And the world passeth away and the concupiscence thereof: but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever.
και ο κοσμος παραγεται και η επιθυμια αυτου ο δε ποιων το θελημα του θεου μενει εις τον αιωνα
10 Church Fathers comment on this verse
These worldly desires are brief and unstable. What is done according to the will of God is enduring and eternal. It is not proper to the prudent to pass by what is lasting and seize what is momentary. To act so is the same as building a house on sand.
The saints turn the eyes of their heart with the greatest liveliness toward the contemplation of the radiance of God's glory. They cannot bear even the fleeting shadows of fleshly thoughts, and they turn away from everything that draws the mind's gaze from this light. The blessed Apostle, wishing to instill such a disposition in all, says: "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of this world. And the world passes away, and its desire, but he who does the will of God abides forever." Therefore the saints turn away from everything worldly that is in the world.
Yet it is impossible that even they should not be drawn toward it by a brief slip of thoughts. Now no man, except our Lord and Savior, restrains the distraction of the spirit so completely that he always remains in the contemplation of God. Nor can he remain never distracted from it, without sinning by taking delight in some worldly thing.
As Christ Himself said when speaking with the Jews: "This is the will of the Father, the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." And he who keeps His commandments inherits eternal life.
It is not proper to rational men to look with contempt on what is lasting while clinging to what vanishes and reproduces itself in a phantom construction. "He who does the will of God." And in what does the Father's will consist? In believing in Him whom He sent.
The world will pass away when, on the day of judgment, it is transformed by fire into something new, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Its desire also will pass away, because in the kingdom of the age to come there will no longer be desire or any other sin. But the thoughts of him who does the will of God will not perish with the death of the world. On the contrary, because he longed for what is heavenly and unchangeable, for what does not pass away but abides unto eternity, he will receive those heavenly gifts for which he thirsted on earth.
How dangerous and how ruinous it is to love the world instead of God. What will the one who loves the world and is devoted to its desires attain? The Apostle answers us: the world passes away, and its desire. Therefore whoever loves the world and gives himself over to worldly desires seeks nothingness, or will soon be left with nothing. For both the world and its desire will soon pass away, and the lover of the world will be left with nothing. "And the world passes away, and its desire." These words may be understood thus. All the things or objects to which man is passionately attached, and in which he seeks consolation and happiness, soon pass away. As the Apostle Paul says: "The form of this world is passing away" (1 Cor 7:31). Therefore man cannot enjoy them for long.
Sensual pleasures also pass quickly and leave behind a feeling of emptiness and repentance. Moreover, this whole world, with all its goods, is not eternal. The day of the Lord will come, when the present heavens and earth will burn (2 Pet 3:7), and when a new heaven and a new earth will appear (2 Pet 3:13). What then will happen to the lovers of the world, to those who in the present life sought their happiness in service to the world and its desires? On the new earth, beneath the new heaven, there will be no place for the desire of the flesh (Mt 22:30), nor for the desire of the eyes, nor for the pride of life. All this will pass away like a shadow. According to the Apostle's word, that great day will be a day of judgment and perdition for ungodly men (2 Pet 3:7). But he who does the will of God abides forever. The one who does the will of God is not subject to the same mutability to which the world is subject, with all that nourishes sinful passions in it. Works of righteousness do not die. On earth they give a man a foretaste of the joy of heavenly life. After the present life they will lead him into eternal life. The Lord Himself said: "The righteous will go into eternal life" (Mt 25:46). The Apostle Paul unfolds the same truth thus: "Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. He who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal 6:7-8). Paul's words have this meaning: each man will receive fruit from his deeds according to their quality, that is, either reward or punishment. Whoever gives himself over to sinful passions, or serves the flesh, will receive death and eternal condemnation as recompense. But whoever lives according to the Spirit, obeying God's commandments, will inherit eternal life.
The world passes away, and its desire. The world is not eternal, and the objects by which man is so captivated do not endure. Man himself and his passions pass quickly. But what is especially important is that man can never satisfy his passions. After he attains the highest degree of pleasures, he must say with Ecclesiastes: "And behold, all was vanity and grasping after wind" (Eccl 2:11). Not so the one who does the will of God. The fulfillment of God's commandments strengthens more and more the will and powers of man himself. The object and goal of his desires, God Himself, is eternal and perfect. He can satisfy man's highest aspirations, thereby granting him constant and eternal blessedness. Such a man abides forever.
These are the three terrible springs that govern the world lying in evil. Everything that lives by them and is governed by them is not of God, but of this world. Consequently, the love of the Father is not in it. Therefore do not love the world, nor the things in the world. This is all the more so because the world and its desire pass away. This is a new motive not to love the world and the things in the world. The world and its desire pass away. All the objects and things of the world, everything for which man nourishes passion and attachment, everything to which he cleaves more than to God, and in which he thinks to find happiness and delight, all this is sinful, corrupt, and evil. It all passes and disappears.
It cannot continue constantly, because man himself also passes away, and quickly. His life is like a shadow, like a dream. He will be no more, and his place will know him no more. Finally, this whole world is not eternal. With all its desires, it will pass away or be changed into a new form. What then will happen to those who love the world and are attached to it? Instead of cleaving in love to God, they cleaved to this passing world, which is destined to pass away. "It is not proper to the prudent to run around what is permanent and grasp what is momentary. To act thus is the same as building a house on a phantom" (Theophylact). But he who does the will of God abides forever. In contrast to the passing world, the one who does the will of God, that is, who loves God and keeps His commandments, stands unshaken. He is upon a firm rock amid the waves of the sea of life. He will not suffer shipwreck amid the storm of sin, desire, and evil in the world. Everything precious to him in this life will not pass away as the desires of the world pass away. It will become the possession of his soul forever and will increase in eternal life beyond the grave and beyond time. This will happen when the world and its desire pass away. For love for God and neighbors, which constitutes the foundation of Christian perfection of which the Apostle speaks here, never fails and will never fail (1 Cor 13:8).
After this comes a discussion of how to secure Christian advantages for oneself. First, aversion from the world (1 Jn 2:15-29), in which a threefold lust reigns. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh," meaning sensual pleasures, "the lust of the eyes," meaning riches and the acquisition of earthly goods, "and the pride of life," meaning the pursuit of honors and advantages. But "the world is passing away, and its lust," the Apostle adds. He wishes to draw us away from the world and to show the emptiness and illusory nature of all worldly pleasures (1 Jn 2:15-17).
Turning again to all, the Apostle implores Christians to keep away from the vain and sinful world. In that world everything proceeds from self-love with its threefold desires: of the flesh, of the eyes, and of pride. These are subdivided into an endless multitude of passions and sins that lead to death. Here again one hears the spirit of the Lord's farewell discourse about the world lying in evil (see Jn 15:19; Jn 18:14-15). "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" says the holy Apostle James (Jas 4:4). But the enemies of the Lord will not stand in His judgment (see Ps 2:12). The very enticements of desire that move men to crimes are not eternal. Finally, this whole world itself is not eternal.
But he who does the will of God will be counted worthy of eternal life. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass," says the Apostle Peter. He points to the eternity of the one reborn from incorruptible seed, that is, the word of God, living and abiding forever (1 Pet 1:24; cf. Jas 5:1-3; 1 Thess 4:15; 1 Cor 7:31).
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 19 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS