LEARNING DAILY

 

1 John 2:15-17, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

 

Hebrews 11:13 calls those who died in the faith as, “strangers and pilgrims on the earth”. 1 Peter 2:11 calls Christians “sojourners and pilgrims” in a godless society and tells us to separate and distance ourselves from fleshly lusts. Romans 12:2 tells us “to no longer conform to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind”. To love the world causes one to lose fellowship with God and is what the Bible refers to as spiritual adultery which leads to spiritual destruction and death.

 

 It needs to be mentioned and the term “world” is not the equivalent to the term “earth”. God does not forbid you and me from an appreciation to His created earth. We can certainly have an appreciation for nature, mountains, and so forth.

 

According to John’s letter there are three aspects of the sinful world that create open hostility to God and they come under the category of lust. “Lust represents the desire, the inward part of temptation or wanting one’s own way. These three lusts summarize all that is in the world.” (DJSB). These three aspects of the sinful world create open hostility to God. The “lust of the flesh” refers to physical temptations which includes impure desires running after sinful pleasures and sexual gratification. The “lust of the eyes” refers to greed, envy, and indulgence. It would include coveting or lusting after things that are attractive to what we see but are forbidden by God. As Christians, you and I need to be very careful about what we read and watch which includes pornography, violence, ungodliness and immorality. We have choices to make when watching television, movies and browsing the internet. “The pride of life” is the arrogant desire to be recognized. There is a pride and arrogance that can come with wealth, positions of power, and the desire to glorify one’s position in life so that others become envious. Satan attempts to remove one’s submission to God and His Word by promoting these things.

 

Be careful to not be yoked or linked with those who participate with the world’s evil system. When Jesus fellowshipped with “tax collectors and sinners” (see Matthew 9:11-13), He gave us a guide to follow when dealing with unbelievers. “Believers should not associate with unbelievers for pleasure or intimate friendship, but in order to do good to them and show them the way of salvation” (LSSB). You and I are to expose evil and be the light of Jesus Christ to the world, love unbelievers and attempt to win them to Jesus Christ. The true Christian may experience hatred, persecution of some kind because of the world’s hatred toward him/her. Yet, Jesus said to love your enemy.

 

You and I are not to love this world system, it and all its forms of lust are passing away; it is all temporary. As Believers, we are to abide in Christ believing the Holy Spirit will helps understand God’s truth and walk on the narrow way to His kingdom. We are to study His Word daily and be obedient to it. There is absolutely no need for any other teaching that is in addition to it. Be aware of anyone who tries to add to or contradict it.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible