1 JOHN – CHAPTER TWO
Friday – April 26, 2024, Nisan 18, 5784
Greetings dear friends and saints of God and welcome back to this study of 1st John written by the love Apostle himself. Please pause for a moment and share this teaching as widely as possible by every means available to you. If it is of value to you, it will be of value to others. Thank you for sharing. Now, let’s turn our attention to our primary Bible text for today continuing to read out loud.
1 John 2:15-17 (KJV)
15 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.
16 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.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Right off the bat we are admonished, really commanded, to not love the world. The word “love” used three times in one verse is agapē/ agapaō according to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. Perhaps you will recall that agapē is the noun form meaning something that you are or have as in “the love of the Father” Agapaō is the verb form, an action or doing word, as with the other two uses in this verse. We know from Scripture that love is one of the fruit of the spirit, our spirit. Of course, the original source was God.
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Fruit is not useful until it is consumed or used in some way. An apple is pretty on the tree (noun) but benefits when it is consumed (verb). In case you have not yet obtained my book, Awake, Arise, and Triumph – Be Love let me remind you of the three major components of love (agapē/agapaō). At its heart is obedience to the Word of God. Next is a selfless lifestyle, selfless motivations. Finally, a person walking in love is walking true to Blood Covenant. With these things in mind let’s look at verse fifteen again.
1 John 2:15 (KJV)
15 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.
Another way to think about the world is as the kingdom of darkness. Satan is the father of the children of darkness, and his ways are contrary to the Word of God, the Kingdom of Light, and our Heavenly Father. Whatever we put in first place in our lives is what we love and nothing should ever come before our Lord Jesus. That is idolatry. The Word of God must always be first place and all must be filtered through the Word of God and the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. The inner witness of the Holy Spirit is so important because no matter how much one may know of the Scripture, they (including me) remain woefully ignorant. Some do not believe in the inner witness, being led of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. Another proof that He operated in the earth as a man and not Deity.
Luke 4:1 (KJV)
1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
In case you just exclaimed; “But that was Jesus”, what about this verse?
Romans 8:14 (KJV)
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Are you saved? If you answered “yes” than you are a son of God. Back to 1 John 2:15 and the command to not love the world nor the things of the world. We live according to Scripture not according to ways contrary to Scripture. Our motive is always love, never for selfish motives. We give with no expectation of the person responding in like kind. Let us not love the things of this world. We hear people say they love their home, they love their car, and they love their dog. Yes, we can enjoy all of these things but let us not cheapen the word using it to describe our relationship with our house, car, or dog and in the same breath as our relationship with God, and with people.
Lord willing, I will pick up right here next Friday. Remember the Lord is love and as a son you also are love and are to nourish others with that love.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
2 Chronicles 20:20 b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (KJV)
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
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