1. The apostle takes a wide, free, and exalted view of his subject. He is in marked dissent from the spirit of Pharisaism, whether among the Jews, or in the Christian Church. His plan is different from the ordinary rules and restraints which men put upon themselves, and which attach (sometimes arbitrarily enough) merely to certain habits and forms of life which are of no moment. Paul's "world" does not mean certain conditions of society, certain amusements, or certain occupations, conventionally marked off from all the rest as being specially wrong. It is not a mere cleaning of the outside of the platter. He goes deeply into the heart of things. What he teaches is this: "Ye are God's redeemed, disciples of Christ, heirs of glory." Live under the inspiration of all this--all will then follow that ought to follow. You are no longer under law, which says, "Touch not, taste not, handle not--stand entirely aloof;" but under grace, with love to God as your motive, and the Spirit of Christ as your guide. He could say, "I am not of the world;" and yet He was no prophet of the wilderness, but a Brother and Sympathiser everywhere. The first great social act of His public ministry was to associate Himself with the joy of life. With its sorrow also He was equally at home. He lived His Divine life in every scene--in His childhood under the roof of His parents, in the toil for bread, in public, in private, in the temple, in the family at Bethany. There is no allowable scene in which we move, and with which we mingle, from which His sanctifying presence is withheld. We have no need to be afraid to go where He has been before us, if only we go in His spirit. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." 2. This law lays no hard bondage on life. Not on its duties; for Christianity raises them all into consecration;--not on its affections; for Christianity purifies them all;--nor on its lawful enjoyments; for Christianity forbids nothing but sin. Worldliness is determined by the _spirit_ of our life, not by the objects with which we have to do. It is only "the _lust_ of the flesh, the _lust_ of the eye, and the _pride_ of life" that are prohibited. It is not a worldly object that makes us worldly, but the worldly spirit with which we regard it.