1 John 2:15-17 New Living Translation
(Part 1)
15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away,
along with everything that people crave.
But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
What defines you as a believer in Christ? Some will tell us, “To define yourself, make a list of values that are really important to you.” Others will tell you what defines you is the same as your identity, of which they say, “Identity relates to our basic values that dictate the choices we make.” Some will also say “what we choose to love defines who we are.” There is some truth to what these statements are saying. However, as believers in Christ, do we know how scripture answers the question?
The apostle John in these three verses helps us answer the question by telling us what should not define us or what we should not love or desire. In two of the quotes previously given it mentions “values”. The Faith Life Study Bible tells us the following concerning a Christian’s values in relation to our text 1 John 2:15-17. “The values of human society should not define believers. Instead, they should be shaped by Jesus’ values.” In relation to what a Christian love’s or is passionate about that defines them, the Faith Life Study Bible says this. “The believer’s passion should not be for what culture offers but for what God desires.”
In these three verses of 1 John 2:15-17 John is not making a list of dos and don’ts, but he is warning Christians of the dangers of living a life with one foot in the world and with the other trying to please God, which cannot be done.
Reading the New Living Translation of theses verses, John mentions the world five times and refers to the world once as “it”. What does John mean when he mentions “this world” as we see in verse 15? “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you…”? Is John telling us not to love something that the Bible tells us God loves as it said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…”?
The Bible has three different uses for the word world. The first way the word world is used, we see how it relates to the earth that God created.
Matthew 25:34
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Acts 17:24a
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth
Acts 4:24
“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
The next way the word world is used is when it is referring to men and women or people in general.
John 3:16-17
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
The final way the word world is used in the Bible is how John uses it in our text, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you …” verse 15. This is secular system and those who live by the standards of this system. “Secular denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.” “Secular system or Secularism is a belief system that rejects religion or God in the affairs of man.” So, when John says “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you …”, he is telling us that we are not to love the world system in which we live.
What every Christian needs to know about “this world” is that this worldly system “is controlled by Satan and organized against God” or in other words, the world system is under the authority of and operated by Satan. God is not running this world, that is why things are the way they are and are going from bad to worse. If we believe that God is running this world, we all should be disappointed in God considering the way things are. The fire Bible tells us the following concerning this fact. “God’s Word does not teach that God is now in direct control of the ungodly world that involves sinful people, evil, cruelty and injustice. In no way does God desire or cause all the suffering in the world, nor is everything that happens part of his perfect desires and purposes.” We must not forget God is sovereign which means, the Fire Bible continues to tell us that “…God is in control of the ungodly world. God is sovereign with supreme power and authority to do as he chooses. This means that all things happen only as he allows. At times, God may directly intervene to accomplish his purposes, but this does not mean that he overrides the free will he has given all people or the consequences that human choices bring on the world.” Note what is underlined in the following three passages that help explain this.
John 12:31
Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
Luke 4:5-6
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
1 John 5:19
We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
Ephesians 2:1-2
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
The next important fact concerning this world system is that the world system is opposed to Jesus Christ and Christianity. We all know that Satan is the enemy of God and is hostile to the work of Christ on this earth. He is also in opposition to those who love Jesus and whose lives are submitted to Him.
John 15:18-19
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
John 17:14-15
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
John 15:18-20
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 “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, because of this the world hates you.
1 John 3:13
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
As Christians we need to realize because we love Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him it makes us enemies of this world, therefore, we should not be surprised and understand the opposition of the world that we all confront.
Whose standards, morals or values are we accepting and living by? And are there any aspects or parts of the world’s standards we still are holding on to? Every Christian needs to realize, loving the world system or any aspect is a hindrance to our spiritual growth and damaging to our relationship with God. And this is the purpose why John is writing to Christians concerning loving the world which has three points we need to consider of which we will expound on next week.
- Loving the world destroys our fellowship with God and our love for God.
1 John 2:15
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Loving the world denies or rejects or contradicts our faith in God.
John tells us that there are three ways that Satan uses to destroy our relationship with God.
1 John 2:16
For everything in the world — a) the cravings of sinful man, b) the lust of his eyes c) and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world.
- Loving the world jeopardizes our future with God
1 John 2:17
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Prayerfully let us take the time and review our lives and ask God to show us in what ways we are loving the world which hinders our relationship with Him and prevents us to live a life victoriously and uncompromised in Christ Jesus.
Pastor John
