Loving the World Is Clinging to a Sinking Ship

J. D. Gallé | Tuesday, 2 May 2023

And this is the testimony: that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one having the Son has the life. The one not having the Son of God does not have the life. 

(1 John 5.11–12, DLNT[1])

        If one does not have the Lord Jesus Christ, one has nothing. For everything in this evil, Satanic world-system is passing out of existence. All its pleasures, pursuits, and riches are soon to vanish, as are those who seek to serve it and its desires.[2] Erelong, the first things shall be no more.[3]

        True life is to be found only in the Son of God. It is the one abiding in Jesus Christ, the one doing the will of God, who shall remain for the age to come, which is everlasting and enduring.[4]

Notes

        1. Michael J. Magill, Disciples’ Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples (Reyma Publishing, 2011). <https://literalnewtestament.com/>

        2. See 1 John 2.15–17; 5.19.

        3. See Revelation 21.4d.

        4. See 1 John 2.17, 24.

Copyright © J. D. Gallé, 2023. All rights reserved.

Leaving and Letting Go of This World: a Remonstrant’s Reflections

J. D. Gallé | Tuesday, 22 June 2021

        It was not long ago that we entered this world, and it will no doubt not be long ere we shall depart, never again to partake in the bad or the good under the sun. All that we have here we will soon leave behind. We shall take nothing and no one with us from this world.
        This life is very much one of loss. There is nothing here we were intended to keep for ever. Yet it is hard not to cling when this world is all we have ever known. We may seek our happiness here, but it is ever elusive and fleeting.
        Christ or the world? Is the one whom we cannot now see truly worth more than the entire visible created order? Is the one through whom all things were made greater than all that has ever been or will come to be?

        What can we give to the Lord of all that he has not given to us? What is it he desires? It is our hearts, our lives, our very selves, that we must yield and return wholly to him. For love of the world and love of God are mutually exclusive; they cannot coexist. To find the Lord Jesus Christ, one must lose and let go of the world, being crucified to it while still living in it. And this is very hard.

Copyright © J. D. Gallé, 2021. All rights reserved.