BIG IDEA:
WALKING IN THE LIGHT MEANS SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD
I. (:15a) TOTAL SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD IS COMMANDED
A. The Nature of the Separation –“Do not love”
an obligation, not an option for the believer
There must be a tremendous danger here since John goes to such lengths to warn his readers.
Wuest: “Here, agapao is used merely in its classical meaning, that of a love called out of one’s heart by the preciousness of the object loved. The word as used here refers to a fondness, an affection, non-ethical in its content, for an object because of its value. It is a love of approbation, of esteem. Demas is said to have loved this present age. He found it precious and thus came to love it.”
Vaughan: Re what it means to love the world — “It is to court the world’s favor, follow its customs, adopt its ideals, covet its prizes, and seek its fellowship. Loving the world in this sense means setting one’s affection on evil and is tantamount to deserting God.”
B. The Extent of the Separation — Total
1. From the world system — “the world”
2. From the particular worldly things (detailed below)
“nor the things in the world”
Burdick: “…not primarily material items, although these may be involved. As the next verse explains, John has in mind men’s attitudes — including attitudes toward material things — rather than the material objects themselves.”
II. (:15b-17) AN EXAMINATION OF THE WORLD PROVES THAT LOVE FOR THE WORLD AND LOVE FOR GOD ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
A. Love for the world exposes a void of divine love (:15b)
“if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
B. 3 Proofs from an examination of the world
1. Because of the Nature of the things of the world
“For all that is in the world”:
a. Unbridled Appetites — “the lust of the flesh”
Burdick: “the passionate desire of the flesh for immediate self-satisfaction”
Piper: “And the passion for pleasure is described in two ways because there are two large classes of pleasure — physical and aesthetic. There is the lust of the flesh — bodily pleasures, and the lust of the eyes — aesthetic and intellectual pleasures.
b. Covetousness — “and the lust of the eyes”
Vaughan: “speaks of the unlawful craving for that which entices our eyes. Ramsay interprets it of heathen entertainment — ‘all delight in immoral scenes, spectacles, plays’ …”
c. Pride / Selfish Ambition — “and the boastful pride of life”
2. Because of the Source of the things of the world
“is not from the Father, but is from the world.”
Morgan: “The tastes and habits of the world are the sinful results of a depraved nature, and are therefore entirely contrary to the will of God.
3. Because of the Destiny of the world — no eternal value
a. Fleeting
“And the world is passing away, and also its lusts”
Vaughan: “… human society in its hostility to God has in it the seeds of death, and its final dissolution is certain. Because of this ‘the world’ can give no permanent satisfaction. As an object of desire and affection it is evanescent, vain, and disappointing. To build one’s life around it is therefore not only sinful, it is also foolish. It is to bind oneself to a doomed and dying order.”
b. vs. Abiding
the contrast is that obedience which is the evidence of divine love and which abides forever
“but the one who does the will of God abides forever”