“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.”
or the things in the world.
John adds a further qualification to worldliness – “the things in the world.” These are the material things of the world put at the core of our value system. Some Christians incorporate satanic integral systems of greed into their lives that advance the Devil’s evil ends.
PRINCIPLE:
Greed is part of the satanic world system.
APPLICATION:
Worldliness is buying into the value system of the world, it’s passions, pleasures, and pursuits. We love the world system for its sin, for we think it will satisfy our souls. This is a love of indulgence, the system of indulgence that rejects Christ and the implications of an absolute God on their behavior. It is a rebellion against God’s values and priorities.
Jn 17:14-19, 14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”
God warns us against developing a system of values that orient to Satan’s system of values. Satan’s system is set in antagonism to God’s way of life. We cannot hold to two opposing systems of values at the same time.
1 Jn 5:19, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
Note that God does not present the concept of worldliness by way of practices but by principle. However, it is possible to exercise worldly thinking without indulging in practices that the church labels as sin. Worldliness originates in a love system that damages our fellowship with God. It can be anything that dulls our spiritual orientation. It may be a sinful attitude toward someone else.
We do not love the world because we have a new love. All our orientation, future, relationships are now new in Christ.
Love of God must remain foremost in our system of values. We do this when we rely on God’s set of values as over against Satan’s. If we have a worldly system of values in our thinking, we cannot love God. That is because we cannot distinguish between God’s will and Satan’s will. If we do not know God’s will, then we cannot love God. We would not know how to please Him.
