As you study the Bible, take note of the fact that Jesus looked at every specific word that was written and determined the truth based upon just one word. He rebuked those who did not see that the assurance of the resurrection rests on the precise tense of one word in the Old Testament. He said that the absolute assurance of the resurrection was based on whether God said of dead Abraham that He had been Abraham’s God or He was still Abraham’s God. “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living”—thus Abraham was still alive (Matt. 22:23-32). The doctrine of resurrection can be determined by whether God said, “I was” or “I am.” Now consider this as you read the words “in” and “of.”
On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He prayed to the Father and described His followers. “These are in the world…they are not of the world” (John 17:11, 14). Read this section and you will see how Jesus said that after He became a man, He was in the world. The same is true of the apostles. They lived among men, but they were certainly different from all others. They were “in” the world, but not “of” the world.
The apostle John describes all that is in this world. “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). What is in the world? It is: (1) the lust of the flesh, (2) the lust of the eyes, and (3) the pride of life. Look into Satan’s “tool box” and there are only three items in it. In the Garden of Eden, he used all three. The fruit was good for food—the lust of the flesh. The fruit was pleasant to the eyes—the lust of the eyes. The fruit was able to make one as wise as God—the pride of life. Satan uses these same tools against us today. We are in the world, but we must not be of the world!
The next verse in First John sums it all up. “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). This can be seen so readily in the life of Moses. “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (Heb. 11:24-25). The world and its lusts are temporary. The pride of earthly attainments—money, fame, success and earthly honors—pass away. When we recognize that reality, our lives will be eternally transformed.
So, as you make your decisions, keep this in mind. Happiness and success from being “of the world” are so temporary, but remember what else John says—“He who does the will of God abides forever.” Let us make that our aim in all that we say and do.
