First John 2:16 says, “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” The world in verse 15 denotes an evil, Satanic, anti-God system that is constituted of the things created by God. Satan has used these things to form his system. However, these things are not the contents of the satanic world system. This system comprises the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of the present life. Love of the world is comprehensive, but love of the things that are in the world is a more practical term.
The lust of the flesh, the passionate desire of the body, is mainly related to the body. Because the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil entered into the human race, our body became fallen and corrupted. Adam and Eve, our first parents, partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, an evil element came into the human race, and now this element is in our physical body. From experience we know that an evil, satanic element dwells in man’s nature.
The lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes. When the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil came into the human body, the body became flesh. Because the body encompasses the soul, the soul fell under the influence of the fallen body. As a result, our soul also has been corrupted. Therefore, the soul, our psychological being, has become lustful due to the influence of the fallen body.
The fallen soul and body now work together. Our body influences our soul, and our soul influences our body. The body and the soul work together whenever we do something sinful. Because of this mutual operation of body and soul, it is difficult to say whether it is the body or the soul that takes the initiative to commit sin. Therefore, on the one hand, we have the lust of the flesh; on the other hand, we have the lust of the eyes. Apparently, the lust of the eyes is simply part of the lust of the flesh. Actually, this refers to something within our body. Our eyes are lustful because our soul is lustful. The lust in our eyes, therefore, comes from our soul.
The vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things of the present life. The Greek word rendered “life” in 2:16 is bios, a word that refers to the physical life and also to the present life. It differs from the Greek word zoe used in 1 John 1:1-2, a word that refers to the divine life.
In the New Testament three Greek words are used for life: zoe, which refers to the divine life, the life of God; psuche, which refers to our human life, our soulish or psychological life; and bios, which refers to physical life. The Greek word bios also denotes the present life. Hence, the vainglory of life means the vainglory of the present life. Whatever takes place in human society is the present life. With the present, earthly life there is vainglory. This vainglory includes empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things.
First John 2:17 says, “The world is passing away, and its lust, but he who practices the will of God abides forever.” As the world is against God the Father, so the things in the world, which are its lust, are against the will of God. On the positive side, we have the Father and His will. On the negative side, we have the world and all the things in the world. The world is against the Father, and the things in the world are against the will of the Father.
According to verse 17, the world is passing away and its lust, but he who practices the will of God abides forever. To practice the will of God is to do the will of God habitually and continually, not merely occasionally. The world, its lust, and those who love the world are passing away. But God, His will, and those who do His will abide forever.
Because God is so great, we cannot contact Him as a whole but only a portion of Him. This portion which we contact is called the will of God. Whenever we contact God, we contact only the portion emanating from Him, which we call the will of God. The world is in opposition to God, and the things that are in the world are in opposition to the will of God.
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