“By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
that is in the world
God delivered those in Christ from the “world” at the point of salvation. The term “world” in the Bible is that system of values from Satan that believes something other than God can fill the believer’s needs. The world system is Satan’s system of values in opposition to God’s design of what is worthy.
PRINCIPLE:
God disables our hankering for the world through His divine capacity.
APPLICATION:
Are you fond of the corruption that is in the world? Do you still have a craving for the worst kinds of sin? Do the tinsel and baubles of this world still appeal to you? This desire is contrary to how the apostle Paul lived his life. The Lord Jesus spoiled Paul from living for the world.
Ga 6:14, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
God does not want us to become isolated from the world, but He does want us insulated from it. The ship is supposed to be in the sea but not the sea in the ship. The Christian is supposed to be in the world, but the world is not supposed to be in the Christian. The Bible does not sponsor the idea of religious recluses. God does not want us to become religious hermits who live eccentric lives not connected with those around us.
It is one thing not to be eccentric, but it is another thing not to be deceived by the world. Worldly living loses its fascination when we embrace the Lord Jesus. He exposes the façade of this world. When we fall in love with Him, the world loses its grip on us.
Jas 4:4, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
1 Jn 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. 16For 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. 17And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
