1 John 2:15

Contextual Overview

¹² You children, I am writing you because your sins have been forgiven for his sake. ¹² I write to you, children, because [your] sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. ¹² I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. ¹² I am writing to you, little children,Luke 24:47; Acts 4:12; 10:43; 13:38; 1 John 1:7;">[xr] because your sins have been forgivenon account of his name. ¹² 12 I write to you, sons [fn] because forgiven to you are your sins for the sake of his name. ¹² I write to you, ye children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. ¹² I write unto you, my little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. ¹² I am writing to you, my children, because you have forgiveness of sins through his name. ¹² I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. ¹² Litle children, I write vnto you, because your sinnes are forgiuen you for his Names sake.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Love not: 1 John 4:5, 1 John 5:4, 1 John 5:5, 1 John 5:10, John 15:19, Romans 12:2, Galatians 1:10, Ephesians 2:2, Colossians 3:1, Colossians 3:2, 1 Timothy 6:10

If: Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13, James 4:4

the love: 1 John 3:17

Reciprocal: Genesis 13:10 - and beheld Leviticus 11:20 - General Deuteronomy 10:12 - love Joshua 7:21 - I saw Judges 16:15 - when thine Psalms 10:3 - and blesseth Psalms 119:10 - my whole Ecclesiastes 11:9 - in the sight Jeremiah 22:17 - thine eyes Hosea 10:2 - Their heart is divided Matthew 4:8 - and showeth Matthew 6:19 - General Matthew 13:22 - the care Matthew 22:5 - one Mark 4:7 - General Mark 4:19 - and the lusts Mark 8:33 - savourest Mark 10:22 - for Luke 4:5 - taking Luke 8:14 - and are Luke 14:18 - I have Luke 14:33 - General Luke 16:25 - thy good Luke 18:23 - he was very sorrowful John 5:42 - that John 8:23 - Ye are from Romans 1:25 - the creature Romans 6:12 - in the lusts Romans 7:7 - Thou shalt Romans 8:7 - the carnal mind Romans 13:14 - and Galatians 1:4 - from Galatians 5:16 - and Galatians 6:14 - the world 1 Timothy 6:9 - many 2 Timothy 4:10 - having Titus 2:12 - denying Hebrews 12:1 - let us lay James 1:27 - to keep James 4:1 - come they 1 Peter 2:11 - abstain 2 Peter 1:4 - having

Cross-References

Genesis 2:2
And God had finished on the seventh day his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Genesis 2:2
God finished the work he was doing, so on the seventh day he rested from his work.

Genesis 2:2
On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Genesis 2:2
And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

Genesis 2:2
And on the seventh day God came to the end of all his work; and on the seventh day he took his rest from all the work which he had done.

Genesis 2:2
And in the seuenth day God ended his worke whiche he had made. And the seueth day he rested from all his worke which he had made.

Genesis 2:2
For in the seuenth day GOD ended his worke which he had made, and the seuenth day he rested from al his worke, which he had made.

Genesis 2:2
And on the sixth day God, finished his works which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made.

Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working.

Genesis 2:2
And God finished on the sixth day his works which he made, and he ceased on the seventh day from all his works which he made.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Love not the world,.... The habitable earth, the world in which men live; this is not to be loved by saints, as if it was their habitation, where they are always to be, and so loath to remove from it, seeing they are but sojourners, and pilgrims, and strangers here; this is not their rest, nor dwellingplace, their continuing city, or proper country, that is heaven. Nor should they love the men of the world, who are as they came into it, are of it, and mind the things of it, and lie in wickedness, and are wicked men; for though these are to be loved, as men, as fellow creatures, and their good, both spiritual and temporal, is to be sought, and good is to be done to them, as much as lies in our power, both with respect to soul and body; yet their company is not to be chosen, and preferred to the saints, but to be shunned and avoided, as disagreeable and dangerous; their evil conversation, and wicked communications, are not to be loved, but abhorred, and their works of darkness are to be reproved; nor are their ways to be imitated, and their customs followed, or their manners to be conformed unto:

neither the things [that are] in the world; good men that are in the world, though they are not of the world, are to be loved; and the kingdom of Christ, though it is not of the world, yet it is in the world, and is to be regarded and promoted to the uttermost; and there are the natural and civil things of the world, called this world's goods, which may be loved within due bounds, and used in a proper manner, though they are not to be loved inordinately and abused. This is the character of worldly men; so the Jews call such,

אהבי העולם הזה, "such that love world" g. Near relations and friends in the world, and the blessings of life, may be loved and enjoyed in their way, but not above God and Christ, or so as to take up satisfaction and contentment in them, to make idols of them, and put trust and confidence in them, and prefer them to spiritual and heavenly things, and be so taken with them, as to be unconcerned for, and careless about the other; but the evil things of the world, or at least the evil use of them, and affection for them, are here intended, as appears from the following verse. Now it is chiefly with respect to the fathers, and young men, that this exhortation is given; and the repetition of what is said to them before is made, to introduce this; which is exceeding suitable to their age and characters. Old men are apt to be covetous, and love the world and worldly things, just when they are going out of it, and about to leave them; and young men are apt to be carried away with lust, vanity, ambition, and pride: and therefore, from each of these, the apostle dissuades, from the following arguments,

if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; that is, "the love of God", as the Alexandrian copy and the Ethiopic version read; who is the Father of Christ, and of all the elect in him; and who is indeed, by creation, the Father of all men, the Father of spirits, of the souls of men, and of angels, and the Father of mercies and of lights, and by the love of him is meant, either the love with which he loves his people, and which being shed abroad in the heart, attracts the soul to himself, and causes it to love him above the world, and all things in it; and such an one esteems of it, and an interest in it, more than life, and all the enjoyments of it, and is by it loosened to the world, and sets light by it, and can part with all good things in it, and suffer all evil things cheerfully, under the constraints and influence of this love; so that it is a clear case, that when the affections of men are set upon the world, and they are glued to the things of it, their hearts are not warmed with a sense of the love of God, or, that is not sensibly in them, or shed abroad in their hearts: or else by the love of God is meant love to God, which is inconsistent with the love of the world, or with such an inordinate love of mammon, as to serve it; for a man may as soon serve two masters, as serve God and mammon, which he can never do truly, faithfully, and affectionately; and which also is not consistent with friendship with the men of the world, or a conversation and fellowship with them in things that are evil, whether superstition or profaneness; see Matthew 6:24.

g Kimchi in Psal. xlix. 9. Ben Melech in ib. ver. 14.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Love not the world - The term “world” seems to be used in the Scriptures in three senses:

1. As denoting the physical universe; the world as it appears to the eye; the world considered as the work of God, as a material creation.

(2)The world as applied to the people that reside in it - “the world of mankind.”

(3)As the dwellers on the earth are by nature without religion, and act under a set of maxims, aims, and principles that have reference only to this life, the term comes to be used with reference to that community; that is, to the objects which they especially seek, and the principles by which they are actuated.

Considered with reference to the first sense of the word, it is not improper to love the world as the work of God, and as illustrating his perfections; for we may suppose that God loves his own works, and it is not wrong that we should find pleasure in their contemplation. Considered with reference to the second sense of the word, it is not wrong to love the people of the world with a love of benevolence, and to have attachment to our kindred and friends who constitute a part of it, though they are not Christians. It is only with reference to the word as used in the third sense that the command here can be understood to be applicable, or that the love of the world is forbidden; with reference to the objects sought, the maxims that prevail, the principles that reign in that community that lives for this world as contradistinguished from the world to come. The meaning is, that we are not to fix our affections on worldly objects - on what the world can furnish - as our portion, with the spirit with which they do who live only for this world, regardless of the life to come. We are not to make this world the object of our chief affection; we are not to be influenced by the maxims and feelings which prevail among those who do. Compare the Romans 12:2 note, and James 4:4 note. See also Matthew 16:26; Luk 9:25; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 3:19; Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:8.

Neither the things that are in the world - Referred to in the next verse as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” This explanation shows what John meant by “the things that are in the world.” He does not say that we are in no sense to love “anything” that is in the material world; that we are to feel no interest in flowers, and streams, and forests, and fountains; that we are to have no admiration for what God has done as the Creator of all things; that we are to cherish no love for any of the inhabitants of the world, our friends and kindred; or that we are to pursue none of the objects of this life in making provision for our families; but that we are not to love the things which are sought merely to pamper the appetite, to please the eye, or to promote pride in living. These are the objects sought by the people of the world; these are not the objects to be sought by the Christian.

If any man love the world ... - If, in this sense, a person loves the world, it shows that he has no true religion; that is, if characteristically he loves the world as his portion, and lives for that; if it is the ruling principle of his life to gain and enjoy that, it shows that his heart has never been renewed, and that he has no part with the children of God. See the James 4:4 note; Matthew 6:24 note.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 15. Love not the world — Though these several classes were so well acquainted with Divine things, and had all tasted the powers of the world to come: yet so apt are men to be drawn aside by sensible things, that the Holy Spirit saw it necessary to caution these against the love of the world, the inordinate desire of earthly things. Covetousness is the predominant vice of old age: Ye fathers, love not the world. The things which are in the world, its profits, pleasures, and honours, have the strongest allurements for youth; therefore, ye young men, little children, and babes, love not the things of this world. Let those hearts abide faithful to God who have taken him for their portion.

The love of the Father is not in him. — The love of God and the love of earthly things are incompatible. If you give place to the love of the world, the love of God cannot dwell in you; and if you have not his love, you can have no peace, no holiness, no heaven.