1 John 2:17

and the world passeth away Or, is passing away; as in 1 John 2:8: the process is now going on. We owe the verb -passaway" here to Coverdale: it is a great improvement on Tyndale's - vanishethaway." Comp. -The fashion of this world is passing away" (1 Corinthians 7:31), where the same verb is used, and where the active in a neuter sense is equivalent to the middle here and in 1 John 2:8.

and the lust thereof Not the lust forthe world, but the lust which it exhibits, the sinful tendencies mentioned in 1 John 2:16. The world is passing away with all its evil ways. How foolish, therefore, to fix one's affections on what not only cannot endure but is already in process of dissolution! -The lust thereof" = -all that is in the world."

the will of God This is the exact opposite of -all that is in the world". The one sums up all the tendencies to good in the universe, the other all the tendencies to evil. We see once more how S. John in giving us the antithesis of a previous idea expands it and makes it fructify. He says that the world and all its will and ways are on the wane: but as the opposite of this he says, not merely that God and His will and ways abide, but that -he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever". This implies that he who follows the ways of the world will not abide for ever. Again he speaks of the love of the world and the love of the Father; but as the opposite of the man who loves the world he says not -he that loveth the Father," but -he that doeth the will of the Father". This implies that true love involves obedience. Thus we have a double antithesis. On the one hand we have the world and the man who loves it and follows its ways: they both pass away. On the other hand we have God and the man who loves Him and does His will: they both abide for ever. Instead of the goods of this life (βίος) in which the world would allow him to vaunt for a moment, he who doeth the will of God has that eternal life (ζωή) in which the true Christian has fellowship with God. -For ever" is literally -unto the age", i.e. -unto the age to come", the kingdom of heaven; the word for -age" (αἰών) being the substantive from which the word for -eternal" (αἰώνιος) is derived. He who does God's will shall abide until the kingdom of God comes and be a member of it. The latter fact, though not stated, is obviously implied. It would be a punishment and not a blessing to be allowed, like Moses, to see the kingdom but not enter it. The followers of the world share the death of the world: the children of God share His eternal life.

Here probably we should make a pause in reading the Epistle. What follows is closely connected with what precedes and is suggested by it: but there is, nevertheless, a new departure, which is made with much solemnity.