2:15
John uses the term “world” in a variety of ways in his writings. The most famous is, no doubt, John 3:16 where he says “God so loved the world ...”. Here he tells us not to love the world or the things of the world, and if we do then the love of the Father is not in us. So how do we reconcile the two? Quite easily. In John 3:16 world is referring to mankind as people, and God so loves mankind that He sent His Son to save us by dying on the cross. Here world means the world system, mankind in rebellion against God. So worldly thinking is anti-God thinking, and we must not love the world in its rebellion. Today we see this demonstrated most starkly in the LGBT issue. The conclusion from this verse is quite clear, if someone claims to be a Christian, but advocates a sin-affirming position on LGBT issues, then the love of the Father is not in them. However, this applies much more generally. We need to guard against being taken in by the world in any way. John tells us not to love the things of the world. That does not mean we cannot enjoy the beauty of creation or the good things of creation, but we must not worship wealth or fame. Something the church has all too often been prone to do at many points throughout history.
2:16
The world is in rebellion against God, and has been ever since the fall. Therefore if we want to know God it is utter foolishness to love the world system. In this verse John outlines what he means by the world: “the desires of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life”. Man in rebellion is guided by fleshly desires (and this does not just mean overtly sinful desires). The godly man is meant to guided by the Spirit, not by the flesh. Sinful man’s eyes see things and are guided by what he sees, again rather than being guided by the Spirit. “The pride of life” is perhaps not a very good translation, though it is a very old one and so well-established. The word used for life here means “life in its present concrete manifestation” (Westcott, as quoted in Stott). The word translated “pride” refers to boasting or bragging. So it means glorying purely in the here and now, purely in the material, thinking that our material self is all there is, and boasting about it. And this is precisely what the materialistic worldview does. But we are not just material creatures, we were created as spiritual beings. We are meant to live by the Spirit, not by the flesh. So all the thinking criticised here has nothing to do with God, and everything to do with man in rebellion against God.
2:17
Moreover, it is absolute folly to follow the world. If you choose to follow the world, then you are choosing to follow a system that is passing away and is destined for destruction. Who would want to invest in a wasting system? But if we instead do the will of God then we are choosing to obey the eternal Father, and we will abide with Him forever. The choice really should be blindingly obvious.
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