1Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
The writer was not dissatisfied with the spiritual state of his readers. Much less did he question or doubt their salvation, as some expositors of this epistle imply. On the contrary, his readers may even be viewed as having matured in the faith. John wrote precisely because their present state was so good. But he wished to warn them about dangers which always exist, no matter how far one has advanced in his Christian walk.
He turned now to a warning. Do not love the world or anything in the world. The “world”, thought of here as an entity hostile to God, is always a seductive influence which Christians should continually resist . In other NT verses “world” means people. The world competes for the love of Christians and one cannot both love it and the Father at the same time. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. As James also had told his Christian readers, “Friendship with the world is hatred toward God”.
