Why Those in the World Cannot Love God
Part 3
The command to
withdraw one’s affections from earthly things is, to the worldly man, the same
as a call for his self-extinction, since his affections are set on nowhere but the world and cannot be transferred
elsewhere. He may have a strong sense of the futility of life, but he will
resist any attempt to shift his heart’s tendencies away from this life. To him,
all such attempts are impractical.
Based on the
wisdom of this world, he considers himself beyond such ideas as setting our
affections on things above (Colossians 3:2), or walking by faith (2 Corinthians
5:7), or having no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3), or having our
citizenship in Heaven instead of on earth (Philippians 3:20). When he observes
these “overly spiritual” principles, the worldly person decides that
Christianity is impossible to carry out.
He does not see
the love of God in sending His Son into the world. He does not see the
tenderness of God toward man in not sparing His own Son, but delivering Him to
death for us all (Romans 8:32). He does not see the sufficiency of the
atonement, or of the sufferings that Christ bore as a substitute for sinners.
He does not see both the holiness and compassion of God in passing over the
sins of His creatures through the sacrifice of the Creator Himself.
The worldly
person does not turn to God for peace, pardon, and reconciliation. Therefore,
when told to turn away from the visible and temporary delights of the world, he
finds nothing left to look at. He is separated from the joys of eternity by the
wall of his own sin and guilt. If he doesn’t believe that Christ has destroyed
this wall, he cannot look in faith toward the things that are unseen and
eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
You can tell a
man to be holy, but how can he obey when his fellowship with holiness is a
fellowship of despair? If he is burdened by a guilty conscience, he cannot grow
in godliness. He must see that the atonement of the cross establishes both the
justice of the divine lawgiver and
the safety of the offender. Christ’s work is what opens the way for the
salvation and sanctification of a sinner’s heart. And a forgiven sinner is free
to entertain kind thoughts of his Maker once God has brought him near and
declared peace to him.
Separate the
truth of the gospel (“Christ died for sinners”) from the command of 1 John 2:15
(“Do not love the world”) and you will separate the cause from the effect. The
result will be either a legalistic system that is impossible to live by or a
set of empty convictions that result in nothing. We must bring the demand and
the gospel together, which enables the true disciple of Christ to obey the
command by the power of the gospel. He has put on the armor of God, and with
these spiritual weapons he will gain the higher ground and win the battle. Of
course, such a victory requires superhuman effort, but the power of the gospel
is equal to the task.
photo credit: ~Aphrodite via photopin cc
photo credit: ~Aphrodite via photopin cc