Victorious through God’s Word
I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one. 1 John 2:12-14 CSB
In these verses, John takes a small detour to encourage the believers and assure them of their faith. As mentioned in previous devotionals, a big problem the believers were facing was that false teachers were teaching that in order to know God, one must have had received a special revelation through mystical means (which would come to be known as Gnosticism). In regards to this false doctrine, John assures the believers of their salvation, citing reasons as to why they are believers. What is interesting here are these three names given to believers: little children, fathers, and young men. There is a small debate as to the significance of these names written by John. Was he referring to maturity and stages of life? A dispute to this question is the fact that it is out of order, with little children first, then fathers, then young men, meaning that young men and fathers should be switched. The other side, to which I subscribe to, is that John is shifting through all these names to mean all believers, from young to old, single to parent, and so on. We can see something similar in Acts 2:17-18, “And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy.” With that information, John encourages the believers that they have “been forgiven on account of His name,” meaning Jesus’ name. They have come to know “the One who is from the beginning,” which again, is Jesus Christ (see John 1-5). Through Jesus, they have “conquered the evil one,” thwarting Satan’s grasp on their souls. Verse 14 reiterates these words to reinforce their belief and security in salvation, overcoming these difficulties because “God’s Word remains in you.” So, in that way, to challenge the false doctrines that might be confusing all of us, John gives us the solution: remain in the Word of God and you will be strong and conquer, as you have had in the past, the evil one.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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