D. Scott Meadows
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
καὶ ὁ κόσμος παράγεται, καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
A key word in this text is “but,” because it sets up a contrast between two opposite things: the way of the world, and the way of the church. The Greek word δὲ (de) is a marker of contrast, “but, on the other hand” (LN 89.124), relating the two parts of this sentence. The world is passing away, but a certain type of person abides forever.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (2.15a) because this is incompatible with “the love of the Father” (2.15b-16). Now John adduces a second reason for not loving the world: it is passing away, and from self-interest you do not want to pass away with it.
THE WAY OF THE WORLD
“The world” has many senses in Scripture and context helps clarify the meaning in each case. Worthy descriptions of its sense here include “the system of all that is opposed to God, human society controlled by evil, fallen mankind and all that it lives for. It includes all unregenerate people and their attitudes, all human concerns apart from God. It is dominated by Satan.”1
It is selfish
Thankfully, John includes almost a formal definition of the way he is using the term. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (2.16). This unholy trinity of sinfulness is characteristic of all people who are spiritually unrenewed, that is, who are not real Christians. “Lusts” simply means desires, not necessarily sexual. “The flesh” is essentially our sinful selves devoid of the Holy Spirit. Natural, selfish desires and our self-exalting pride are here condemned. This is contrasted with doing “the will of God.”
The way of the world is just people thinking what they wish to think, doing what they wish to do, and pursuing what they wish to pursue, all unchecked by the revealed will of God, without any genuine repentance and evangelical faith on their part. Nothing is more common. This whole mindset and worldly culture is ubiquitous today.
It is perishing
The verb is present tense: “passes away” (AV), “is passing away” (ESV). The process is already underway. Divine judgment is unfolding now.
“Pass away” can have the sense of heading “towards or into non-existence” (SOED). It is true, from the language of appearance, to say this of the wicked world. A new day is coming when the wicked will disappear.
For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psa 37.9-11).
God in wrath will finally rise up and kill the evildoers; He will purge the world of them, and only the righteous will remain. But the false doctrine of annihilationism runs up against the biblical testimony that after the resurrection of their bodies, sinners will suffer eternal, conscious torment wholly banished from the righteous in a place called “the lake of fire” (Rev 20.15).
THE WAY OF THE CHURCH
While John rarely uses the word “church,” it is a convenient shorthand term for the people to be distinguished from the perishing world. Here, the Church is contrasted in its way and in its destiny.
It is obedient
John shifts from referring to a huge entity called “the world” to focus upon a particular individual who stands out from it: “the (one) doing the will of God.”2 Perhaps there is the suggestion that such people are rare, and that every single one of them in view here is characterized by habitually doing God’s will, obeying His Word (present active participle of a verb, “to carry out an obligation of a moral nature,” BAGD). More accurately, the Greek text appears in a grammatical form that “God performs the action of the willing: the one who does what God wills for him to do”3 (cf. Phil 2.13). Real Christians are different because God is actively prompting them to conform to His revealed will from the heart in thought, word, and deed, as a steadfast commitment of their lives. This is a spiritual brand upon the true Church (1 John 2.3-5; 3.22, 24; 5.2). It is not that the true Christian is wholly free from the depraved desires of the unconverted, but he keeps fighting against them and keeps carrying out what he knows pleases God instead.
It is eternal
This true believer, characteristically obedient to God, “abideth for ever.” Young’s Literal Translation has, “he doth remain—to the age.” This also is a forward-looking statement. When God makes all things new, the believer, already by grace a new creature in Christ (2 Cor 5.17), passes safely through cosmic visitation of God’s righteous anger, to inherit the blessings on the other side of the purifying conflagration, in the new heaven and new earth (Rev 21.1). In the wake of heaven for the soul during the intermediate state, the true Christian, resurrected from his grave, will inherit the new creation. Amen.
Notes:
1 Anderson, J. (2008). An Exegetical Summary of 1, 2, and 3 John (2nd ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.