Maturing Faith

September 14, 2025|Maturing Faith|1 John 2:12-14

JD Cutler

Click here for the sermon audio

As we continue through our study of the letter of 1st John we come to an interesting section of this wonderful letter.

Although we see all the warmth and pastoral concern we have come to expect from the Apostle John in this letter, we also find a surprising change in his writing style.

If you are reading a modern english translation, one of the first things you will see about our text this morning is that it has been set apart and written similarly to the other poetic sections of scripture.

While much has been said of the substance and structure of 1 John 2:12-14, and as one commentator put it, ‘Considerable ingenuity has been expended on the way we should understand these terms and on the change of tense from ‘I write’ to ‘I wrote’ ’, one of the things that seems to be consistently understood is that the apostle John changes his writing style in this section to a more poetic style than the rest of his letter.

Whenever a writer chooses to do this we understand that there is something communicated beyond just the words. The method communicates along with the message.

Perhaps John wanted to draw particular attention and give weight to this section. Perhaps John wanted to provide a mnemonic device that would allow his hearers to better internalize and remember these truths.

We can speculate, but we really do not know for sure.

But as I have studied and prayed over this passage, as I have agonized about how to best and most faithfully present the truths contained within, I have arrived at what I think will both honor the text as well as its intended purpose.

As a way of introduction, let us remind ourselves of John’s stated purposes in writing this letter.

One, to reassure these believers that they belong to Christ and two, to equip them to better evaluate and reject the false teachers in their midst as well as those who would come along later.

We can see his first purpose in statements like, 1 John 5:13 “13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

We can see his second purpose in statements like, 1 John 2:26 “26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.”

With these two twin purposes in mind, I think we can understand why he writes the things he does in our text today as well as make some applications from it. John is simultaneously encouraging his hearers as well as equipping them against those who would deceive them.

From John’s words this morning I want to share with you three exhortations that I believe do just that. Exhortations aimed at believers just like those of us here this morning.

Three exhortations that I pray will lead us all to a maturing faith in our Lord.

If you haven’t already, open your bibles to 1 John chapter 2 and we will pick up in verse 12.

1 John 2:12–14 ESV

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

The first exhortation is…

I. GROUND YOURSELF IN THE GOSPEL

One of the things that many commentators agree on is that this section marks a change in the letter. It serves as a place where John looks back on everything that he has said so far and forward to what he is about to say. He reassures them before he begins a more thorough warning against false teachers and the dangers of the world.

The discussion that follows that common ground is where commentators and Bible teachers begin to diverge. Is John addressing three groups of people, two, or all Christians? If two or three, is he addressing spiritual maturity or physical age when he says children, young men, and fathers? And on and on the discussion goes.

I was amazed at the various and differing answers to those questions as I checked various commentaries and looked at the way some of my favorite pastors and theologians taught this passage.

While these can be interesting conversations, and many of these wonderful pastors have compelling arguments for their understandings, when we realize that in some place or another in this same letter, John applies each one of these things to all Christians in his letter, it becomes much less important to understand these categories than to understand the things he says in this set of scriptures.

According to the way he uses little children elsewhere in this letter for all of his hearers, it is relatively safe to assume that at least his first statement is aimed at all Christians.

I am writing to you, little children. This is consistent with his use of the term in verses 1 and 28 of chapter 2, verses 7 and 18 of chapter 3, verse 4 of chapter 4, and verse 21 of chapter 5, all places where he clearly addresses the whole group of readers and hearers of this letter.

To them he says, I am writing to you because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

Brothers, this is the very heart of the gospel message.

Your sins are forgiven (this is the perfect passive tense) have been, and are forgiven you) The idea of the perfect tense in Greek describes an action which is viewed has having been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to be repeated.

From the very beginning forgiveness of sins is at the center of the gospel proclamation.

When Mark summarizes John the Baptist’s ministry he says, Mark 1:4 (ESV) 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

When John the Baptist announced Jesus to his disciples he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

When Jesus was in the upper room with his disciples we find these words, Matthew 26:27-28 (ESV) 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke records Jesus’ last moments with his disciples at the end of his gospel account and records some of his final words. Luke 24:45–48 “45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.”

When Peter stood before the crowd at Pentecost in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the men asked brothers, what shall we do? Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…

Paul in describing the blessings of being in Christ to the Ephesian church says, (ESV) 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,”

The heart of the gospel is that sinful human beings can be reconciled to God through the forgiveness of sins, not by their own works but for his name’s sake.

John wants us to remember that…

…we do not walk in the light so that our sins will be forgiven.

…we do not walk as he walked so that our sins will be forgiven.

…we do not strive for holiness so that our sins will be forgiven.

…we do not love the brothers so that our sins will be forgiven.

We are forgiven by grace through faith for the sake of his name.

Commenting on this passage, Spurgeon says,

1 John Exposition 'on account of his name That is, for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of His glorious person, for the sake of His honorable offices, for the sake of His blood-shedding and atoning death, for the sake of His glorious resurrection, for the sake of His perpetual intercession before the throne of God. Your sins are not forgiven because of anything you are or hope to be, nor because of anything that you have done or have suffered. You are forgiven for Christ’s name’s sake, and all the saints of God can say the same. This is a sure ground of hope. There is no quicksand, but a solid rock is under our foot. If the pardon had been granted for our own work’s sake, it might have been reversed upon our disobedience. But since sin is pardoned for Christ’s sake, the pardon is irreversible, since there is no change in Christ.

Friends, it has been well said that we never grow beyond the gospel.

We who believer are often in desperate need to have it repeated to us.

As children of God we have forgiveness of sins, we stand before God robed in the righteousness of Christ, covered by his blood, forgiven and reconciled forevermore.

When I doubt my identity or lose sight of my identity, the gospel reminds me of who I am.

When I am tempted to take glory in myself or my accomplishments, the gospel reminds me the most valuable thing I have has been given to me.

When I am tempted to engage in things of the world, the gospel reminds me that Christ redeemed me from the world and he is infinitely more valuable than what the world offers me.

To this beautiful truth we add John’s second address to the children, a different greek word from his previous ‘little children’ but the same word John uses in verse 18 of chapter 2 to address the whole church, the gospel declares that I am now a child of God. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

You belong to the family of God.

As we pointed out in the beginning, John often returns to themes in the letter, expounding on them. What began as ‘fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.’ is now ‘you know the Father’ Again, the perfect tense stressing you have come to know and do know.

The word know does not deal with mere intellectual knowledge but relational knowledge. You know the Father. How?

John expounds again later in 1 John in chapter 3 when he says. 1 John 3:1–2 “1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

You know God because you are God’s child, now, at this very moment. You became his child at the new birth and you will always be his child.

These two twin realities, our sins are forgiven and we are children of God are both related to the good news of the gospel. If we could sum up John’s words into a simple five word exhortation, it would be hard not to come to the conclusion that ‘ground yourself in the gospel’ is entirely appropriate here.

This is what every believer needs to be reminded and encouraged to do, no matter how long or how short they have been a believer. Do not lose sight of the gospel, rather ground yourself in it, it is the foundation and substance of your life in Christ.

The second exhortation this morning is…

II. GROW IN YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.

Regardless of how you see John’s use of these three categories of child, young man, and father, it is hard not to identify a progression of growth or maturity in them.

This is just the normal process of human growth that we see. A young male child grows steadily into a young man, and that young man grows steadily into the stage of fatherhood.

Now, I don’t think that John intends to separate out men who are not fathers, or even to exclude women altogether.

I think John is using these easily identifiable stages of development to teach us something about the nature of our spiritual growth.

We all begin as spiritual children, babes in Christ who know the Father and understand our sins are forgiven, that is we have a basic understanding of the gospel and it’s implications for our lives.

This is normal, no matter how old you are when you come to Christ. No one is born again spiritually into a mature man or woman. But many times over the Bible writers were surprised and upset that the recipients of their letters were not growing in the way that would be expected. Take for instance…

Hebrews 5:11–14 “11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” or Paul in 1st Corinthians

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 “1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”

If a child does not grow into a young man or a young lady we would rightly identify that something was developmentally wrong, as we would if that same young lady or young man did not continue growing into adulthood. What is interesting to me is when John chooses to write his because statement to these Fathers, he does not say, I write to you fathers because you understand all mystery and have all knowledge. He does not say, I am writing to you fathers because you have understanding of all theology and doctrine. He says, very simply, 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. and 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. Using both of these opportunities to emphasize one main thing.

You know him who is from the beginning.

Now he could be referencing either the Father or the Son, both who share eternality.

Either would be an appropriate understanding, but if we take the context of the letter, how did he start his letter?

1 John 1:1–4 “1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

Which in turn is an echo of his opening line of his gospel account. John 1:1–2 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.”

I think it is clear that John is referring to Jesus here.

So what is he saying? We must acknowledge that knowledge of Christ is not limited to the Fathers, or the mature. Spiritual infants know Christ, young men and women in Christ know Christ. What is he trying to teach us by the singular descriptor, repeated twice concerning Fathers, that they know him who is from the beginning?

I think it is a way to remind us that knowledge of Jesus is the main thrust of our Christian life.

For too many of us, I think the goal of the Christian life has been boiled down to simply a way to escape hell or make it to heaven, when in reality the goal in the Christian life is to know Christ as fully as possible until the day we can see him face to face, being transformed by that knowledge into Christ-likeness,

When we are new in Christ, it feels like there is so much to learn and when we are in what we would equate to the young man or woman stage of Christian life, the battle is fierce and we know there are still many things to learn, but as we mature we learn that the only thing worth knowing is knowing Christ more and more. As we grow and mature we can say like Paul does in 1 Corinthians, I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Jesus is the sum total of all scripture, he is its central character from beginning to end.

For too many of us, I think the goal of the Christian life has been boiled down to simply a way to escape hell or make it to heaven, when in reality the goal in the Christian life is to know Christ as fully as possible until the day we can see him face to face, being transformed by that knowledge into Christ-likeness, or as John has described so far, to walk in the light as he is in the light, or to walk in the same way in which he walked, or to love as Christ loved.

The Apostle Peter’s final recorded words in scripture are 2 Peter 3:17-18 (ESV) 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In that same letter, he points the the end goal of our striving. 2 Peter 1:5–8 “5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In both Colossians 1:10 and Philippians 1:9 Paul shares his prayers for the believers that they would increase in the knowledge of God, and abound more and more with knowledge.

Friends, attending church services, although commanded is not the end goal.

The end goal is to grow in our knowledge of Christ through the encouragement of the corporate singing of truth, through the public reading of scripture, through the preaching of God’s word, through the fellowship of the saints, through prayer. These ordinary means of grace where we hear the gospel, speak the gospel, sing the gospel, see the gospel; these are designed to lead you into a deeper transformative knowledge of Christ, not to be a box that is checked each week.

If we want to progress in our spiritual walk, if we want to mature, it will come from an overwhelming desire to know Christ better.

To see him in the Old Testament, to sit at his feet from his teachings in the New Testament, to marvel at his ongoing intercession for us, to wonder at his election of us before the foundation of the world, to weep at the cost that our sin enacted on our savior, and on and on.

There is a saying that I hear from time to time that says, Christianity is about relationship not religion. I cringe a little every time I hear it. Not because it is entirely untrue, but it is altogether misleading. Christianity is about a relationship with Christ, yes, but it is also about becoming more like Christ, which is not accomplished apart from the things that fall under the category of religion.

What we believe, our worldview, our practices, our understanding of the gospel, all of that is informed by Christ, lived out in Christ, for the sake of becoming more like Christ. Religion is simply the word that encapsulates our faith and practices.

This is the goal of Christianity, please do not settle for anything less.

When you get to the end of your life, may it be said of you that you know (intimately, correctly, deeply) him who is from the beginning.

So far we have been exhorted to ground ourselves in the gospel, to grow in our knowledge of Christ, lastly this morning, we come to the exhortation…

III. GAIN VICTORY THROUGH THE WORD.

Twice John writes to the ‘young men’ emphasizing that they have overcome the evil one. Elsewhere John applies similar language to all Christians when he says, 1 John 5:4 “4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

Furthermore, we shouldn’t think then that Fathers have not overcome the evil one, anymore than we see the victory over the evil one clearly displayed in a brand new believer. Spurgeon identifies these young men as being Christians too long to be considered babes in Christ and not long enough to be considered Fathers in Christ. They are not new, they are on their spiritual journey towards maturity.

I thank God that it is not one or the other, that I must not be either an infant or a mature father in Christ. That there is room in the kingdom for those who are growing but not yet fully mature.

John emphasizes forgiveness of sins for new believers, knowledge of God for Father, and strength for young men.

We recognize the natural strength in young men. When we have to move something heavy at the church, Junior often recruits our teenage boys, those whose knees and backs do not yet hurt, whose stamina has not been worn down by a lifetime of work and toil. So too, we recognize the strength and passion of these young men John identifies. Not necessarily physical strength, but strong in faith and strong in endurance, and strong in laboring for Christ, strong in resisting attacks, and strong in attacks themselves. I think this is one reason John particular emphasizes young men in the context of overcoming the evil one. I think some of our hardest spiritual battles are in the place where we are no longer baby Christians and not fully mature believers either.

As I was thinking about what this looks like my mind was drawn to an event that happened this week.

Tragically this past week, one of these young men in Christ was cut down by a wicked act of a disturbed individual. If you want to know what the strength of young men in Christ look like, Charlie Kirk was a great example. He was a loving husband, a dedicated father, and a tireless worker for the kingdom. He expended more energy battling the darkness in the world on a daily basis than some of us do in a lifetime. He had rejected the worldviews and desires of the world that many of his peers either embraced or chased after. He rooted his life in the gospel and pursued a relationship with Jesus Christ.

No matter whether you are physically a young man or woman, if you are in that place of spiritual understanding and growth, John would encourage you where you are, so he says, you have overcome the evil one, you are strong. Keep fighting.

I was in a meeting with a group of much older pastors this week and one of them asked a question. Like Job’s young friend I stayed quiet while one by one these older men gave answers that I felt were safe or sanitized and really failed to address the heart of the issue. When everyone had spoken, I passionately laid out what I perceived the problem to be in the only way an idealistic young man can do, and while they were gracious and received it well, when it came time to pray for one another, the older gentleman, the one who asked the original question to my left, prayed for me thanking God for my passion and energy, and I realized in that moment, especially in light of studying 1st John for a couple of weeks, that perhaps my answer was not suited for a man who has served at his church for a couple of decades and is in the twilight of his ministry. I had not taken into consideration the stage of life he was in or even that in my youthful energy I am much more ready to fight every battle head on. I told Brittany it was like a pastoral ‘bless your heart’ if you know what I mean. I thank God that we have older Godly men that can help temper our youthful zeal, even as I am thankful for the passion and strength God has given young men.

But how do we gain this strength as we mature from new believer into young adulthood spiritually, how do we maintain it into maturity?

What makes us strong and keeps us strong? Look at the second time John addresses this group, he says the word of God abides in you. This is the reason they have overcome the evil one, this is why they are strong. Paul would say it this way to all believers in Ephesians 6:10 “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” . Our strength comes from the Lord.

John says, the word of God abides in you. The word abides here is the idea of ‘something has established itself permanently within my soul, and always exerts its power in me’

How do we overcome the enemies schemes? How do we resist the temptation from within? How do we conquer sin in our lives? Through the power of the word.

Through studying it and having it work itself deep into our lives where it affects our attitudes, our actions, our decisions, our plans, our purpose. This is not merely having a knowledge of scripture but having scripture so permanently established in our hearts and minds that its influence extends into every aspect of our lives.

They did not need the special knowledge of the gnostics or the secret knowledge they peddled, they needed to engage more deeply with the pure, life-giving, strengthening word of God. Grounded in the gospel and growing in our knowledge of Christ both comes from a deeper understanding and application of God’s word.

As believers making our way through John’s letter, I pray that this little section would accomplish in us what it seems to be designed for. To encourage us in our faith, to exhort us to faithfulness, and to equip us in our fight against false teachers who go beyond the gospel or distort it altogether, who change the goal of the Christian life into either antinomianism or legalism, and who attempt to gain victory through non-scriptural means.

Friends, whether you are a new believer or you have been a believer for a long time, we need to ground ourselves in the gospel. We need to have the goal of growing in our knowledge of Christ firmly fixed in our minds, and we need to understand that victory is gained through the word of God. These exhortations ought to challenge us, but it should also comfort us.

If you have been a Christian for any length of time and have not become more like Christ, you need to realize that there is something wrong. If you are not maturing, if you are not growing in Christ, I pray that you see the danger in that. If you are a new Christian, understand that you belong to Christ now, that you are forgiven now, that you are a child of God now, but you are not yet what you will be. Soak up God’s word, engage with God’s people, commit to becoming more like Christ, to be strengthened to fight the spiritual battles in your life. We need your enthusiasm.

If you are a believer but you are stuck in spiritual adolescence, if you should be a spiritual father or mother by now, decide today that you are going to grow up and get into God’s word in a serious and committed way. If you have been a Christian for a little while and you are growing, praise God, get the goal of the Christian life firmly in your mind and press on toward maturity. We need your strength.

If you are a mature believer, don’t get distracted now, stay the course, hold on to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and pour into the younger believers around you. We need your wisdom.

What John says in these verses reminds us that we all share in the blessings of Christ and at the same time we are all in different seasons of our walk. May God use them to spur us on to growth in Christ and maturity in our Lord and savior.

Let us pray.