Verses 12-13a: 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.
Beginning in verse 2:12 through 2:27, August Van Ryn suggests that:
These verses form a parenthesis in the theme of the epistles; they are devoted to calling our attention to the various degrees of experiential knowledge of the things of God as they exist amount the saints.1
Since verse divisions were not in the original Greek manuscripts, what we have in verses 12-14 presents some confusion. We will attempt to clarify John’s original intent as he addresses three groups of recipients in this passage: children, fathers and young men. They are meant to be inclusive of all his readers, male and female alike, regardless of their chronological ages, but in order to distinguishing the various levels of their spiritual maturity. This seems obvious given that children and young men could imply physical ages, yet fathers do not necessarily imply an age—even a young man could be father. Additionally, John’s warm address of ‘little children’ to all the readers of his letter is reminiscent of the same affectionate name Our Lord called His disciples in John 13:33, for these were adult men and their ages were not that of children.
"I Am Writing"
He addresses each group twice: the first with the phrase “I am writing” (little children, v.12; fathers, young men, v.13) and the second with the phrase “I have written” (children, v.13; fathers, young men, v.14). The difference in the tenses of ‘writing’ and ‘written’ can be explained in this manner: “I am writing” is from John’s perspective, while “I have written” anticipates his readers’ perspective when they received the letter.2
The recipients of this epistle John considers to be his spiritual children—his little children—those whom he dearly loves and desires that they advance and mature in their spiritual lives. These individuals had believed through his ministry in Jesus Christ as Savior. It is as if John has in mind Our Lord’s prayer in John 17, when He prayed for His disciples to be sanctified in truth, that is, that they be set apart from the evil one with the truth—“Your word is truth” (John 17:15-19). But Our Lord’s prayer for those to be sanctified would include all who would believe in the future through the ministries of His apostles:
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.” (John 17:20)
This has application for all who teach the same gospel today, that all who believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation that they also may be sanctified from the evil one by being recipients of the truths of God’s Word in their advance to spiritual maturity.
Sins Forgiven/Knowing God
In verse 12, he declares the reason in general for writing to little children, to assure them that their sins “have been forgiven.” That our sins are forgiven is in fact the first stage of our salvation. In addition, John states that they were forgiven because of or for the sake of3 His name. His name accentuates His holy character, one that can have nothing to do with sin. What John implies by this phrase is that in order for them to have fellowship with Jesus Christ it must be based upon His holy character. The Greek tense of the word ‘forgiven’ emphasizes “that from the time of their conversion onward to the present moment”4 their sins remain forgiven, so that now they are able to have fellowship on the basis of God’s holy standards.
Next in verse 13 John acknowledges the fact that the fathers have come to know Him. F.F Bruce explains that this implies that they “have attained a ripe and intimate acquaintance with the eternal God.”5 These fathers may include those who have reached a higher level of spiritual maturity and are faithfully demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) within the local assembly. This not only refers to those who were pastor-teachers of the local assemblies in John’s periphery but may also apply to those throughout history until this present day who are faithful in teaching the Word of Truth (Ephesians 4:11-12).
“Who has been from the beginning” is John’s description of ‘Him,’ the eternal God—thus the eternal quality of Jesus Christ. Micah prophesied of Him in like manner:
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity. (Micah 5:2b)
Victory over the Evil One
John then distinguishes the young men of having written to them regarding their accomplishment of having “overcome the evil one.” This acknowledges a major step in their initial advancement to spiritual maturity. The Greek word for ‘overcome’ is nike, meaning to be victorious or to conquer.6 From which the signature brand name of ‘Nike’ is derived. Again, the Greek tense here relays the fact that their victory is as complete now as it was the moment they won the battle. What needs to be understood: who is the ‘evil one’ and how were they victorious?
The ‘evil one’ can be determined by comparing the three accounts of Our Lord’s Parable of the Sower (Matthew.13:19; Mark 4:15; Luke 8:12) where we find that the ‘evil one’ is the devil, Satan. The Apostle Paul establishes that their strength to be victorious comes from the Lord:
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
Do we recognize the ‘evil one’ today? Are we relying upon His strength—His Word, enabling us “to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11ff)?
[1] Van Ryn, August (1948). The Epistles of John, New York, NY: Loizeaux Brothers, p. 60-61.
[2] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2010). The MacArthur Study Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, p.1916, note.
[3] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1979). διὰ, In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 181, §II,1.
[4] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 11.417.
[5] Bruce, F.F. (1970). The Epistles of John, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p. 59.
[6] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.660.
© 2024 David M. Rossi
