{"id":460,"date":"2014-04-13T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-13T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/?p=460"},"modified":"2014-04-12T15:16:37","modified_gmt":"2014-04-12T20:16:37","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-the-attraction-of-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/2014\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-the-attraction-of-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about the attraction of sin?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world\u2014the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life\u2014is 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 2:15\u201317\u2014NKJV)<\/cite> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

John\u2019s first letter is written in order to identify qualities of authentic faith and Christianity and to identify and help a believer weed out the residual habits of his sinful, old nature. Believers are glad for this valuable assist from the apostle John because the old nature has been with us as long as we can remember and will not be completely silenced until we go home to glory. <\/p>\n

The world around us is masterminded and strategically structured to traffic in things that appeal to our old nature. This blatant fact is what leads the awakened believer to own his obligation to do daily battle. In these three verses John lays out before us the avenues and the progression of Satan\u2019s strategy of entrapment. His goal is to neutralize any effective Christian testimony you may have to offer for the use of your Lord Jesus Christ. Though Satan knows he cannot have a believer (for the Christian is lost to Satan forever through the efficacy of the powerful blood of Jesus Christ) he still desires to sift, devour, accuse, and deceive believers so that the label of \u201ccastaway\u201d may be stamped upon them. <\/p>\n

In verse 15, John expresses the overriding principle that the love of God and the love of the world are mutually exclusive actions. The Greek word for world is kosmos<\/em>. It is the word from which we get \u201ccosmetics.\u201d It signifies a world ordered as a system (John 15:18\u201319). His system design is to oppose the righteousness and plan of God, both overtly and covertly. Wuest points out that Satan\u2019s system may even appear to be religious, cultured, refined, and intellectual, but it is always anti-God and anti-Christ. The system\u2019s prime activity is to seduce men away from the true God, by whatever means necessary, while its ultimate goal is the destruction of mankind, since man bears the image of his Creator, the Almighty. <\/p>\n

No believer is to love this systemic poison of the world. John chooses the familiar Greek word agapao<\/em> to identify the responsive attraction to the world known as \u201clove.\u201d It is a precise term which signifies, as Wuest says, the \u201clove called out of one\u2019s heart by the preciousness of the object loved (like Demas, in 2 Timothy 4:10, loved the present age, finding it precious and thus came to love it). The believer is to stop loving it because loving it means he cannot be loving his heavenly Father. Verse 16 explains the mechanism and the progress of the poison of the worldly system. John explains that it has a three-pronged trident used to harpoon the saint. The first two are described as \u201clust.\u201d This is a term used to describe natural desires which can range from the innocuous to the sinful. Here it speaks to a strong desire for evil things. <\/p>\n