I Write To You!

 I John 2:12-14

Welcome! Today we continue our series in I John, and we will also spend time remembering the Lord’s sacrifice for us by partaking of the bread and the cup. Following this we will have a time in which anyone who wishes can share what the Lord has been teaching them, or how He is using them, as well as to request prayer, and we will close in prayer together.

It is easy to get lost in the details of the first parts of I John, to go along for the ride, so to speak, focusing on the individual turns and bumps in the road and lose sight of where it is we are going. And if we are not careful, our taking a limited number of verses to study from I John each week can exacerbate this tendency. For this reason, today I wanted to explore the big picture of where John has been going. And in fact, I think this is the reason for the very verses John writes that we will look at today!

So allow me to begin by reading through I John up to where we are today, with a few brief summary comments.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our/your joy complete. – I John 1:1-4

John is establishing his credentials; he was there, an eyewitness, with the other disciples. And like the other disciples, he was changed. He is now not a man cut off from God as he once was, a man doing what seems best in his own eyes, but is now a man in fellowship with God, walking spiritually with God, in communication with God, serving God, enjoying the presence of God, worshiping God, with God the Father and with God the Son. And so this letter is written so that its readers could also enjoy this fellowship with God and with John.

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. – I John 1:5-7

This passage is a kind of test. Do you say you too are in fellowship with God? Well, is your life open to Him? Are you confessing your sin? Are you repenting of your sin? This is not to say you are sinless – more on that in a moment – but are you being honest with God, letting Him speak to every area of your life? Or is there a whole secret world, a life of sin and darkness that you keep from everyone including Him? If so, you may be fooling yourself about what your relationship with God is like.

 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us. – I John 1:8-10

These verses are the “flip side” of what is discussed in verses 5-7. They are another kind of test. Do you say you too are in fellowship with God? Well, do you say that not only is there no dark area of your life closed off to Him, but that there are no sin areas in your life, no areas of weakness, no areas of struggle? If so, you too may be fooling yourself about what your relationship with God is like.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands. Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. – I John 2:1-6

This passage is really a third test. OK, so you don’t live a dark life of complete sin and rebellion, and OK, you don’t say you are perfect but admit you have struggles in various areas. Fine, well, are you reading His Word and responding to it by seeking to do what it says? In other words, are there signs of real repentance in your life? Are there signs of taking real steps of faith in your life? Are you seeking to do what the Bible says to do? Are you seeking to really follow Jesus, not just on Sunday morning, but the whole week? If you are not sure whether you really know Him, this is the test. Those who know Him grow. Those who know Him change over time (not just with self-effort, but hand in hand with God, depending on His grace and power and Spirit).

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. – I John 2:7-11

Yes, another test. This one is pretty specific. The Greek word for “brother or sister” is referring to a believer. The test is how you feel about the other believers in your life. Do you harbor resentment, anger, bitterness, hatred because of what they have done or for some other reason? Then you fail this test. You do not walk in the light but in darkness. It is interesting that even today you often hear the idiom “blinded by rage” – it would appear that the roots of this idiom are Biblical.

Four tests. The first two are really doctrinal tests about Christ and about sin. Do you believe that Christ should be the Lord of your life? Do you acknowledge that you sin? And then the next two are really moral tests about obedience and about love. Do you seek in your heart to obey Scripture, to really follow Christ? And do you seek to eliminate enmity with other believers from your heart?

I think for a lot of people, for Christians, the answers are “yes, but…” These are challenging questions when you really spend time exploring every area of your life. It can be sobering to think on these things. I think it is good to do this, and John asks this of us because it is good to do this. As we go further into I John, we will see another motive: we will see that he also tells us these things to help us discern false teachers and false disciples from those who are truly in Christ, who truly preach the gospel.

But I believe strongly that John’s goal is not to get believers questioning their salvation. That’s not what this is about. I say this because of today’s passage. Let’s explore it now:

I am writing to you, dear children,

    because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name. (A) 

I am writing to you, fathers,

    because you know Him who is from the beginning. (B) 

I am writing to you, young men,

    because you have overcome the evil one. (C) 

I write to you, dear children,

    because you know the Father. (A’) 

I write to you, fathers,

    because you know Him who is from the beginning. (B’)

I write to you, young men,

    because you are strong,

    and the word of God lives in you,

    and you have overcome the evil one. (C’) – I John 2:12-14

Now, my first instinct upon reading these was to ask, “Huh? Why are you writing this now?” Recall that there was nothing in the way of a standard introduction like what we see in many other New Testament letters, no indication of who the letter is to or from, no opening statements of greeting and encouragement to the saints, nothing like this at all. And now, smack dab in the middle of this letter we have these “I am writing to you” statements, with repeating elements, almost poetic in their style. What’s going on?

I believe these passages are a kind of tempering to the hard impact of the tests of the previous verses. They help you to keep your bearings. John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, did not write all these tests to get everyone to doubt their salvation. He makes it crystal clear here that he is writing to believers. His purpose here is to encourage them! It’s like he’s saying, yes, I know I’ve been hard-hitting. But you guys – you are believers. You have been forgiven on account of His name. You know Him who is from the beginning. You have overcome the evil one. You know the Father. You know Him who is from the beginning. You are strong, and the word of God lives in you. And you have overcome the evil one.

There are six parts to these three verses, and there is a clear parallelism and repetition in these verses. I have labeled the parts as A, B, C, A’, B’, and C’. The verb to write is used in a slightly different tense in Greek in A’, B’, and C’ than it is in A, B, and C, but this is a fairly standard technique used in the Old Testament when this kind of parallelism/repetition is used. It is a literary device; the goal is to restate something for emphasis because it is important, but rather than using the exact same wording, it is modified slightly to get and hold more of your attention. We do this ourselves. Two places you hear it is when preachers teach and when parents lecture their children. (There’s probably a joke there somewhere!) Now B and B’ use the same word for “fathers,” patria, and C and C’ use the same word for young men, neaniskoi, but A and A’ use different words for “dear children”; teknia in A and paidia in A’.

Literally, teknia mean “born ones.” It does not necessarily mean little children. In a number of passages, teknia refers to all believers. And “born ones” is a good name for us, for as Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Now, teknia is used not just as a “technical” term (pun intended), but also as a term of endearment.  This can be seen in multiple passages. But in this case, given the obvious parallelism/repetition of this passage, I think teknia and paidia are alternate wordings for one idea, and paidia really does refer to little children. So who is John talking to? I don’t think he means ones based on a young physical age, but he means those who are still young in the faith, young spiritually.

If you are a new believer, there is nothing wrong with being a paidia, a word that perhaps we could translate as padawan. How does John encourage these “younglings”?

Our sins are forgiven. Do you ever stop and think how momentous this is? This is at the heart of the gospel – Jesus, through dying on the cross, has made it so our sins are forgiven. This is why we remember Jesus with the bread and the cup. And Jesus told us to remember Him with the bread and the cup because it is by faith we accept His gift of forgiveness. The bread and the cup represent His body and His blood. He is the atonement for our sins. Because of the absolute and pure holiness of God, sinful man cannot stand in His presence. But our sins are forgiven. They are taken away. They are gone. And because of Jesus we can come to God and dwell in His presence forever!

Our sins are forgiven on account of His name. Another way I think of saying this is that it is to display His glory. Our sins aren’t forgiven because we deserve it, or because there is anything we can do to earn His forgiveness (because there isn’t). Our sins are forgiven because it lifts up His name, it brings Him glory; it pleases Him to show that He is a God of mercy and grace and love. 

And A’ says they know the Father. In John 17:3, Jesus prays that this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. And so to know the Father is to imply that your sins are forgiven; both imply eternal life. So even a young person in Christ can have an assurance of salvation, of forgiveness of sins, of a relationship with God. John is telling this person to, essentially, rejoice in their salvation.

I like that John singles out the young in Christ. There is no shame in being a youngling. Everyone starts out this way. But it is not a state one should stay in forever. The author of Hebrews talks about this: We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  - Hebrews 5:11-12

It is unfortunate, but I would say that in general in the church in America, there are a lot of old babes in Christ. And for many of them, I think the description in Hebrews fits as well: they no longer try to understand. They let the distractions and cares and even the toys of this world so fill their hearts and minds that they no longer really seek God. I’m not going to pretend I can separate the babes in Christ from those who were never saved, nor should I try. God will sort this out. But I am certain there are many who are saved yet remain stuck in spiritual infancy.

Now let’s move on to Parts B and B’. Here John is writing to fathers. These are the opposite of babes in Christ; John says He writes to fathers because they know “He who is from the beginning,” a reference to Christ, who once said “before Abraham was born, I AM”. I think of how Paul wrote in Phil. 3:14 that he presses on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called him heavenward in Christ Jesus. And what is the goal? From Phil. 3:8, Paul considers everything a loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ his Lord. And in Phil. 3:10 Paul reiterates that he so greatly desires to know Christ. Fathers represent those further along in the path towards spiritual maturity, and John reminds them that they know Him.

I don’t want to read too much out of this verse, but what it implies is that spiritual maturity is at its core about how well you know God – not just head knowledge, but via relationship. Our son, Isaac, has had success in math competitions, and when we talk about it as a family, Hannah will say reverently, “Isaac is very smart!” Hannah doesn’t do that about some other kid she reads about in the newspaper. Her awe of Isaac is tied in to the fact that he’s her brother; she knows him well, and he knows her well – and he loves her and she loves him. We should be the same way – one sign of growing maturity is that we should just gush about God – our version of “God is very smart” – and not just because of head knowledge but because of a two-way relationship of love.

We could spend forever talking about knowing God; let me just say that it starts with a heart that truly seeks Him. I encourage you with Matthew 7:7-8: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. If you truly seek to know Him, He will make Himself known to you.

One last thought about fathers: fathers are those who have children. The verse doesn’t say this explicitly, but it could have used a different Greek word for “old man” yet chose father. Fathers have children. Part of this stage of maturity is that you are helping people come to faith in Christ and helping new believers grow in Christ.

In Parts C and C’ John writes to “young men.” These young men are “strong,” the word of God lives in them, and they have overcome the evil one. I don’t know about you, but for many people there is a sort of honeymoon period when they first come to faith in Christ. There is a joy in knowing they are saved; they sense God’s presence and peace and often see at least some instant changes in their lives, in their thoughts. But then God’s Spirit begins to reveal areas of sin, habits of sin, areas in which they do not submit to God, and if they resist the Spirit, well, the honeymoon is over. Some people (I was one of them) tried desperately to fix things in their own strength, which goes nowhere. People start using the word “hard” to describe their faith. Where is the transition from “youngling” to young man? I think it is here in this description of John. The Word of God lives in them. Now we know that Jesus is the Word from John 1, but I think this could also refer to the Bible – perhaps it refers to both. People transition to this second stage as they continue to spend time in God’s Word and they allow it to begin to transform their lives. Verses are stored up in their hearts and they come to mind when trials come, and trials always do come. But the strength of these men is that they are learning to rely on Christ and His Word. They are learning to overcome tempations – not in their own strength but in the very strength of God. Satan’s tactics of discouragement, doubt, and deception don’t really work on them like perhaps they once did. John tells such people to rejoice because they are strong, the Word does live in them, and they have overcome the evil one. 

I’m not sure where you are in this process of growing in spiritual maturity – whether you are a little child, a young man (or woman), or a father (or mother). In any case, we can rejoice in what God has done in our lives and in what He is going to do. And so now let us remember Him with joy and with praise as well as with awe and a holy fear as we reflect and pray about how He died for us.