According to the context, the young men have overcome the evil one, the one who formed this anti-God system, the one who has systematized all things, all persons, and all matters. How can the young men overcome this evil one? They can overcome him because they have the word of God abiding in them. The Word of God is also their refuge, stronghold, and fortress. Day by day, the young men need to stay in the Word of God. We know from our experience that when the word of God abides in us and we stay in the Word as our refuge, we are protected from the evil one.
In 5:19 John says that the whole world system lies in the evil one. Not only has this evil one systematized everything, but the entire system lies in him. We may use a patient in surgery as an illustration of the world lying in the evil one. In surgery, a patient is anesthetized and lies on the operating table. The surgeon is then able to operate on the patient, and the patient has no consciousness of what is happening. This is a picture of the whole world lying under the hand of Satan. Those in the world are unconscious of the fact that they are lying on the “surgery table” of the evil one and that he is “operating” on them.
In verse 15 John charges us not to love the world or the things in the world. He tells us that if we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us. Not loving the world is the ground for overcoming the evil one. However, if we love the world, this will give the evil one the ground to occupy us. Whenever we open ourselves to the world, to Satan’s anti-God system, we lose the battle against him.
In verse 16 John speaks concerning the things in the world: “Because 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 lust of the flesh is the passionate desire of the body; the lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes; and the vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things of the present life. These are the components of the world.
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 has 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.
Asceticism is an attempt to deal with the lust of the flesh. However, asceticism is not effective in dealing with the passionate desire of the body. In certain Christian writings we can see the element of asceticism. For example, we can find asceticism in the famous book, The Imitation of Christ. Some Christian teachings concerning bearing the cross actually bring in asceticism. In the four Gospels the Lord Jesus clearly spoke concerning the cross. However, we should not confuse the genuine bearing of the cross with asceticism. No matter to what extent people may mistreat their body by following ascetic practices, asceticism will not work in dealing with the lust of the body.
In verse 16 John also speaks about the lust of the eyes. We have pointed out that 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.