13 Do not marvel, brothers, if the world hates you. 1 John 3:13 (LSB)
There are many ministries in our time that are run by people who have either forgotten that friendship with the world is a sin or they are deliberately overlooking it. If a ministry operates in such a way that the world loves it then there is at least one missing component in it, which is obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture is clear that Christians cannot be friends wirh the world. Why? Satan is the one who dominates the evil world system, which is in rebellion against God (John 14:30). Therefore, the world not only hates Jesus, but also those who follow Him….
This hatred is also focused toward the Father because He sent Jesus to testify against it. Now, since this is true and clearly taught in Sacred Scripture, what does this say about those ministries who work overtime to accommodate the secular and to appeal to temporal ways and means?
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. John 15:18-19 (LSB)
The word hate in this passage translates the Greek verb μισεῖ (misei), the Finite, 3rd Person, Singular, Present, Indicative, Active case of μισέω (miseō), which means “to hate or detest.” Jesus is telling us that those who hate Christians actually “detest” them. This hatred is prone to lead to persecution. He then tells us that those who μισέω Christians hated Him first. Who hates Christians and our Lord? It is the world. This is the Greek word κόσμος (kosmos). This word refers to space not time. The κόσμος is the sum total of the material universe, the beauty in it; the sum total of persons living in the world. In other words, this is the temporal or secular. It is the world system. Jesus is saying here that those who belong to Him are no longer part of κόσμος. No, they are now new creations and have been saved out of it. This is why it is so tragic for Christians to be in love with the κόσμος to the point they take on its ways and mind set.
Jesus tell us that the κόσμος loves those who are part of it, but since Christians are not they are hated because Jesus chose them out of it. The word “chose” translates the Greek verb ἐξελεξάμην (exelexamēn), the Finite, 1st Person, Singular, Aorist, Indicative, Middle case of ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai). This is an interesting word. It means to speak intelligently; to choose, select, choose for oneself, not necessarily implying the rejection of what is not chosen but giving favor to the chosen subject, keeping in view a relation to be established between him and the object. Jesus says the He has ἐξελεξάμην believers “out of” the κόσμος. The Greek word translated as “out of” is ἐκ (ex). This speaks of the primary object formerly being in one one object, but is now separated from it either in respect to place, time, source, or origin. What is this saying that salvation causes for the believer? We must never overlook the fact that our salvation came as a result of Christ choosing us out of the world. Salvation has actually separated us from being part of the world. We are no longer “of the world.”