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Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

2:15 Love not the world. Note that this command is absolute, not relative. It does not say: “Don’t love the world too much,” but “not at all!” See also Romans 12:2; Galatians 1:4; James 4:4. The “world” here does not mean the earth or its people (God Himself so loved the world that He gave His Son to save its people) but rather the world as a “system,” with its possessions, positions and pleasures (contrast II Corinthians 6:10.


2:16 pride of life. These three classes of temptations correspond to the three ways in which Satan deceived Eve (Genesis 3:6) and the three ways in which he unsuccessfully tried to deceive Christ (Luke 4:2-12). Note:

I John 2:16 Genesis 3:6 James 3:15 Luke 4:2-12
Lust of flesh (body) Good to eat Earthly Victory over appetite.
Lust of eyes (soul) Good to see Sensual Victory over covetousness.
Pride of life (spirit) Good to know Devilish Victory over pride


2:17 passeth away. Literally, “is passing away.” Under the domain of God’s curse because of sin, the “whole creation” is “in pain” (Romans 8:21), under its “bondage of corruption” (that is, “decay”—Romans 8:20), and is literally disintegrating back into the “dust”—the basic elements from which it was formed. Scientifically, this is essentially what is known as the universal law of increasing entropy, a law squarely negating the imaginary evolutionary progress of the world. See also such Scriptures as Matthew 24:35; I Peter 1:24-25; Hebrews 1:11-12; and Hebrews 12:27. There are many others of like import.


2:17 abideth for ever. In contrast to the law of physical decay, God does not change (James 1:17), nor does His Word (Psalm 119:89). Even though their physical bodies are now under the curse, those who do God’s will in accepting Christ will receive new bodies, eternal in character, when Christ returns (Philippians 3:20-21; Revelation 21:4; 22:3-5).


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