1 John 2.15c-The Believer Who Loves the World Does Not Love the Father
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 25, 2017
First John: 1 John 2:15c-The Believer Who Loves the World Does Not Love the Father
Lesson # 71
1 John 2:15 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. (ESV)
“If anyone loves the world” is composed of the following: (1) conditional particle ean (ἐάν), “if” (2) nominative masculine singular form of the indefinite pronoun tis (τις), “anyone” (3) third person singular present active subjunctive form of the verb agapaō (ἀγαπάω), “loves” (4) articular accusative masculine singular form of the noun kosmos (κόσμος), “the world.”
The conditional particle ean is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb agapaō in order to form the protasis of a third class condition which offers a condition, the fulfillment of which is realized in the present time which is also called a fifth class condition.
The protasis is “if anyone loves the world” and the apodosis is “the love of the Father is not in him.”
John is offering no indication about the likelihood of the protasis being fulfilled and there is no hint of uncertainty about this event not occurring nor some eventuality being presented.
Rather, the fifth class condition is expressing an eternal spiritual principle or spiritual axiom with regards to loving the cosmic system of Satan.
The subjunctive mood is employed because the subject is undefined and not because the time is future.
It is undefined because this spiritual principle is applicable for each and every believer including John.
Thus, 1 John 2:15 is not speaking of any one individual in particular.
But rather he is referring to an unidentified hypothetical individual in the Christian community since John is not speaking of a specific individual but rather he is communicating an eternal spiritual principle with regards to the believer loving the cosmic system of Satan.
Therefore, this fifth class conditional statement is simply presenting an eternal spiritual principle that if any believer loves the cosmic system, then the love for the Father is unequivocally not resident in their soul.
The relationship between the protasis and the apodosis is “cause-effect.”
The cause: “if anyone loves the world.”
The effect: “the love of the Father is not in him.”
The nominative masculine singular form of the indefinite pronoun tis means “anyone” since the word pertains to a reference to someone indefinite who is being written about by John.
Here it refers to a hypothetical believer in the Roman province of Asia or a hypothetical believer living anywhere on planet earth.
The verb agapaō means “to love” in the sense of loving the cosmic system of Satan is to take pleasure in it because one holds it in high esteem, and reveres, and worships it, liking and respecting it and making it more important that one’s relationship with God.
The noun kosmos refers to the cosmic system of Satan which is indicated by the word’s articular constriction which is anaphoric.
This means that this noun is retaining the same meaning and referent here in this fifth class conditional statement as it did in the prohibition and the previous prepositional phrase.
The present tense of this verb is a gnomic present which is used in a generic statement to describe something that is true “any time” rather than a universal statement that is true “all the time.”
Therefore, the gnomic present of this verb expresses the idea that if any believer “does at any time” love the cosmic system of Satan.
The noun agapē means “love” and does not refer to the function of human love but rather the exercise of divine-love that is produced by the Holy Spirit through the believer who is obedient to the Spirit inspired teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ since the word’s object is the Father.
This noun is used of the love for God the Father manifested in the life of a believer who is obedient to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles.
The noun agapē therefore refers to the vertical rather than the horizontal aspect of divine-love since the Father is the object of this love.
“The love of the Father is not in him” is composed of the following: (1) emphatic negative adverb ou (οὔ), “not” (2) third person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (εἰμί), “is” (3) articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun agapē (ἀγάπη), “the love” (4) articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun pater (πατήρ), “the Father” (5) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (6) dative third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “him.”
The verb eimi means “to exist in a particular state or condition” and its meaning is emphatically negated by the emphatic negative adverb ou, which expresses an absolute, direct and full negation and should be translated “unequivocally not.”
The adjective “unequivocal,” which the adverb “unequivocally” is derived from, refers to that which is absolute, not subject to conditions or exceptions.
It refers to something that is not subject to dispute or challenge.
Therefore, in this fifth class conditional statement, John teaches his readers that if any believer does love the cosmic system of Satan, then the love for the Father is “unequivocally not” resident and active in their soul.
This emphatic negative adverb ou indicates that John is making an absolute statement that applies to every believer who loves the cosmic system of Satan, without exception.
It indicates that this statement is not subject to challenge, or dispute, not subject to conditions or exceptions because it is an eternal spiritual truth.
The present tense of the verb eimi is a gnomic present which is used to make a statement of a general, timeless fact and is making an absolute statement which pertains to any believer who loves the cosmic system of Satan.
Therefore, the gnomic present indicates that if any believer does loves the cosmic system of Satan, then the love for the Father is as an “eternal spiritual truth,” unequivocally not resident and active in their soul.
The noun patēr means “Father” referring to the first member of the Trinity which is indicated by the word’s articular construction which in the New Testament is commonly used to signify the first member of the Trinity unless otherwise indicated by the context.
The noun functions as an objective genitive which means that it functions semantically as the direct object of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun which is agapē.
This would indicate that the Father is receiving the action of being loved by the believer.
This is not a subjective genitive referring to the Father’s love for the believer but rather the believer’s love for the Father because it stands in opposition to believer’s love for the world.
The issue at stake is the object of the believer’s love.
The dative third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός) means “him” referring to a hypothetical believer who loves the cosmic system of Satan.
The word is the object of the preposition en, which means “in” since the word functions a marker of a state or condition.
This would indicate that the love for the Father is unequivocally not existing in the state of being in the soul of the believer who loves the cosmic system of Satan.
1 John 2:15 Each one of you continue making it your habit of not loving the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone does at any time love this world, then the love for the Father is unequivocally not existing in him. (My translation)
After issuing these two prohibitions in 1 John 2:15, the apostle John then employs a fifth class conditional statement which expresses an eternal spiritual truth as related to loving the cosmic system of Satan.
In this fifth class conditional statement, John solemnly asserts that if any believer does at any time love the cosmic system of Satan, then the love for the Father is, as an eternal spiritual truth unequivocally not existing in the state of being in them.
He is not speaking of any one individual in particular.
But rather he is referring to a hypothetical individual in the Christian community since John is not speaking of a specific individual but rather he is communicating an eternal spiritual principle with regards to the believer loving the cosmic system of Satan.
By loving this cosmic system, John is referring to taking pleasure in the cosmic system of Satan because one holds it in high esteem, and reveres, and worships it, liking and respecting it and making it more important than one’s relationship with God.
Therefore, in this fifth class conditional statement, John teaches his readers that if any believer does love the cosmic system of Satan, then the love for the Father is unequivocally not resident and active in their soul.
This applies to every believer who loves the cosmic system of Satan, without exception.
This statement is not subject to challenge, or dispute, not subject to conditions or exceptions because it is an eternal spiritual truth.