proba­bly refers primarily to our love for God. John means that the one who loves the world does not love God. Or, conversely, our love for God should be the ruling principle of our lives. The only way that we can overcome the strong desires of the flesh and the world is to be consumed with loving God.

John uses “Father” to describe God in 1Jn 2:15 and 1Jn 2:16, as he did in 1Jn 2:13, where he said that the children had come to know the Father. It focuses us on God’s tender love for us as His children (1Jn 3:1). It is the Father’s first love for us that motivates us to love Him in re­sponse (1Jn 4:19). In light of the Father’s great love in sending His own Son to be the propitiation for our sins and adopting us as His children, loving Him should be our great delight and joy.

It is significant that the Bible directs its commandments to our hearts or affections. The greatest commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt 22:37). Solomon wrote (Pr. 4:23-note), “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”

As Jonathan Edwards argued in his The Treatise on Religious Affections (The Works of Jonathan Edwards [Banner of Truth], 1:236),

True religion, in great part, consists in holy affec­tions.” If your heart is cold toward the Father and captivated by the glitz of the world, you need to ask yourself, “Do I belong to the Father or to the world?

So John’s commandment (1Jn 2:15) challenges us: