1 John 2:16 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

For all that is in the world,— St. John did by no means intend to say, that the natural world, and every thing in it, is confusion and deformity. If so, how could we from the make and constitution of the world infer a God and Providence? The three particulars immediately specified, shew what he means by all that is in the world. The first head of human vices is, the lust of the flesh: the flesh of itself has no lusts, no passions, appetites, desires, or inclinations whatever; but when the human body is united to a rational spirit, and they mutually influence each other, then it appears that certain passions, appetites; and inclinations are planted in man, and that the flesh is the chief seat of several of them; or that a human soul would have no such appetites as spring from the flesh, unless it were united to such an animal body. Perfectly fallen as we are by nature, yet the Spirit of God is offered to us, whereby we may controul and direct these appetites and propensions: but when they are indulged in a wrong manner, or beyond proper bounds, then they become vices, and are condemned as fleshly lusts which war against the soul. By the lusts of the fleshexpositorsingeneral understand gluttony, drunkenness, and lewdness. Covetous desires are excited by the eye, and steal that way into the heart, Ecclesiastes 2:8-10 and if by the lust of the eyes we here understand covetousness, then this second head will not interfere either with the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life; and moreover, it is perfectly agreeable to the Jewish phraseology, by the lust of the eyes to understand covetousness. See Matthew 6:23.Proverbs 27:20. Ecclesiastes 4:8; Ecclesiastes 5:10-11. Though the word Βιος sometimessignifieslifeitself, sometimes worldly substance, or a provision for life; yet we need not restrict the meaning of the third phrase, the pride of life, to men's being proud of their riches: for ambition, an aspiring to places of power or preferment, high titles and grandeur, the pomp and glory of this world, or placing too great an esteem on ourselves, and despising others upon these or any other accounts, may be justly called the pride of life. Raphelius on this passage observes, that Polybius uses the same phrase with St. John, for all kind of luxury in one's manner of living, whether in dress, houses, furniture, eating, &c. No doubt St. John's expression implies all this; but it seems moreover to include all those other pursuits, whether of ambition or vain-glory, by which men aim at making a figure in the eyes of their fellow-mortals. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, are the three great idols of the world; St. John mentions them as all that is in the world: it may therefore be inquired, whether he intendedunder these three heads to rank all the vices of the world? To which it may be replied, that certainly there are several vices, which are not particularly named here; but it would be no very difficult matter to shew, how other particular vices may either be reduced under these three heads, or are closelyconnected with them, how lust, covetousness, and pride, lead men to private injustice and injuries, or to public murder, rebellion, and cruelty, and to trample upon all laws, human and divine; and upon that account this division of the vices of mankind may well be defended. But St. John seems to have had his eye upon the grand temptation which reduced our general mother Eve;—The woman saw that the tree was good for food,—that was the lust of the flesh;—that it was pleasant to the eye,—that was the lust of the eyes; and a tree to be desired to make one wise, (i.e. to exalt men to the rank of gods;)—this was the pride of life: and Dr. Lightfoot thought that the three great temptations with which Satan assaulted our Lord, might be reduced under the same heads.