10 Key Bible Verses on the World

This article is part of the Key Bible Verses series.

All commentary notes adapted from the ESV Study Bible.

1. Psalm 89:11

The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. Read More

Because God is the Creator, the whole world belongs to him; and his creation will joyously praise his name (Psa. 103:22). All the most impressive features of the landscape acknowledge the greatness of their Creator.

2. John 3:16–17

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Read More

Here is the most famous summary of the gospel in the entire Bible. God so loved the world was an astounding statement in that context because the OT and other Jewish writings had spoken only of God’s love for his people Israel. God’s love for “the world” made it possible for “whoever” (John 3:15) believes in Christ, not Jews alone, to have eternal life. God’s love for the world was not mere sentiment but led to a specific action: he gave his only Son, which John elsewhere explains as sending him to earth as a man (John 3:17) to suffer and die and thereby to bear the penalty for sins (see note on 1 John 2:2; cf. Rom. 3:25). The purpose of giving his Son was to make God’s great gift of eternal life available to anyone—to whoever believes in him, that is, whoever personally trusts in him. Not perish means not perish in eternal judgment, in contrast to having eternal life, the life of abundant joy and immeasurable blessing in the presence of God forever. Those who “believe in” Christ have that “eternal life” and already experience its blessings in this present time, not yet fully, but in some significant measure.

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3. James 4:4

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Read More

Adulterous people recalls OT prophets who used this language to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness to God (e.g., Jer. 2:20; 3:6–10; Hos. 1:2). Such people have chosen friendship with the world by imitating worldly ways of thinking and worldly activities, making them enemies of God. It will always be impossible to satisfy the expectations of unbelievers, whose hearts are set on this world (1 John 2:15–16; 5:19), and at the same time please God (Gal. 1:10; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 John 3:13). Cf. also Matt. 6:24; James often alludes to the teaching of Jesus (see chart), which is not surprising if he was Jesus’ earthly brother.

4. 1 John 2:15–17

Do not love the world or 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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Read More

Do not love the world should not be read as an utter rejection of the world, for “God . . . loved the world” (John 3:16). Rather, John warns against devotion to a world system that is opposed to God (cf. John 12:31; James 4:4; 1 John 5:19). Love of the Father probably carries a double meaning, referring both to the love God has for his people and the love they have for him. The former generates the latter (1 John 4:7, 9–10).

In warning against all that is in the world, John does not demonize the whole created order (cf. Gen. 1:31). Rather, he gives examples (desires of the flesh, etc.) of what the believer should guard against. Human desires are part of God’s creation and therefore not inherently evil, but they become twisted when not directed by and toward God.

the world is passing away. Its appearance of permanence is deceptive. History is not an endless cycle but is speeding toward a conclusion willed by God (1 John 2:8). abides forever. Augustine in a sermon on this text wrote, “Hold fast to Christ. For you he became temporal, so that you might partake of eternity” (Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.10).

5. Jeremiah 10:11–12

Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. Read More

All false gods shall perish. They were created by humans, but the living God made and established the world by wisdom and understanding (Jer. 51:15–19). The false gods’ “instruction” (Jer. 10:8) makes people foolish, while God’s instruction makes people wise.

6. John 15:18–19

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Read More

therefore the world hates you. Christians should not be surprised that unbelievers in the world hate them. It follows a pattern seen in the world since Cain murdered Abel (see Gen. 4:8; Heb. 11:4; 1 John 3:12), and it is seen in the world’s reactions to Christ himself (see John 15:18).

7. John 17:15–16

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Read More

Even though God’s people in the midst of hardship may sometimes want to be taken out of the world (see Num. 11:15; 1 Kings 19:4; Jonah 4:3, 8), Jesus does not ask for that. The place of believers during this lifetime is not to withdraw from the world but to remain in the world and to influence it continually for good, as difficult as that may be. *

Those who believe in Christ are not of the world, meaning that they have an entirely different nature (see 3:3–8), including different heart desires, different fundamental goals, and ultimately a different God. The common saying that Christians are “in the world but not of the world” is not found exactly anywhere in Scripture, but the idea is true and is taken from John 17:15–16.

8. Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Read More

The present evil age still threatens those who belong to Christ, so they must resist its pressure. Their lives are changed as their minds are made new (contrast Rom. 1:28), so that they are able to “discern” God’s will. By testing you may discern translates Greek dokimazō, which often has the sense of finding out the worth of something by putting it to use or testing it in actual practice (cf. Luke 14:19; 1 Cor. 3:13; 2 Cor. 8:22; 1 Tim. 3:10).

9. John 18:36

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Read More

Jesus’ description of the nature of his kingdom echoes similar passages in Daniel (e.g., Dan. 2:44; 7:14, 27). See also John 6:15.

10. John 16:33

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. Read More

In the midst of the suffering and hardship that was to come, Jesus’ disciples, and all following them, can have such “peace” in fellowship with Christ. Fittingly, Jesus’ Farewell Discourse (John 13:31–16:33) ends on a note of triumph (cf. 1 John 2:13–14; John 4:4; John 5:4–5).