“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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16).
The description given by John in this text seems to categorize all sin into at lease one of three groups. A practical consideration of this seems so. Every sin I can think of can be categorized as a consequence of illicit desire (brought from what we see, what we feel, or pride).
In the garden of Eden at the beginning of time we have a Divine example of this truth. The first sin came as a result of the devil using all three categories of lust in the world. It came as a result of disobeying God’s command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The serpent came to tempt the woman. Notice Genesis 3:6, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
First, the woman lusted after what she saw. This is very common. Seeing something that is desirable but that is not lawful to attain is a problem for all. When David saw beautiful Bathsheba bathing on a roof, it led him to sin (cf. 2 Samuel 11). Second, the woman was enticed by the appealing nature of the fruit as food. Such enticements of the flesh, whether it be eating, drinking or carousing, lead to all types of sin. Drunkenness, gluttony, and all types of evil vices come from a lust of the flesh. Finally, the woman saw that the tree was “desirable to make one wise.” This is well described with the phrase “the pride of life.” Pride is a ubiquitous problem, leading us to many sins like covetousness, hypocrisy, deceit, boasting, and a contempt for others. Pride is truly a root cause of our problems with others, and our problems with God.
John’s treatment of the matter ends with these words, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (17). So often our focus is on what we see, feel or want here on earth. As Peter noted, we can be spiritually shortsighted “even to blindness” (cf. 2 Peter 1:9).
We are given admonitions to add things like temperance, patience, selflessness, love and humility to our character to avoid the enticements the world offers. We are told by Paul, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17). It is a matter of will on our part. Our flesh opposes the Spirit. But Paul promises, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (5:16).Â
