Loving God When Religion Encourages Worldliness (pt. 2)

You and I, and in fact, all mankind throughout all the world, have a problem.  The problem is that God is holy and we are unholy.  God is righteous and we are unrighteous.  God is perfect and we are imperfect.  Sin, our sin, must be atoned for, or else we are lost and undone before this holy God.  But, by His grace, sin has been atoned for in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  All who repent of sin and trust Him will be forgiven and are assured that they have a home in heaven.  We are in the world, and the world was once in us, but we are to no longer love the world.  Rather, we are to love God.

II.  The concerns.  (1 John 2:15b-16)

     A.  Love for the world will cause you to not love the Father.  (2:15b)

     B.  Love for the world will result in sinful attitudes and actions.  (2:16)

          1.  Love for the world will result in sinful attitudes of the flesh.

               "The desires (lusts) of the flesh"

          2.  Love for the world will result in sinful attitudes of the eyes.

               "The desires (lusts) of the eyes"

          3.  Love for the world will result in sinful actions, specifically in this context, boasting.

               "pride in possessions"

III.  The conclusion.  (1 John 2:17)

     The world and all that is in it is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.  (Here is the assurance of God given to the believer.)