Flesh, Eyes, and Pride 1 John 2:16 - Equipped for Battle

John the apostle has been sharing with us about how God desires to have fellowship with us. Sin is a barrier to fellowship with God, so John has been directing us as to how that sin is to be removed. He has encouraged us in the areas of loving God and loving others, and he has just shared in our last verse about not loving the world neither the things in it. Today John expands upon the ideas of sin and loving the world by sharing with us the three areas where we are tempted the most. He writes in First John chapter two and verse fifteen:

For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are the three areas where we are tempted to sin. All three of these are in the world, and we shall explore them individually because they are exactly what were used by Satan in the garden with Eve (Genesis 3:6) and with Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).

First, there is the lust of the flesh. Our bodies have desires which have been given by God, and they are to keep the body functioning. For example, there is the desire to breathe, eat, drink, eliminate, have sex, etc., all of these are natural desires given by God. However, our enemy, Satan, who desires to keep us from fellowship with God will tempt us to go beyond sustaining these areas and have us destroy ourselves in them. For example, eating is good, but overeating can be destructive. Drinking is good, but drinking the wrong things and too much of them, can also be destructive. Sexual desires are natural, but unless they are kept in the direction of what God says in the Bible, they can lead to destruction of our bodies and relationships with others.

The world is filled with temptations to fulfill our flesh's desires. This is why John wrote previously for us not to love the world neither the things in it. If we are to continue our relationship with God, we must put away the lusts of the flesh and keep them in obedience to God's spirit. Paul the apostle wrote this about the flesh:

[This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16

and Peter the apostle wrote this about the flesh:

But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous [are they], self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

There is much more that could be written about the lust of the flesh, but we shall end it with this. The lust of the flesh is in the world, and those who desire to have fellowship with God must align our flesh with what He desires for us, and not that of ourselves. We all need prayer in this area.

Next time we shall look at the lust of the eyes, so meditate on these things until then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

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