Read 1 John 2:15-29. There you will find that there are basically two ways available for man to live, the way of the world, or the way of the Word, Jesus Christ (the gospel of John chapter 1). The only question is, which one will you choose. The answer is easy if you’re not a genuine, born again believer. You have no choice but to live the way of the world. If you are a believer, while you may go the way of the world from time to time, your way of life will be the way of the Word. Hence, the way that you tend toward is the way that defines who you truly are. As you examine your life, you can identify who you are by where your attention and focus go in three basic areas, those dealing with pleasure, possessions and position.

The way of the world is discussed in 1 John 2:16. Here we see three categories that sum up “all that is in the world”: The “lust of the flesh” (pleasure), the “lust of the eyes” (possessions), and the “pride of life” (position). These things are not of God, but are of the world. The way of the world began in the garden, at the fall of man.

Look at Genesis 3:1-6. The serpent has convinced the woman to look at the tree that God had commanded her and her husband not to eat from. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (pride of life), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (verse 6). Thus was born the way of the world, and thus began a pattern of men and women chasing after pleasure, possessions and position.

From then on, men and women by their nature were prone to seek out physical pleasures (lusts of the flesh) that became the sins of fornication, gluttony, drunkenness and later addictions such as smoking, drug abuse, and so many other compulsions of what we would call a carnal lifestyle. From the fall of man down through history, people have had the tendency to do horrendous things in a never-ending quest to acquire more and more things (lust of the eyes) and to gain positions of glory, prestige, and power (pride of life).

In 2 Samuel chapter 11 King David became just one of many examples of this tragedy. First, he sees Bathsheba, another man’s wife and desires to “possess” her for his own (lust of the eyes). He takes her while her husband is off to war (lust of the flesh) and she becomes with child, David’s child. Then, to cover his sin, David abuses his position of power as king (pride of life), and arranges for Bathsheba’s husband to be sent to “the forefront of the hottest battle” so that he will be killed (verse 15).

The good news is that Jesus came to free us from the way of the world and give us life more abundant and free through His way, the way of the Word. Throughout the Bible we can see foreshadows of this way in the responses of flawed people, in righteous moments to the lure of pleasures, possessions and positions. In Genesis 39, Joseph refused to be ensnared by the lust of the flesh with Potiphar’s wife when he left his garment in her hands and fled the house. In Luke 21, the lust of the eyes was all over those who held on to their abundance at offering time while a poor widow gave her last bit of cash, “all the living she had” (verse 4). And Jonathan, in 1 Samuel 18, knowing that he was in line to rule a kingdom, but knowing that he was not God’s anointed, “made a covenant” with David (verse 3). Denying himself the pride of life, Jonathan “stripped himself” of all that made him royal and passed it to the man that God had chosen (verse 4).

Then, Jesus Himself became the chief example in Matthew 4:3-10, when he was tempted of the devil. In contrast to Eve’s failure in the garden, Jesus was victorious in resisting Satan’s prompts to turn stones into bread (lust of the flesh) when he hadn’t eaten for days (verse 3). Furthermore, Jesus turned down the devil’s offer in verse 8 of the “kingdoms of the world” (lust of the eyes), and refused to put God to a foolish test in verse 5 to prove His position of power (pride of life).

What a miraculous thing that Jesus was able to do, to resist the temptations of pleasure, possessions and position! Of course, He is God! But a true Christian with God as his ally, clothed in the righteousness of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit of God has that same power. One who is genuinely born again need only to yield to the Spirit of God in his life, and he can be empowered by God to achieve what only God through him can achieve. In fact, we are beseeched “by the mercies of God,” to present our bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God”. We are commanded not to be “conformed to this world,” but to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

Maybe this article was a blessing to you in some way, or maybe you just didn’t get it. Maybe you’re not sure what all this stuff means, or maybe you want to be born again, but aren’t sure what to do. I want to hear from you. Drop me a note.

John C. Lawton
John@JohnCLawton.org