Love Not the World (Part 1)

Notes
Transcript
Why do we need this study?

Because God knows that even his own children have a strong inclination toward loving the world

Does the world seem desirable to us? The world offers seductive promises of delight and pleasure. And those promises are not completely empty. The world offers just enough pleasure to ensnare us so that it can enslave us and force us into rebellion against our Creator.
1 John 2:15 ESV
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.
Scripture does not waste its words- Do not love the world! God bluntly warns us against loving the world because He knows we have a natural inclination to do just that.
Is there anything good about the world that deserves our love? But it is so good at pretending to be lovely. If there were anything lovely anything of virtue within the world then it would warrant our love. But the world is not lovely. It only pretends to be so, and it deserves to be unmasked and to have its ugliness put on full display so that we might learn by aid of the Holy Spirit to deny it and hate it.
Why do we need this study?

Because of the fallen human instinct to assume the best about ourselves

How many of you view yourself as a good driver? If you had to rate your driving skills from 1 to 100% what percentage would you give yourself?
What percentage would you give the average driver on your commute to work? Do you view other drivers on the road as good drivers?
A 2011 survey of 848 US drivers found 64% rated themselves as “excellent” or “very good” drivers, while placing less than 30% of other, even their close friends, in the same categories.
What percentage of people within your Bible-believing circles do you consider worldly? Do you consider yourself worldly? Do you think if we polled everyone in this church that they would see more worldliness in others than they see in themselves?
Part of the curse of sin, part of our fallen sinful natures is to assume the best about ourselves.
Luke 6:41–42 ESV
41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Luke 10:29 (ESV)
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Why did the lawyer ask Jesus this question? He wanted to think of himself as a good person. He doesn’t want to view himself as an unloving person unworthy of eternal life, so he attempts to get Jesus to agree with his own definition of who his neighbor was (probably a relatively small group of people). Why? The flesh always thinks it is better than it is!
Why do we need this study?

Because our fleshly tendency toward self-satisfaction causes us to have confidence in our lifestyle preferences

Many of our lifestyle preferences are not the result of exercising biblical discernment. We do not make enough of our lifestyle choices based on searching the Scriptures in a self-examining way. Rather we tend to assume that God agrees with our choices. We forget that there is coming a day of accountability at the Judgement Seat of Christ.
“Nothing is more important to the believer in the process of making life’s decisions than a deliberate submission to the Word of God, couple with as clear as possible an understanding of what the Scripture teaches on the matter at issue.” — Randy Leedy
Issue is one of discernment. We generally lack a refined ability to exercise sound discretion or wise biblical discernment.
Why do we need this study?

Because of the controversy that surrounds contemporary application

Too often we tend to jump into specific applications of “worldliness” to contemporary issues. There are many and numerous differences of views as to how this topic applies to areas such as style in music, personal grooming, and so on. To what degree do these and other areas of life fall under personal liberty vs the bible’s admonition against worldliness?
Because such differences exist we would do well to think carefully about the question of application in general before we make dogmatic claims. We must consider the possibility that our personal convictions, preferences, and loves that we have already formed are likely to distort our judgement and prevent objective evaluation.
Thus, before we are ready to grasp and obey the Lord’s instructions regarding worldliness we must have a thorough grounding in two major issues:
The Bible’s general teaching on the nature of the world and the believer’s relationship to it.
The principles to guide our application of this teaching to specific aspects of our lives.
Why do we need this study?

Because of the issue of legalism

Any study that intends to exert moral authority on the student to deny oneself is sure to be labeled by some as “legalism.”
Some will call a study of worldliness “Graceless.”
How would you define legalism?
Can you give any clear examples in the Scripture of someone who is a legalist?
Example #1: Pharisees
Luke 18:9 (ESV)
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
What is the example that Jesus gives in the following context?
Luke 18:10–14 ESV
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Example #2: Pharisees and Scribes
Luke 15:1–2 ESV
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
In response to this Jesus tells many parables, lost sheep, lost coin, and the prodigal son.
Luke 15:29–30 ESV
29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
What is the attitude of the older son in this parable?
The elder brother angrily reminds his father of his lifelong, unwavering obedience in contrast to this brother’s lawless lifestyle. All the while completely unaware of how deeply his conduct at that very moment, as he vents his hatred, dishonors and grieves his father.
Luke 18:9 ESV
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
This verse sums up both instances of the legalist very well.
“One of the marks of a legalist is that he loves rules so that he can keep them and then congratulate himself on his success.” — Randy Leedy
Is loving the rules always a mark of a legalist?
Psalm 119:127 ESV
127 Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.
Psalm 119:167 ESV
167 My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.
John 8:29 ESV
29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
John 15:10 ESV
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
What is the difference? Why do some who love the rules like the Pharisees turn into legalists? And some like David and Jesus do not?
David’s and Jesus’ obedience was not self-righteous!
“It is rather their wise, proper, and heartfelt response to God’s benevolent authority and to the inherent rightness and value of His commands. Rightly motivates obedience based on wise understanding is not legalism!” — Randy Leedy
Hospital Illustration: pp. 9-10
“The legalist keeps the rules for the sake of some self-deceived sense of superiority. Rather, this study is a plea for all of us who love the Lord to put our heads and our hearts together in a careful searching of the Scriptures to pursue a clear understanding of the direction our Father has given us about the realities of our situation and how to handle them. Our culture is full of deadly toxins and pathogens, and dangerous instruments and situations. The desire to understand and then diligently and methodically to act always in the interest of health and safety, to the glory of God, is what I trust will emerge as the spirit of this book. This is not legalism!” —Randy Leedy

Defining the World (Part 1)

Old Testament Foundations

We want to begin our study by defining one word, “WORLD.”
What is the difference in definition between these two statements?
“God created the world in six days.”
“The world hates God”
This study is not about the physical earth or its animals and human inhabitants considered without respect to their morality.
This study is about those aspects of human culture in which unbelievers manifest their rejection of and hostility toward God.
What is the relationship between the world and culture?
How would you define culture?
“Culture is simply the set of patters of thought, communication, and behavior shared by a group of people living together as a society. It results from the natural human tendency to imitate what we observe in others, and without it social harmony would be impossible.”
Is human culture good or bad?
Are some parts of human culture worthy of respect and value? Are some parts bad and sinful? Why?
Human cultures are sinner’s cultures, featuring various forms of sinfulness. How do we tell what parts of culture are good and worthy of value and what parts are sinful?
“Scripture shines upon culture the light of truth and holiness, enabling us to evaluate the moral character of a given culture’s various elements.
What are some factors that makes this evaluation difficult?
Differences in culture across boundaries of place, language, and time. Yet Scripture is sufficient. Aspects of human culture approved of by Scripture are to be embraced; those rejected are to be shunned. Easy right?
What about the aspects of a culture that many not receive definitive evaluation in Scripture? Those are the cases where our task is most difficult.
“The Scripturally rejected aspects of a given culture are what we may call the world within that society.” —Randy Leedy
World is the bad part of culture.” —John Frame
So let us turn our attention to studying the term “world” from the OT testament. The problem is that the term “world” does not occur all that frequently in the OT. Most English translations use the term “world” between forty to sixty times. And most of those occurence refer to the physical creation or to humanity as a whole.
Psalm 17:14 ESV
14 from men by your hand, O Lord, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.
Ps 17:14 is perhaps the most relevant for our study. The phrase “men of the world” is closest to the idea of love not the world. There are also some references to God judging the world that may also come close to our topic.
Psalm 9:8 ESV
8 and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.
Psalm 96:13 ESV
13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalm 98:9 ESV
9 before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
However, the idea of God judging the world does not need to be restricted to condemnation and punishment. God could be judging both the righteous and the unrighteous in these texts.
So we must turn our attention to another term for our study.

“The Nations” in the the Old Testament

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