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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." Love is a word that immediately invokes the connotation of emotion manifested by strong feelings of passion and desire. Culturally, love is predominately viewed in a positive sense; to love someone or something is to have affectionate feelings thereof. Biblically though, the topic of love is quite complex because it can either be a positive or negative emotion, or object of affection based upon the original Hebrew and Greek language studied. For instance, two Greek words for love are described in verse 15: agapeo and agape. The former is an affectionate action and the latter an object of affection. In the context of John's writing, Strong's Concordance defines agapeo as "to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing." Conversely, Strong's defines agape as "affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love." The importance of studying these differences lies in the man versus God context. If we are called by John to not love the world (i.e. be well pleased or contented at or with a thing), we will not inherit the love (i.e. the affection, good will, and benevolence) of God. The two simply cannot coexist in the sense that we cannot love the things of this world and God simultaneously, and Scripture clearly defines this distinction. For even Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24). For instance, from the very beginning God made it clear that he does not compete with anyone or anything. "And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before [or besides] me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands [or to the thousandth generation] of those who love me and keep my commandments" (Exodus 20:1-6). This is absolutely crucial to understanding 1 John 2:15-17 because God proclaims that He is a jealous God and He will not accept a half-hearted devotion and commitment from mankind whom He sent His only Son to earth to die for their salvation. Scripture emphatically proclaims this point: "You shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14), "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God" (Deuteronomy 4:24). Without a correct understanding of who God is, it is virtually impossible to grasp the magnitude of John's admonition. God's identity and purpose for mankind is foundational as Exodus details how God passed before Moses proclaiming His name: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands [or to the thousandth generation,] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation" (Exodus 34:6-7). This is a perfect description straight from the mouth of God Himself of what His love looks like: merciful, gracious, patient, steadfast, faithful and forgiving. How could we ever willingly trade these gifts of love for a love of created things? God forbid! But take heed that in the same breath God warns that He will by no means clear the guilty, but rather visit the iniquity of the fathers on future generations. For while God is indeed love, He is equally just; and His judgment upon the sins of mankind must be served. The book of Nahum similarly notes, "The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty" (Nahum 1:2-3a). The context of this passage is that God is proclaiming judgment on the city of Nineveh for their idolatry, which Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary defines as "the worship of idols, images, or any thing made by hands, or which is not God." Clearly, as accurately as Exodus 34:6-7 declares God's love, Nahum 1:2-3a details His wrath. The ESV Study Bible provides outstanding understanding of Nahum 1:2-3a: "The Lord is jealous with regard to his own honor and those in covenant fellowship with him. God's holy anger is righteous and just, in defense of his word and his people. God holds back the venting of his anger until an appropriate time. God's patience explains why the wicked often do not immediately receive the judgment they deserve. The delay in deserved judgment is not due to a lack of power or control on God's part. That the wicked seemingly prosper does not mean God regards them as innocent or has forgotten their iniquity." The important takeaway is that God is both omniscient and omnipresent. He will judge the sins of mankind according to His sovereign will and timing, but He does provide forgiveness through the shed blood of His Son to those who accept God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul describes it this way: "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:13-14). With a correct understanding of why loving the things of this world is detestable to God, in verse 16 John focuses specifically on what those things are that become idols within our hearts and separate us from the love of God: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and pride in possessions. In focusing on the issue of desires, the ESV Study Bible again gives good explanation that "human desires are part of God's creation and therefore not inherently evil, but they become twisted when not directed by and toward God." The apostle Paul clarifies this point further in his instruction to the church in Rome, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Romans 13:14), and to the church in Galatia, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do...And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:16-17, 24). Paul clearly distinguishes that the desires of the flesh are in opposition to God as revealed in the Trinity. Therefore, to crucify the desires of the flesh one must accept salvation by faith through the atoning sacrifice Christ made on the cross of Calvary for our redemption of sins. Similar to the flesh, the eyes desire, crave and lust for what is forbidden. Whether focused on sexual lust or cravings of treasures, riches and possessions, the eyes are not to be trusted if they cause us to sin. Jesus specifically addressed this issue when he said, "And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell" (Mark 9:47). It is interesting to note that King Solomon provides firsthand experience in the book of Ecclesiastes that the desires of the eyes are meaningless, deeming self-indulgence as vanity. "And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11). Lastly, John addresses pride in possessions (or life) because as the New International Commentary states, "This is the essence of the 'wordly' person; it is a way of feeling, looking, and expressing oneself." The Greek word for "pride" according to Strong's Concordance is alazoneia, referred to otherwise in only James 4:16 which states, "As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." Matthew Henry comments that within alazoneia "a vain mind craves all the grandeur, equipage, and pomp of a vain-glorious life; this is ambition, and thirst after honour and applause. This is, in part, the disease of the ear; it must be flattered with admiration and praise." The most difficult part of studying 1 John 2:15-17 is that it places a mirror in front of us, reflecting the condition of our hearts before a holy God. For how can we, as self-proclaiming Christians especially, choose to love what the world loves over submitting to the will of God? More specifically for example, how can we as men justify looking lustfully at women other than our wives and ignore Christ's warning "that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28)? How can we ignore what the Bible repeatedly teaches on the issues of greed, disobedience, malice, drunkenness, anger, sexual immorality, idolatry, arrogance, pride, false witness, theft, slander, unforgiveness, jealousy, covetousness, quarreling, criticizing, complaining, rebellion, betrayal, laziness, and bitterness (just to name a few), and expect that we can enter the throne room of grace when our hearts are hard and bent on loving the pride and desires of the fallen world? I know that in my own life I have failed miserably, more times than I ever care to remember, passionately desiring the lusts of the flesh and eyes, and living in prideful boasting. I have too often chosen sinful desires over submitting to the will of God where true contentment can only be found and have suffered the consequences of my sinful choices against God and those I love. I have learned the hard way that I must humble myself daily to admit as King David did, "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment...Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:3-4, 10). Only then will I be able to understand God's divine plan where His love and His wrath intersect at the cross of Calvary. For "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). As I studied this passage, I was completely convicted by two references in the Expositor's Bible Commentary concerning pride in possessions, for they expounded upon the depth of sin in my own heart and stripped away any shred of self protection and justification I had built up in my life. It states that the corporate adjective for alazoneia (alazon) "describes a pretentious hypocrite who glories in himself or in his possessions. He is a person of ostentatious pride in his own non-existent importance...If my reputation, my public image, matters more to me than the glory of God or the well-being of my followers, the 'pretentiousness of life' has become the object of my idol-worship." Shamefully that description fits me perfectly for I spent practically my whole life glorifying myself as a pretentious hypocrite rather than God. But I praise God that I am continually finding life-changing freedom in the convicting, absolute truth of God's Word that challenges my selfish heart, and I am steadfast on pulling myself out of the habitual patterns of hypocritical living I have learned to carefully master and embracing humility. For as Jesus declared, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31b-32). I believe Matthew Henry provides the greatest synopsis of what John is communicating in 1 John 2:15-17 when he wrote, "Be crucified to the world, be mortified to the things, to the affairs and enticements, of it...love should be reserved for God; throw it not away upon the world." In other words, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2). It is an exhausting process putting to death our lustful desires and passions of this world, but we must also remind ourselves of the victory we have in Christ. For while John warns us in 1 John 2:15-17 to put off loving the world and embrace the love of the Father, he also reminds us in the book of Revelation of the prize that awaits us when God destroys evil once and for all and establishes the new heaven and the new earth. For on that day, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 20:4).

1 John 3:4-10

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother." Sin...such a small word with enormous implications. From cover to cover beginning with Genesis 3, the Bible speaks on the issue of sin and its ramifications for fallen man till Christ returns to establish the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21. Sin is the reason why God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die a criminal's death for our salvation and it remains the greatest obstacle that man faces because sin is at war against the holiness of God and aims to hold us captive, separated from our Creator. The apostle Paul sums up this point beautifully when he states, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7). We simply cannot understand what sin is though apart from a comprehension of the law that defines sin according to God's standard. That is the power of God's Word and the reason why a true follower of Christ embraces the Scriptures with every facet of his or her being. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Without the Bible, we are simply lost and captive to spiritual anarchy and post modernism thinking whereby our standard of right and wrong is defined by our thoughts, feelings and logic rather than the concrete absolute truth found in God's Holy Word. Make no mistake, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Romans 1:18-20). Whether someone does or does not have access to God's Word, he/she is still accountable to the wrath of God. "For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified" (Romans 2:12-13). So to clarify, one must not only observe God's law but more importantly apply its truth in his/her life in order to gain "the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day" (2 Timothy 4:8). Yet "whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it" (James 2:10). The ramifications of this truth pave the way for 1 John 3:4-10 because if we have access to God's written law or His eternal power and divine nature, we cannot ignore our obligation to observe God's standard accordingly. This does presuppose the point that whoever seeks to apply 1 John 3:4-10 has been "saved by grace through faith...and not a result of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Assuming this is so, we can begin to unpack the truth John is sharing. Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary defines sin as "The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. Sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts, purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God's commands or law." It amazes me to read this definition by Webster in correlation to 1 John 3:4-10. He conveys that sin is voluntary neglect/departure from divine law manifested in thoughts, actions, purposes, words and desires. In other words, sin is a purposeful and conscious decision to violate God's law. No wonder Paul emphatically warns, "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:26-31). Indeed, it should shake us to our core that to deliberately sin after receiving the truth of God's Word imposes judgment and wrath from an angry God that abhors sin. Even Peter, the disciple who denied knowing Jesus, declared, "For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2 Peter 2:21). Peter is conveying a most piercing truth that he learned firsthand through his failures and turning his back on the author of absolute truth, teaching us that even a man who Jesus personally addressed as a rock to build His church upon (Matthew 16:18) is as prone to sin as we are. I believe it is imperative to point out that John is addressing in verse 9 those who make a practice of sinning, for the process of sanctification is a purifying journey where we are being transformed into the likeness of Christ. Bluntly said, sanctification is everything to the Christian walk as the apostle Paul declares to the church in Thessalonica, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and to the church in Rome, "For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification" (Romans 6:19). But more specifically, John places great emphasis on the word "practice," using it six times between verses 4 and 10 which conveys pretty clearly what Webster defines as "to do or perform frequently, customarily or habitually." We cannot ignore the fact that our habitual nature and tendencies that take effect within our lives draw us closer to the foot of the cross or boldly away from it. The million dollar question though is what do we do about this spiritual dilemma? In basic terms we choose to sin or to live righteously, but actions do speak louder than words and in this case we must know how to choose our path. Fortunately, Jesus instructed his disciples on exactly how they would choose when he said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 14:26). Moreover, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come" (John 16:13). God provides His children with a part of Himself that guides and directs our paths if only we allow the Spirit to lead rather than suppress the truth that He speaks to us in our moments of decision. Knowing that God's Spirit dwells within us (1 Corinthians 3:16) and accessing that divine power is absolutely crucial to choosing righteousness over sin. Over the years I have found it difficult to abide in Christ as John declares in verse 6. For to abide, as Webster defines, is "to dwell, rest, continue, stand firm, or be stationary for anytime indefinitely." Dare I proclaim that to abide in Christ requires contentment and patience! I humbly admit that my restless soul with a natural bent toward the sins/lusts of the flesh contradicts the Spirit's desire to sanctify me from the inside out. Perhaps though, that is the true beauty of submitting to a Savior that took upon human form in order to empathize with our trials and struggles, pains and iniquities, yet remained in God the Father "perfectly one, so that the world may know that you (Father) sent me (Jesus) and loved them even as you loved me" (John 17:23). My human nature pridefully yields to self rather than Christ more often than not, manifested in a sinful (and unsuccessful) attempt to handle my own business and independently fix my problems instead of seeking help and guidance from my Lord and Savior who is supremely sovereign. I would be greatly served to heed Jesus' loving call when he proclaimed, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-29). The truth I must personally come to grips with is whether I believe that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The call to righteousness appears at times to be a daunting task and unconquerable mountain to climb, yet I know in obedience I am called to make the effort regardless of how I feel. I believe that is the key to whether we truly practice lawlessness or righteousness and proves as John writes whether we belong to Christ or the Devil. The battle no doubt is ongoing and the stakes eternal in measure for those who aim to follow Jesus Christ. Like John, the apostle Paul understood this spiritual battle when he addressed the Roman church concerning his struggle with sin and righteousness. "So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Romans 7:21-25). Paul immediately goes on to remind us all though that the ultimate victory we seek is found in Christ, and that is an absolute truth that I need to remind myself of each day in order to live my life in a posture of humility and understanding before a sovereign God. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:1-5).