1 John 2:15-17

The scriptures teach us that we are temporarily located in a body which is located temporarily in a temporary world. It is not surprising that we are naturally conditioned by all this temporariness. Yet, that is a real problem since, being created in His (eternal) image, we are anything but temporary.

John, an emanate apostle and a disciple who understood as well as anyone what a normal intimate relationship with God looked like, knew that it was in man to give his affections either to the temporary or the eternal. His Master had taught Him (Mt 6:24) that men are either going to love one or the other and that; “if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him”.

The religious deal with worldliness by way of prohibition; “Thou shalt not” is the spirit of their creeds. Those who are resting in Christ’s righteousness are in the world but they are unfettered by this spirit and its prohibitions. Rather, they are focused on the promise; “And this is the promise which He Himself made to us; eternal life”. (check out 1 Cor 6:12 and 10:23)

So how are we to live out our lives as eternal spirits in a world that “is passing away?  All of scripture speaks to this in one way or another but John gives us a great insight in 1 John 2:29

“Little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.”

The scripture tells us that Satan has some authority in this temporary world. He wields it through deception. By leveraging the temporal, as if that were all there is, the prince of this (temporary) age reigns over a network of ideas that are designed to distract us from the eternal. But, “.…the anointing (gift of the Spirit) which you received from Him abides in you…. His anointing teaches you about all (these) things”. (1 Jn 2:27) And …in verse 17, John tells us that; if we will do the will of God we will abide forever.

We will succeed in “not loving the world” best by not turning this apostolic command into a list of laws and prohibitions. We will succeed best in loving God by abiding in His promises and abiding in intimate fellowship with Him.

“As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you will also abide in the Son and in the Father”. (1 Jn 2:24)

Father, may we hear and respond to the anointing of Your Holy Spirit within us, Who would help us renew our minds in every way where we have been conditioned and conformed to the temporal. Holy Spirit, please teach us to reinvest our affections in You. When Jesus appears once again may it be apparent that we have been abiding in you. Amen.