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god of this World
(From Forerunner Commentary)

1 Timothy 6:15  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) With a description like this, we have only begun to scratch the surface of the sovereignty of God, especially in its importance to our Christian life and growth. Understanding even a tiny portion of God's glory, wisdom and power is much needed because the god of this world's "Christianity"—a miserable, blasphemous creature and a travesty of the truth—has given us a deceptive picture of Jesus Christ, causing us a great deal of misdirection. Some of the concepts of that false Christ, planted before conversion, remain in our minds, influencing our attitudes and choices. He has presented a portrait of a helpless effeminate, a maudlin, hand-wringing sentimentalist who is desperately trying to save humanity. If He is as He is portrayed, then He must be constantly disappointed, dissatisfied, and discouraged! In His ineptitude He is being defeated by the very creatures He is supposed to have created and be greater than. Is God so weak that Satan and sin in recalcitrant man thwart His purpose for mankind at every turn? John W. Ritenbaugh The Sovereignty of God: Part Two

James 4:4  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) To have a warm, familiar attitude with this world is to be on good terms with God's enemy. What does it mean, in more practical terms, to be a friend of the world? It is to adopt the world's set of values and wants, to desire what the world wants instead of choosing according to divine standards or divine truths. In other words, if a person does that, he has actually made himself subject to Satan because Satan is the god of this world! That is a choice that we want to avoid. The worldly person will almost invariably choose to satisfy himself, take action on his desire, and choose to satisfy himself, eventually producing confusion, division, and war. It cannot be otherwise because the spirit of the world is the spirit of Satan, and laws are at work that will produce what they are designed to produce. That was the problem in the congregation to which James wrote. If another apostle had been writing it, such as the apostle Paul did in I Corinthians 3, he would say, "You are yet carnal." These were converted people but still carnal, and they were showing it through their choices. It was not that they did not have the Spirit of God but that they were still so weak spiritually. They were choosing to fall back on what they had in the way of character, understanding, knowledge, and vision from the world, and by this, they showed that Satan was still dominating their lives. This is understandable because Satan is a wily and powerful adversary—but he can be overcome and defeated. Christ did it, and we can too because Christ is in us. John W. Ritenbaugh Satan (Part 5)

 

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