Know What You Are In Christ and Cannot Lose
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Know What You Are in Christ and Cannot Lose (2:12–14).
12 I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13 I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is 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 wicked one.
C. S. Lewis said it well: “Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms” (Mere Christianity, 56)
As we surrender, God not only takes us into His kingdom, but He also brings us into His family. We become His children (vv. 12–13), and He becomes our Father (v. 13). We become strong in Him, His Word takes up residence in us, and we gain victory over Satan, who is “the evil one” (v. 14; cf. 4:4).
Verses 12–14 are beautifully structured, rhythmic and poetic. Six times John says, “I am writing” (vv. 12–13) or “I have written” (vv. 13–14).
Three different role individuals are used to identify his audience: “children,” “fathers,” and “young men,” and each group is addressed twice for emphasis.
Now, why does John address his readers in this fashion? Perhaps he has in mind all believers—new believers, older believers, and maturing believers.
John begins with one of the most simple and basic truths of Christianity: we have been forgiven for all of our sins because of “Jesus’ name.”
You are forgiven (2:12).
You are forgiven (2:12).
This speaks to both the person and the work of Christ, especially His perfect atoning work (v. 2). Matthew 1:21 reminds us that the angel said to Joseph, “She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7) and unrighteousness (1:9).
He is faithful to forgive all the sins of those who trust in Him. Having run to Jesus as our advocate and atonement (2:1–2), we have been welcomed by God as His children.
What a wonderful truth it is that “the name of Yahweh is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are protected” (Prov 18:10).
When we receive Jesus as our Savior we also get God as our Father (cf. v. 23).
You know the Father (2:13–14).
You know the Father (2:13–14).
John says to the fathers in the faith, “you have come to know the One who is from the beginning” (v. 13). The reference to the “One” may be to the Father or even to Christ, or possibly both. Of course both are true. We now know in an abiding, permanent relationship the One who has existed from all creation and the One whom we see in the Gospels. Echoes of John 1:1 and 1 John 1:1 ring out in our spiritual ears. He repeats this wonderful truth in verse 14. He doesn’t want us to forget it. There is a deep and abiding knowledge that has grown throughout our Christian experience. The longer we have lived, the deeper and better we know Him.
John then says to the children in verse 14, “You have come to know the Father.” The beauty of this statement is in its simplicity. The One who is God is now our Father. And He is a good Father, a great Father, a perfect Father. No longer is He our enemy, but through forgiveness of sins and His gracious adoption, we have come to know Him as Father. These promises of forgiveness of sin and knowledge of God reflect the New Covenant promises of Jeremiah 31:31–34. In verse 34 we read:
34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Warriors in the faith are now addressed by the term “young men.” These are believers who are maturing in the faith, young champions for Christ who are actively engaged in spiritual warfare against Satan, identified as the “evil one” in verses 13 and 14.
You are victors in the faith (2:13–14).
You are victors in the faith (2:13–14).
Three distinctive observations can be made about the young men who are at war with the Devil: they are strong, the Word of God abides in them, and they have overcome the evil one.
There is no doubt in my mind that our strength and our ability to defeat the evil one has a twofold source.
One is the work of Christ (cf. 3:8) and the other is the Word of God abiding in us.
Satan will accuse us on the one hand and tempt us on the other. The work of Christ answers his first tactic, and the Word of God addresses the second.
When Satan accuses me of sin, I trust the work of Christ. My debt has been paid, and while Satan can hurl accusations all day long, he has nothing with which he can condemn me (Rom 8:1)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Also, when Satan tempts me to sin, I turn to the Word of God.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.