John now pauses in his letter to assure his readers of his confidence in them as they dwell in Christ. See "Union with Christ" below.
Having cautioned his readers about the importance of loving one another, he assures them of his confidence in their confession about Christ and their obedience to his command. He intends to encourage them with this letter to overcome the evil one by staying true to the course they are on.1 John 2:12-14 form an unusual chiastic structure (a writing style that uses a unique repetition pattern for clarification and emphasis) probably emphasizing the different degrees of spiritual maturity among his readers:
- A. little children (1 John 2:12)
- B. fathers (1 John 2:13)
- C. young men (1 John 2:13)
It is unlikely that John used children, fathers, and young men as references to the biological ages of three different groups. He often used the children to refer to all of his readers (1 John 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21). Several other possibilities exist: (1) He may have been referring to all of his readers with each term. (2) He may have been referring to the spiritual maturity of different groups of his readers. (3) He may have used the term children to refer to his whole readership, while fathers and young men may have been age distinctions within that larger group.
- A. children (1 John 2:13)
- B. fathers (1 John 2:14)
- C. young men (1 John 2:14)
Although we prefer option 2 above because saints are at different levels of maturity in the Church and walk in different degrees of loyalty to the everlasting covenant, these verses may also apply to the Church overall. Children and young men may look forward as they will become more mature (fathers) as they abide in Christ and fathers may look back and see their progressive growth in Christ as children and young men in Christ. See "Union with Christ" below. Additionally, in some issues of life fathers may still be children or young men, and in other issues they have matured to yet a greater degree. However, with this aside, Eaton points out:
dear children… fathers… young men… little children. John could be addressing people of different ages in the same congregation or people at different stages of spiritual growth. He offers his readers a clue by repeatedly calling them children (2:12, 13), which indicates that the purpose for his writing, repeated to their fathers and young men applies to everyone. By addressing their fathers or leaders, John is addressing the congregation's representatives. By addressing their young men or apprentice leaders, John is addressing the congregation's future character. Each set of three statements, repeated with slight variation, then, addresses everyone in the congregation.So l John 2:12-14 comes in at a very appropriate point in the letter. John does not want his readers to doubt their salvation, their past spiritual experience or their present ability to cope with the devil's assaults. He dogmatically asserts that he has no doubts at all that his readers are forgiven, have been delivered from Satan's realm, and are strong enough to face any foe. The fact that John is inviting his readers to test his adversaries' gospel does not mean he wishes them to fall into doubt concerning their own salvation or maturity.
John places an emphasis on "name." It's use is significant because it refers to the revelation of the person and work of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9; 2:1-2; 4:10). The power of the name of Jesus was central in early Christian proclamations (Acts 2:38; 3:6; 4:12). The name Jesus, which was given to the Savior by God's authority, means "Yahweh saves." God's name belongs rightfully to the Son of God and indicates his divine authority and mission to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:31; 2:21). See "God's Self-Disclosure: Does God Have a Name?" below.
forgiven… name. On forgiven, see notes on Lk. 1:31; 2:21. On name, see notes on Acts 2:38; 3:6; 4:12. In Hebrew, the name Jesus means 'the Lord saves or delivers' and his mission was to 'save his people from their sins' (see notes on Matt. 1:21). John's summary about the means of forgiveness echoes his identification of Jesus in 2:2 as the atoning sacrifice for sinners (see notes on 2:2).Overcoming is the norm of the Christian life. There is a now-but-not-yet quality to the term. Christians have overcome (justification), are overcoming (sanctification), and shall overcome (glorification). All Christians are "overcomers" in Christ.
As persons mature in Christ they overcome more and more. When Christ returns, saints shall see the fullness of the overcoming life.
The theme of overcoming appears again in 1 John 5:3-5, where the victory is over the world that opposes God. The kind of victory John describes here (resistance against temptation and faithfulness to God's word) contrasts with the defeat suffered by the human race at the Fall (Gen. 3). From John's perspective, "the true light is already shining" (1 John 2:8), therefore the battle against temptation has already been won (1 John 5:4). See "Sanctification: When Will I Stop Sinning?" and "The Perseverance and Preservation of Believers: Can I Lose My Salvation?" below.
young men… overcome the evil one. The theme of overcoming evil is crucial for John in this letter (see notes on 4:4; 5:4) and in the Revelation (see notes Rev 1:9; 2:7, 11, 26; 3:5, 21). John's confidence in these young men is rooted in the test they have already passed by remaining in the church; their good confession of Christ; and their obedience to his commands. John does not tell the young men to defeat evil. Rather, they have overcome the evil one (past tense), because of the presence of Christ's Spirit in and among them (1 John 4:4).This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
