Worldliness is love of the present age in place of love of the Father.
John named its three currents: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and pride of life.
They are not from the Father. They are from the world, and the world is passing away.
Worldliness is not the same as living in the world. It is belonging to it from the inside.
The New Testament uses “world” for the created earth, for the people God loves, and for the rebel order that hates the Light. Worldliness is attachment to that third sense. James called friendship with the world enmity with God. Paul said Demas, in love with this present world, deserted him. Romans forbids conformity to this age. Jesus told a parable of seed choked by cares, riches, and pleasures of life. He asked what it profits a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul. Worldliness can wear coarse clothes or fine ones. It can be appetite, display, or the need to matter. It can sit in a church and still love applause more than the Father. The cure is not a bunker and not a sneer at beauty God made. The cure is a new love. 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. Set the mind on things above. Use the world as those who know its present form is passing. Seek first the kingdom. The world is passing away with its desires. Whoever does the will of God abides forever.
- Worldliness is a direction of love, not a zip code.
- Flesh, eyes, and pride cover appetite, coveting, and boast.
- Created goods become worldly when they are loved as gods.
- Friendship with the world is not kindness to neighbors. It is alliance with a rival.
- A deserting heart can still use Christian words. Demas had been a fellow worker.
- Separation from worldliness is holiness. Isolation from people is not the same thing.
- The passing of the world is the argument. Why marry a house that is falling?
- Desire of the Flesh – Appetites ruling the will.
- Desire of the Eyes – Wanting what is seen as if seeing were owning.
- Pride of Life – Boast in possessions, status, and self.
- Conformity – Pressed into the mold of the age.
- Friendship – Loyalty to the world’s loves against God.
- Cares and Riches – Seed choked before harvest.
- Passing Form – The present scheme is already on its way out.
- 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 of life—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.”
- James 4:4 – “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
- Romans 12:2 – “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.”
- 2 Timothy 4:10 – “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”
- Titus 2:11-12 – “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”
- Luke 8:14 – “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
- Mark 8:36 – “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
- Matthew 6:19-21, 24, 33 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… You cannot serve God and money… But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…”
- Colossians 3:1-5 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above… Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…”
- 1 Corinthians 7:31 – “…and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”
- Galatians 6:14 – “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
- John 15:19 – “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
- Ephesians 2:1-3 – Once walked following the course of this world, in the passions of the flesh.
- 1 Peter 2:11 – “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
- 1 Peter 4:3-4 – The time past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do; they are surprised when you do not join them.
- James 1:27 – “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
- Philippians 3:18-20 – Many walk as enemies of the cross; their god is their belly; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.
- Hebrews 11:24-26 – Moses chose mistreatment with the people of God over the fleeting pleasures of sin.
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.
Desire of the flesh. Desire of the eyes. Pride of life. These are not from the Father.
The world is passing away along with its desires. Whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Friendship with the world is enmity with God.
Renounce worldly passions. Live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Seek the things that are above. Keep yourself unstained from the world.
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