Do not love the world or the things of the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. (1 John 2:15)
What is love?
What is the world?
What does it mean to love the world? Do you love the
world?
This is an important question, as the consequences are
rather serious.
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the
world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)
Are you an enemy of God?
Or are you His friend?
How do you know?
The Master told His twelve disciples, “You are
My friends if you do what I command you.” But
what was His command? This is My commandment, that you
love one another just as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
So what is love? Is love a feeling?
How did He love His disciples?
The answer to this question settles the matter of whether
you are a friend or an enemy of God. Do you want to know?
Friends of God
The Greek word translated love in the verses above means
the direction of the will towards whomever or whatever one
finds his joy in, which is inescapably revealed in how
one spends his time, money, and energy.
The gospels show us exactly how Yahshua spent His time
and energy. He did not take one thought for Himself. His
attention was always on His disciples. He was always serving
them, teaching them, encouraging them, and correcting them.
It was His full-time occupation. And then He died for them.
Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that
His hour had come that He would depart out of this world
to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world,
He loved them to the end. (John 13:1)
That is how He loved them. And that is how He commanded
them to love one another. They were to lay down their lives
for one another daily. It was to be their full-time occupation.
It was no accident or mistake that the church began as a
community, as the book of Acts records:
Now all who believed were together, and had all things
in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided
them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house
to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity
of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being
saved. (Acts 2:44-47)
Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart
and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things
he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor
was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the
proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at
the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as
anyone had need. (Acts 4:32-35)
Living together in community was the only way they could
practically obey their Master’s commandments, to give
up everything to follow Him, and to love one another as
He had loved them, and to seek first His kingdom without
worrying about what they would eat or what they would wear.
How can anyone not worry about where his food and clothing
will come from? Only if his brothers and sisters are taking
care of his needs. In the true Body of Messiah all are continually
serving one another according to each one’s particular
grace and gifting, doing the works prepared for them to
walk in. That is how each one practically obeys the command
to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,”
with the result that each one has everything he needs.
Someone has the grace and gifting to take care of the clothing
needs for the community, while someone else makes sure there
is healthy food on the table, while others work to provide
an income, to maintain their dwellings, to teach the children,
to shepherd the flock, etc. Every member of the Body labors
on behalf of all, and none need be anxious for their own
life.
That is how disciples love one another. They direct their
will toward the One they love, who lives in their brothers
and sisters. Only by loving and serving them can they practically
love and serve Him. He lives where they live, and He honors
those who serve Him where He lives — in the community
of the redeemed. They are His friends, and He reveals Himself
to them because they obey His commandments.
Enemies of God
So who are His enemies? They are those who claim to be His
friends, but do not obey His commandments. They claim
to love Him, and even to love one another, but the lion’s
share of their time and energy is consumed in making a comfortable
life for themselves in this world.
Remember, what the Bible calls “love” is not
a feeling. It is the direction of your will towards the
object of your love. Your love is measured by what captures
your attention, by what you take delight in, and by where
you spend your time, money, and energy. That is the fact
of the matter, regardless of how you feel.
Whom or what do you love? What is the direction of your
will?
Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1
John 2:15)
What is the world? What are the things of the world?
For all that is in the world — the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life —
is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world
is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the
will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:16-17)
There are the obvious things — television, movies, sports,
luxuries, lust, pursuit of wealth and power. But these are
merely the outward manifestations of living for one’s
self. That is the root of the problem. You must hate your
life in this world. Until you reach that point, you remain
a friend of the world and an enemy of God.
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and
his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26)
Love versus Hate
Just as “love” in the Gospels is not merely
a feeling of good will or affection towards someone or something,
neither is “hate” a feeling of animosity or
malice. When the Master called His disciples to follow Him,
He was demanding nothing less than a 180" turn in the direction
of their will. That is what it means to repent, to hate
one’s life in this world, and to begin serving Him
where He is.
Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James
the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with
Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
and immediately they left the boat and their father, and
followed Him. (Matthew 4:21-22)
Until that day all their time and energy had gone into making
a living with their father, and suddenly the direction of
their will changed and all their time and energy went into
serving their new Master. Their father might well have taken
their newfound love for this Messiah as hatred towards himself,
but they could not serve two masters. They had to forsake
the gods of making their own living and pleasing their parents
in order to follow Messiah.
It was the same with all of the disciples, as Peter declared,
“See, we have left all and followed You!”
The Master’s reply to Peter reveals the result of
this redirection of the will, the result of hating one’s
life in this world in order to love and obey Him:
So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to
you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My
sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold
now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions —
and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:29-30)
The result is the common life described in Acts 2 and 4
(quoted previously), the community of those who were redeemed
from their lonely, futile existence in the world, and given
the full-time occupation of loving one another just as He
loved them. In place of whatever they left behind they would
receive a hundredfold new brothers and sisters, fathers
and mothers, children, houses and farms — along with persecution
from those who love this world and hate the true message
of the gospel and the abundant life it produces.
Friend or Foe?
What is the direction of your will? What consumes your time
and energy? Is it love for the world and the things of the
world? Or is it love for the people and the things of God?
We know that we have passed from death to life, because
we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides
in death. ... By this we know love, because He laid down
His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives
for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods,
and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from
him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children,
let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in
truth. (1 John 3:14-18)
It does not say, “We know that we have passed from
death to life because we asked Jesus into our heart.”
How would you know whether He accepted the invitation?
The validity of our belief is tested by what we do —
by the direction of our will, not by what we think or feel.
It is according to whether we do the principal thing that
the Master said would distinguish us as His disciples:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)
How can you love your brothers just as Yahshua loved His
disciples, laying down your life for them, if you only see
them once or twice a week? Living your independent life
insulates you from actually seeing your brother in need
(materially or otherwise) so that you can comfortably withhold
your life and livelihood from him and spend it on yourself.
But the true gospel produces a life of true community in
which it is possible to obey the commandments, the foremost
of which is to love one another — to lay down your life
for your brothers each and every day. It takes a community.
Apart from the common life of true believers dwelling together
in unity, demonstrating that the love of the Father is
in them, all that remains is the love of the world, and
the things of the world — the life of those who are...
...separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)
So have you arrived at a conclusion? Are you a friend or
an enemy of God? Are you with Him or against Him, gathering
or scattering? What is the direction of your will?
We would like you to gather with us in one of the places
where He has caused His name to dwell, where brothers are
living together in unity. Perhaps you didn’t even
know there was such a place. All our communities worldwide are listed here. You are always welcome!
For more on the name Yahshua, see What’s
in a Name
John 15:14
Hebrews 12:2
John 13:34-35
John 15:12-13; 1 John 3:16-17; Luke 9:23;
Acts 2:46; Hebrews 3:13; 12:15
Mark 10:29-30;
Luke 14:33
John 13:34-35; 15:12-13
Matthew
6:31-33
Romans 12:1-13; Ephesians 4:16;
2 Corinthians 5:15
Ephesians 2:10
Matthew
6:31-33
1 John 4:20; Colossians 1:24
John 12:26
John 15:12-15; 14:21
1
John 2:4
John 12:25
James 4:4
John 12:25-26
Matthew 10:34-39; Luke 12:51-53
Matthew 6:24
Even the Master Himself
had to make this choice to risk offending His earthly mother in order
to do the will of His heavenly Father
(Mark 3:21,31-35).
Mark 10:28
John 2:23-24
John 13:17; Matthew 7:24; John
14:15,21,23,24; Rev 22:14 (NKJV)
Psalm
133; John 17:20-23
Romans
5:5; 1 John 3:17
Matthew 12:30
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