Daily Devotion

1John 2:15,16 Do not take up a lifestyle loving the world or the things in the world. If anyone does so, the love of the Father does not exist in him. For all (of what I'm referring to) that exists in the world----that is, 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.

This is one of the few times in scripture where agape love is view as a negative connotation. Sometimes love is a bad thing. In fact while most of the lyrics of modern music speak of love, they're referring to the passions of the flesh and not to Christian love. And the love of money, for example, is a root of all kinds of evil. 1Tim 6:10

Worldly love is characterized by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride. This love is spoken of as in the present tense as an indicator that such a person has not been born of God. That is, it's not simply a matter of an event in the person's life, but rather the persons characteristic lifestyle.

In contrast consider consider 2Tim 4:10a where the aorist is used instead of the present "Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica." Demas, whom Paul commended in Colossians and in Philemon where Paul referred to him as his fellow worker, loved the world. So based on 1John 2:15, can we say that the Father's love did not exist in Demas and therefore he did not know God? No, we can't come to that conclusion based upon 1John 2:15 because the verse about Demas uses the aorist, speaking not of his lifestyle but of a particular event that occurred in his life.

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources