Exploring 1 John: Our Spiritual Lives
1 John 2:12-14 - Finding Him, Knowing Him, Serving Him - Be encouraged and encourage others!
”I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.“
1 John 2:12-14 NASB1995
John abruptly leaves his discussion of commandments, love and darkness/light and now addresses three different groups of believers in two ways. He first speaks of writing to the little children (in the present tense) because their sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake. Then he is writing to the fathers because they know Him who has been from the beginning, followed by writing to the young men who have overcome the evil one. He repeats these comments to the three groups by noting that, in the past, he had written to them about these same things.
When you first become a believer, you are like a small child who is just beginning to learn about their faith. For this devotional, Enduring Word has the best commentary for the various spiritual maturities that John is dressing and encouraging. First for the little children:
I write to you, little children: We each begin the Christian life as little children. When we are in this state spiritually, it is enough for us to know and be amazed at the forgiveness of our sins and all it took for God to forgive us righteously in Jesus Christ.
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake: This is something to rejoice in. If we do not rejoice in this, something is wrong. We probably fail to see the badness of our sin and the greatness of His forgiveness. When we see how great our sin is, and how great the cost was to gain us forgiveness, we are obsessed with gratitude at having been forgiven.
Little children: This forgiveness is the special joy of God’s little children, because God’s forgiveness does not come by degrees. Even the youngest Christian is completely forgiven. They will never be “more forgiven.” Forgiveness is God’s gift, not man’s achievement.
Note it well: forgiven you for His name’s sake. The reasons for forgiveness are not found in us, but in God.
There is so much to understand in this commentary. If you don’t see the depth of your sin and the greatness of His forgiveness, there is definitely something wrong. Calling something a sin these days (for some types of sin) is actually being described as “bigotry and hatred”. But the sin is still there and I love the fact that God’s forgiveness is not doled out in portions, but is complete at the moment this gift from God is granted. Gratitude should be the constant companion of the newly saved little child and the mature believer.
John refers to fathers to describe those (men and women) who are of great spiritual maturity, like an oak tree, as noted in the continuing Enduring Word commentary on this passage:
I write to you, fathers: Just as surely as there are little children, there are also fathers. These are men and women of deep, long spiritual standing. They have the kind of walk with God that doesn’t come overnight. These are like great oak trees in the Lord, that have grown big and strong through the years.
You have known Him: This is what spiritual maturity has its roots in. It is not so much in an intellectual knowledge (though that is a part of it), but more so in the depth of fellowship and relationship we have with Jesus. There is no substitute for years and years of an experiential relationship with Jesus.
I thought I knew Him but I parted from Him for those lost years of wandering in a self-centered desert of agnosticism. I have come back and am now really learning about Him as I walk in my sanctification. This is a process until the end of my mortal life and then for eternity. My ticket has been punched for Heaven by repenting and believing, but my maturing fellowship with God is a journey beyond description.
The third group that John addresses are the young men (and women) who are the active hearts of the faith and are being stretched and developed by God to overcome the evil one. Again, I’m turning to Enduring Word for commentary:
I write to you, young men: As much as there are little children and fathers, so also there are young men. These are men and women who are no longer little children, but still not yet fathers. They are the “front-line” of God’s work among His people.
“The proper attribute of youth is, to carry on the active parts of life – if soldiers, to be engaged in all active service.” (Henry Alford)
Because you have overcome the wicked one: They are engaged in battle with the wicked one. We don’t send our little children out to war, and we don’t send our old men to the front lines. The greatest effort, the greatest cost, and the greatest strength are expected of the young men.
For this reason, many have sought to stay in spiritual childhood as long as possible. This is wrong. It is like being a draft-dodger or a vagrant. We expect children to not fight in wars and to be supported by others, but we don’t expect it of adults.
Overcome the wicked one: These young men have overcome the spiritual foes that would seek to destroy their spiritual life. They know what it is to battle against Satan and his emissaries as a partner with God.
Are you lingering in spiritual childhood or are you becoming an adult who is cheerfully and willingly deployed to the front lines in the battle for souls? I love this in the commentary: “The greatest effort, the greatest cost, and the greatest strength are expected of the young men”.
Recently, we have both developed a great interest in World War II. I have always been fascinated by this terrible war that was fought in so many places with so many lives lost in the great battles to overcome horrible tyrannies. We’ve watched many WWII movies, series and documentaries and have dug out some of our favorite books about the subject from our library. The young men who lost their lives in heroic conditions, like John Basilone (who died on Iwo Jima after his Medal of Honor-worthy courageous acts on Guadalcanal) made their ultimate sacrifice for their fellow combatants, for their country and sometimes for their beliefs. Can we make the ultimate sacrifice for our Lord? I wasted my younger years being self-absorbed, hard-hearted and skeptical. My elder years and my active years now must overlap and in many ways I’m still in my spiritual infancy.
John has written to and is writing to the beloved believers and his repetitions in this passage are endearing. He uses two different words for children from the Greek, as noted in this Commentary from Enduring Word:
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.Because you have known the Father: In this first stage of spiritual growth, we sink our roots deep in the Fatherly love and care of God. We know Him as our caring Father, and see ourselves as His dependent children.
“And do you not glory in him? Little children when they begin to talk, and go to school, how proud they are of their father! Their father is the greatest man that ever lived: there never was the like of him. You may talk to them of great statesmen, or great warriors, or great princes, but these are all nobodies: their father fills the whole horizon of their being. Well, so it certainly is with us and our Father God.” (Charles Spurgeon)
Little children: John uses different words for little children in verses 12 and 13 (teknia and paidia, respectively). Teknia has more of an emphasis on a child’s relationship of dependence on a parent, while paidia has more of an emphasis on a child’s immaturity and need for instruction.
These words of encouragement to believers at all stages of their lives are just wonderful. Precept Austin shares this sweet story from a sermon by Steven Cole on how encouragement is so important in our lives:
Years ago, a “Dear Abby” (Arizona Daily Sun [1/10/99]) column ran a story by a retired schoolteacher. One day she had her students take out two sheets of paper and list the names of the other students in the room. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down by their names. She took the papers home that weekend and compiled a list for each student of what the others had said about him or her. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, everyone was smiling. “Really?” one whispered. “I never knew that meant anything to anyone.” “I didn’t know anyone liked me that much!”
Years later, the teacher went to the funeral of one of her former students, who had been killed in Vietnam. Many who had been in that class years before were there. After the service, the young man’s parents approached the teacher and said, “We want to show you something. Mark was carrying this when he was killed.” The father pulled out of a wallet the list of all the good things Mark’s classmates had said about him. “Thank you so much for doing that,” Mark’s mother said. “As you can see, Mark treasured it.” A group of Mark’s classmates overheard the exchange. One smiled sheepishly and said, “I still have my list. It’s in my top desk drawer at home.” Another said, “I have mine, too. It’s in my diary.” “I put mine in our wedding album,” said a third. “I bet we all saved them,” said a fourth. “I carry mine with me at all times.” At that point, the teacher sat down and cried. And, she used that assignment in every class for the rest of her teaching career.
What would this world be like if we encouraged each other in our faith and in our daily lives? Rather than hunting down things on social media to correct (which I sadly do sometimes), we can thank people and tell them what we like about them (as long as we don’t compliment them on their unique ways of sinning!). We can help carry people along on the walk of faith.
My next devotional examines 1 John 2:15 - The problem of worldliness.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I am so grateful for forgiveness, I am grateful for my relationship with You, and I am grateful for those who actively serve you (and ask for ways that I can serve you). Thank you for the Apostle John and his encouragement. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Enduring Word commentary by David Guzik