#4 - Love The World, You're Not A Christian - 1st John

The fourth characteristic of a non- Christian is loving the world. (See previous post.)

#4 - "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world." 1 John 2:13,14

In his book, "Manifesto For A Revolution, The Kingdom of God On Earth" Alex Robertson explains what the Bible means when it uses the word "world".

"The devil is never to be underestimated. He is the master of fraud and subversion. All earthly fraud and subversion pays homage to him. As the devil is 'the prince of this world', his false kingdom is also of this world. It involves wealth, power, status and glory in this world--all that the devil has to offer. The true kingdom, as Jesus said, is 'not of this world'.

But is Jesus' kingdom not coming to earth? Yes! He didn't say it wasn't coming to this earth, he said it was 'not of this world.' The earth and the world are very different in the Bible. The earth means the physical creation; the world refers to a spiritual system. God is the king of the earth, but the 'prince of this world' is the devil. The earth is the Lord's, but Satan is 'the God of this world.' (John 12:31, 1 Corinthians 10:26; 2 Corinthians 4:4)"

The things of this world include our culture, the wisdom of mankind, and other religions. Many people claim to be Christians, yet they place culture in authority over God's word. An example of love for the world is point number two of the eight points of Progressive Christianity:

"Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God's realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us."

This expresses the "truth" of our culture. It is called post modernism and involves the belief that each person can have their own beliefs and that all beliefs are equally true. You can have your truth and I can have my own, different truth--and both "truths" are equally true. According to 1st John those who believe this are most likely not Christian.

On the other hand God says there is one truth:

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12

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