1 John 2:15-17 (NASB)
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.
In last week’s sermon about Jehoshaphat, we a read a passage of scripture that I’ve been thinking about ever since I read it. 2 Chronicles 19:1-3 says, “Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord, and by doing so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord? But there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asheroth from the land and you have set your heart to seek God.’”
I’ve been thinking about that question Jehu asked Jehoshaphat. It’s a question worth repeating: “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord, and by doing so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord?” We would be wise to periodically ask ourselves this same question: Am I helping the wicked and loving those who hate God?
That question led me to our scripture verses for today in 1 John 2, which is an excerpt from a series of three letters that John wrote to a group of unnamed believers. He is giving the church practical advice on how to follow God, citing all the things he learned directly from Jesus. Throughout all three letters, he is very direct and to the point. Here he is emphatic: believers must not love the world nor the things in the world.
This echoes what Jehu accused Jehoshaphat of doing. Jehoshaphat formed alliances with people who were directly opposed to what God wanted, and in doing so, helped people who hated the Lord. The Bible is clear that believers must not love the world, nor love those who hate the Lord.
But wait a minute, maybe you’re asking yourself: does this contradict what Jesus said when He told His followers to love their enemies? In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Also, Matthew 22:37-40 records, “And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
In that verse in Matthew, Jesus is quoting from Leviticus 19:17-18 which says, “You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”
If we are instructed in both the Old and New Testaments to love our neighbors, then we can say unequivocally that we must love our neighbors. In the New Testament, we see Jesus adding to what that means by saying we must love our enemies. Does that mean that we are supposed to love the world? After all, John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He sent Jesus. Yet, clearly, here in our text for today, 1 John states we are not to love the world. How do we love our enemies and not love the world at the same time?
I think we see the answer to how these two things work together in what 1 John 2:15 says: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” To understand what John is saying, we must first define the word ‘world.’ This is the Greek word kosmos, and Strong’s Concordance defines it as “order, the world.” Even though that seems pretty straightforward, I think it’s a little more complicated than that. I don’t think John is telling us not to love anything in the world. If so, that would include all people, animals, sunsets, everything else that the Lord created. He means the world in the same sense as the word that Jesus meant when He said in John 8:23, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.”
The world, in this sense, is everything that is not of God. This is the systems of government, societies, popular culture, all the “temporary trappings” of this world, so to speak. John is saying that if we are loving the world, then the love of the Father is not in us.
We see this theme of love all throughout his letters. Earlier in this same chapter of 1 John 2:9-11, he writes, “The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling. But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
If we want to walk in the light and follow God, then we will love like Jesus loves. If we are full of hate for our fellow believers or if we are full of love for the things that are not of God, then the Father’s love is not inside of us. If the Father’s love is not inside of us, then we cannot love anybody with God’s love.
One way to know if we are full of God’s love and if we are loving with God’s love, John says, is if the world hates us. 1 John 3:13 says, “Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.”
John 15:19 also records Jesus saying, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as 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.”
If we are truly loving people, then we will speak the truth in love and encourage people to follow God. Doing those two things tends to create enemies, which is something that Jesus knew would happen. For note what Jesus said in entirety: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That presupposes that we will have enemies. As much as we are supposed to strive to live at peace with all people, Jesus knows we will always have enemies if we follow Him. For one, the devil is real and is seeking to destroy all of us who follow God. And two, as we attempt to love people who are actively opposed to God and truth, we will inevitably create enemies. Our response to our enemies, though, is to love them and pray for them. This kind of love is not the same kind of love that Jehoshaphat wrongly expressed by partnering with godless King Ahab. As we love our enemies, it doesn’t mean we assist them and celebrate their sin. No, we are to pray for them that they will repent and follow Jesus. If we are loving people the way Jesus loves people, then we will point them to the truth. Even Leviticus instructs that “you may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him.” We should certainly speak the truth in love, the same way Jesus spoke truth, even when it causes people to hate us.
Back to our text for today, verse 16 further defines what is meant by the word “world” by explaining: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” These three things that John lists: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, are the root of all sin in the world.
In Genesis 3:6, we see the origin of sin expressed in exactly these three ways. It says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Eve “saw that the tree was good for food,” and so she lusted after it in her flesh. She wanted to eat it to satisfy her physical craving. She also saw, “that it was a delight to the eyes,” and so she desired it because it was so lovely and beautiful to look at and she wanted it to be hers. Last, she saw “that the tree was desirable to make one wise,” and full of pride, she thought she could be as smart as God. As the serpent had promised her, “For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).
These three areas of sin are also the way the devil tried to tempt Jesus in the desert. Luke 4:1-12 records this event. It tells how, after fasting in the desert for forty days, the devil tempted Jesus in three different ways. The first was to turn stones into bread. Jesus was hungry, but He did not give in to the temptation of the lust of the flesh and satisfy His physical desire. Next, the devil showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” The devil was trying to tempt Jesus with the lust of the eyes, by showing Him all these kingdoms, hoping He would covet them and want them for His own. Third, the devil had Jesus stand on the top of the temple and told Him to throw Himself down because the Bible says, “He will give His angels orders concerning You, to protect You,” but Jesus answered him by saying the Bible also says, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” The devil tried to tempt Jesus with the pride of life by trying to get Him to make God bend to His will, but again, Jesus did not do that.
Those three areas of sin: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, they encompass all the sin in the world. If we are seeking to satisfy the desires of our personal needs, wants, and self over the desires of God, then we are following the world and are not following God. When we love the world, we try to make ourselves happy by gaining its approval and rewards, such as pleasure, riches, and recognition. If we are following God, then will not be so concerned for ourselves. We will not be led around by our physical desires, but will have the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is self-control. We will not covet what He has not given us. And we will seek His will, humbly submitting to Him.
All the awards or popularity that we might gain in this world, though, they are all ultimately meaningless. As verse 17 warns, “The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.”
All of these things that all of us so often strive to obtain, it is all fleeting. It will not last. Why do we bother to gain the world’s approval or acclaim? The only things that should truly matter to us are the things that will last forever. That means our focus should be on those things that last forever. What lasts: our relationships with fellow believers; our good works we do for Jesus; everything we do for God’s glory, like our acts of obedience to Him; our ability to worship Him; the talents He’s given us. What won’t last: our money or possessions; earthly awards or recognition, positions of importance; and heartbreaking but true, our friendships with unbelievers.
It’s really hard to keep this correct perspective, isn’t it? After all, the world spends all its energy on trying to entice us into loving it. I think it’s really difficult to not love the world. It’s also really difficult to love people the way Jesus says to love them. It’s far more easy to love people the way the world loves people.
Back to Matthew 7:12, Jesus says, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Treating people how we want to be treated, and trying to strive for people to approve of us so we can be popular and loved, are two different things, though.
When writing about the death of Jesus, John summarizes the problem so well. When speaking of the people who believed that Jesus was the Son of God but were too afraid to confess their faith in Him, he says in John 12:42-43, “Nevertheless many, even of the rulers, believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue; for they loved the approval of people rather than the approval of God.”
This is the difficulty. This is why the directive is so clear from John to these Christians. Do not love the world, because if you love the world, you might abandon Jesus in order to win the approval of the world that you love. If we love the world so much that we are afraid to confess our faith in Jesus, then we will go the way of the world; we will be lost. Romans 10:9 warns us that if we want to be saved, we must not only believe, but we must confess our faith Jesus. Paul writes “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Our faith is not faith if it there is no confession or evidence. We confess our faith when we declare that Jesus is the Son of God. We also confess our faith every time that we do anything that is the opposite of what the world is doing. We confess our faith every time we love people with the love of God. But a lot of times when we confess our faith, we make people uncomfortable and it can create enemies.
Jesus Himself explains this problem so clearly in John 5:39-44 when He says, “You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you accept glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”
How many people in our world today are doing exactly what Jesus is describing? If we are being honest about ourselves, we should ask ourselves, how many times have I been guilty of this same thing? Am I wanting glory for myself? Am I trying to gain the approval of the world or the approval of God?
I think as human beings we are wired to seek approval. But so many times, we are trying to fill that deep need at the wrong source. We are looking to people to give us approval, when really it’s only Jesus who can satisfy that longing inside of us. Why do we seek this from other people when it’s only God’s approval that ultimately matters? I know firsthand that this is a constant battle, but even if we gain the world’s approval, it is short-lived and unsatisfying. Somehow, a little recognition by the world makes the desire for more recognition grow even stronger. It’s like a monster that grows larger the more it is fed, and it is never satisfied. Whereas the approval of the Lord is a satisfaction that grows sweeter the more it is experienced.
Instead of loving the world, giving in to the temptations it offers us, let us seek to win the Lord’s approval. Let us lay off all the sins of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life. Let us not contribute to the evil of this world, helping the wicked and loving, as the world defines love, those who hate the Lord.
Let us instead love our neighbors, and enemies, with the love of God; seeking their good, praying for them when they persecute us, all in the hopes that they will repent and follow God, too. Let us lay aside our needs, desires, and pride enough that we will be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to not seek the world’s approval, but to seek only the approval of God so that He may say this to us when we meet Him face to face: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).
Pray: Lord Jesus, we confess that You alone are God. We confess, too, that we are guilty of giving in to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Please forgive us and change us by Your Holy Spirit. Please help us to resist the temptations that the world offers us. Please help us to stand strong in Your power and resist sin. Help us to desire Your approval over the world’s approval. Help us to keep our focus on You and what is eternal. We need You to give us Your eyes to view the world the way You view it. We pray that You would help us to follow You and to be faithful in all that You have given us to do so we can hear Your words of approval when we meet You face to face. We thank You for your forgiveness and mercy, and we look to You for help. In Your name we pray, amen.
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