2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
John summarizes the practical problems that come out of this worldly way of thinking in three expressions in the text of 1 John 2:1–29. He says, when we think worldly, we are lured into the ways of this world, in terms of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Let us just think about those things, just a moment.
First, faith battles against the lusts of the flesh. Faith refuses to love a world that delights in these lusts. And that means that we need to resist temptations. Such as illicit drugs and smoking and overeating and excessive drinking. The lusts of our flesh. The Bible repeatedly warns against all these excesses. We must not be brought into bondage to anything physical, the Bible tells us. We are to exercise self-control. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, and we must treat it that way (1 Corinthians 6:2 and 1 Corinthians 9:27). That means we must also deny fleshly lusting against sexual immorality and all its forms. We should guard ourselves against physical intimacy outside of marriage and any kind of flirtation. We must dress modestly. These are not legalistic things. These are things to help us fight against the lusts of the flesh.
So, we must refuse to love the world. Part of that refusal means to keep ourselves and our children from things that will stir up these lusts of the flesh. Worldly music and worldly parties and worldly entertainment and all kinds of worldly things, where God is marginalized, and selfish thinking is put in the centre. Paul tells us that we must not even think about these things. But we must think about things that are honest and just and pure and lovely and of good report. Much less participate in such things. The way I look at it, is the following (correct me if I am wrong): My natural heart is so prone to lusts of the flesh, that I certainly do not need to go out and emerge myself in the world, to stir up those lusts all the more. Living separate from the world can be a bit of a help, but I still take my worldly heart with me and so I need to fight against these lusts of the flesh from within.1
Joel Beeke
15 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.