1 John 2:15-17

"Do Not Love the World"

The "world," which John instructed Christians not to love, is defined by Turner as "the sphere of rebellion, including sensuous desires and interests, false pride and vanity, unholy ambitions, avarice, selfishness and the like" (Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Peter 3:18-19). One cannot love worldly things and God at the same time (Matthew 6:24; Romans 8:5; James 4:4). Thayer says the word "love" here is "to take pleasure in the thing, prize it above other things, be unwilling to abandon it or do without it". John tells Christians not to love worldly things in general or any one of them in particular (1 John 2:15). A case in point would be the rich young ruler of Matthew 19:16-22.

Worldliness did not originate in the Father but in the world out of which believers come. The lust of the flesh would involve any uncontrolled appetite of the body. Eating, for example, is not wrong unless we allow it to lead to gluttony. The lust of the eyes would be anything excited by sight. The pride, or vain glory, of life is the seeking of worldly rewards and praise of men above that of God. All of these were used by Satan in the Garden of Eden and the temptations of the Lord (1 John 2:16; Genesis 3:1-24; Matthew 4:1-3).

The things of this life are, at best, temporary (2 Corinthians 4:18). Woods says the verb tense indicates the world is already in the process of passing away. In contrast to the world, the one who does God's will lasts or endures throughout eternity (1 John 2:17; Romans 6:23). The disciple's prayer should be that God will help him have that lasting quality through the blood of his precious Son!