In 1 John 2:16, “the desires of the flesh” refer to sinful cravings rooted in fallen human nature—such as sexual immorality, drunkenness, gluttony, and other bodily passions that oppose the will of God.
In my previous post we saw that anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4).
That is serious business. If God is your enemy, you are in trouble. He is one person you absolutely, positively, do not want as your enemy, for he holds your life in the palm of his hand. He created you and sustains you moment by moment. God holds your eternal future under his control. Scripture says that a last Judgment Day is coming and you will stand before him, and he will determine your eternal destiny. So, again, you do not want God as your enemy!
Pay attention
So, you should give the greatest care and attention to ensure that you are not loving the world. Crucial to that goal is an understanding of what it means to love the world. We saw in an earlier post what the fallen world is in a general sense, but Scripture helps us know more specifically in 1 John 2:15–17:
“{15} 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. {16} 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. {17} And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15–17 ESV)
Notice in verse 16 three highlighted features of the world. In this and upcoming posts, let’s look at them one-by-one.
The desires of the flesh
Compare this phrase in several Bible translations:
- “The desires of the flesh” (ESV)
- “The lust of the flesh” (KJV, NKJV, NIV, LSB, CSB)
- “A craving for physical pleasure” (NLT)
Specifically the desires of the flesh include these five sins condemned elsewhere in Scripture:
1. Sexual immorality, meaning any sexual relations outside of marriage between and man and a woman, including lust and viewing pornography.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 ESV).
2. Worldly and godless partying, reveling, lewd dancing, debauchery.
“For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you” (1 Peter 4:3–4 ESV).
3. Drunkenness
“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.” (Romans 13:13 ESV)
4. Doing illicit, pleasure drugs
The Bible does not specifically address modern illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin, but “The Bible’s core objections to illicit drug use are not about specific chemical names but about intoxication, loss of self‑control, harm to the body, and slavery to substances. Scripture points believers toward sobriety, stewardship of the body, mutual support, and seeking help when enslaved by addiction.”1
5. Gluttony
The Bible describes some sinners in this way: “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:19 ESV)
Next post
These five sins condemned in the Bible are clear examples of “the desires of the flesh.” In my next post we will look at the second aspect of the love of the world, which is “the desires of the eyes” (1 John 2:16).
1 – Text generated by CoPilot (prompt: “What does the Bible say against the use of illicit drugs?”), CoPilot version X, Microsoft, 28 Feb. 2026) https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/4dJLHvz5KCNp9TgQp2ZLo