Living as Soldiers

Introduction

1 John 2:12–14 CSB

12 I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13 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. 14 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.

This evening—we are looking at how John is writing to a diverse church made up of both mature and immature believers and he is writing to encourage them to live their lives as faithful soldiers in God’s kingdom.

1. We can be forgiven.

1 John 2:12 CSB

12 I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

little Children—Keep in mind John’s age, nearly everyone is a child to him.

W.A. Criswell—

1–3 John—Fellowship in God’s Family Chapter 6: Family Secrets (1 John 2:12–14)

IN THE LATTER YEARS of his more than fifty years as pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, Dr. W. A. Criswell was fond of calling just about everyone, even men in their sixties, “lad.” He could do that because of his extreme age. John did that as well. One of John’s favorite designations for his recipients is “children.”

John is no different, he uses it as a loving statement for the whole church.

a. Our sins are fully forgiven.

“have been forgiven”— The greek word is in the perfect passive indicative form, why is this important? It means that our sins have not only been forgiven for a short period of time, or forgiven but not forgotten. What it means is that our sins have been eternally and perfectly forgiven and will never again appear before God. Also, take note that the passiveness of the verse means, that we are not the ones active in achieving forgiveness but instead are the beneficiary of God’s active grace and act of forgiveness of sins.

The Greek word is aphiemi—which has many uses in the greek, one of wich is to leave or divorce. Here is the beautiful picture of God’s forgiveness. He has divorced us from our sin. He has sent sin and shame into the depths of the abyss and made us righteous before him!

Forgiveness is an essential part of the gospel. It it the centerpiece of the preaching of the apostles in Acts.

Acts 2:38 CSB

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 5:31 CSB

31 God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 10:43 CSB

43 All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Acts 13:38 CSB

38 Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers and sisters, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you.

Acts 26:18 CSB

18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Forgiveness of sins is the foundational to the gospel. Without forgiveness, we do not have good news to preach. While we are recipients of the gospel. The forgiveness of sins also are for the benefit of God.

Notice the text:

b. Our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ glory.

“on account of his name”—This phrasing is similar in Psalm 23:3

Psalm 23:3 CSB

3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

Also, we see it again in Psalm 79:9

Psalm 79:9 CSB

9 God of our salvation, help us, for the glory of your name. Rescue us and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake.

Something we need to understand is that our forgiveness is not for our sake, but for God’s! In other words, we have not done anything to deserve forgiveness, it is through the work of Christ alone! I cannot work hard enough, do good enough, or serve faithfully enough to receive forgiveness by our own names sake. It is through Christ alone, his all powerful saving work that we can have be restored and forgiven. We cannot fall into the trap of allowing ourselves to ever believe our merit gives us any right to forgiveness. It is the gracious gift of God through Jesus that we have forgiveness of sins.

We should not forget Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 43:25:

Isaiah 43:25 CSB

25 “I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more.

No matter how massive a sinner we are, or someone else is, when Jesus washes us with his forgiveness, our sins are forgiven! They are washed away. We are no longer defined as a sinner but as a child of God!

Illustration:

Public scandals of public figures have become almost commonplace. Wade Boggs was a five-time American League batting champion during his career, with a lifetime batting average of .356, and a 2005 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. At the height of his career, for four years Boggs had a mistress traveling companion, Margo Adams. When news of the scandal broke, the affair had already ended. Boggs had already confessed to his wife. Shortly afterward, in a Barbara Walters interview with Boggs and his wife, Walters asked him, “What went wrong; was it the glitz and glitter of fame and fortune; was it the wicked other woman?” Boggs, sitting quietly before the camera and holding his wife’s hand, said no to all of the above. In so many words he said he did what he did because he was a sinner. Walters seemed incredulous. She turned to Mrs. Boggs and asked, “And you actually forgave him?” Quietly Mrs. Boggs answered, “Yes.” Barbara Walter’s facial expression indicated that the clue phone was ringing, but no one was at home to answer. She simply didn’t seem to get it. “I forgive you” are three of the most powerful words in any language. When God himself speaks those words to you, they are based on the work of his dear Son, Jesus. It is for the sake of his name that we are forgiven.

Application:

We have been forgiven of so much and God does not hold any of it against us. Who are we to hold sins of others against them? We have received a gift we did not deserve and we ought to extend it to others. Through the power of Jesus, we can forgive others because we are forgiven much. Also, we should not for a moment allow Satan to beat us up for past sins, they are washed, divorced from us, they’ve been cast into the abyss never to return for God’s love as given us grace and forgiveness when we place our faith in Jesus.

Transition: Not only can we be forgiven,

2. We can be assured.

1 John 2:13 CSB

13 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.

“Fathers”—While John’s previous message was meant for the entire church, he now turns his attention to the mature believers in the church. It is important to remember that the church is made up a multitude of ages, sure physically is true; however, spiritually is even more true within the church. Don’t miss this, every person in the church has different maturity levels within the church. Some are infants, some are children, some are teens, some are young adults, others are middle aged, and then there are others who are senior adults in the faith. Another way to look at it is there are some who barely know what it means to be a Christian, others understand a lot of what it means to be a child of God, and yet others are wise and know God with clarity.

John’s message in the verse turns his attention to the mature believers who have known God for a long season.

Spurgeon has a great illustration of this dynamic. In church one day, Charles asked his grandfather to pray to close out the service. After the Grandfather agreed, while placing his hand on his grandson’s shoulder, he said: “Charles can tell you about it, but I have lived it.” I had a similar experience as Charles with a member at one of the churches I served in. I had finished preaching on marriage, an older gentle came up, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “you did good son, but I must say, it is a little strange hearing it from someone your age. But, you spoke truth so it blessed my heart.” My response was swift, “I have so much to still learn, but I am going to preach what is in the text.” His smile widened as he said, “Never lose that, cling to the Bible harder and longer the older you get son.” It never left me. This wise man, spoke deeply to my heart. Never lose sight of clinging to Jesus and walking with him.

When we know Jesus, we know the Father. When we cling to God’s word, we cling to God. We can be assured of our standing with God when we can truly say we Jesus as our Lord and savior.

Transition: not only can we be forgiven, and can we be assured,

3. We can be victorious.

1 John 2:13 CSB

13 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.

In the second part of this verse, John turns his attention to the younger children of God. While the more mature Christians are being encouraged to remember they know Jesus who has always been, he is now encouraging the young men who have overcame the evil one.

He says, “because you have conquered the evil one.” John is reminding the less mature christians that they have experienced the same victorious forgiveness as the mature believers! While their maturity and wisdom might be less than the mature believers, they are by no means lesser.

If we all think back to our younger days, we all have made decisions we regret. We all have made choices that have caused us to suffer. Looking back we would not do it the same as before. In other words, inexperience is cured through living life.

It is one of the reasons parenting is so difficult. We want to protect our children from making foolish mistakes but at the same time we learn best through mistakes. There is a fine balance we must maintain as we raise our children to let them have enough freedom to make mistakes that won’t cause lasting issues.

Time has a powerful effect on Pride for youthful people. They have more energy, they bounce back faster, they are stronger, and they have the gift of being know it alls.

However, that passion and vigor gives them courage to fight the evil one.

a. Our victory comes from Jesus.

Now we must recognize that our victory comes from Jesus not ourselves. John has reminded them that they have experienced forgiveness and it is out of forgiveness that we have recieved victory! It is out of Jesus’ victory that we then are able to resist Satan!

b. Our victory allows us to resist Satan.

John essentially tells them you have victory and are fighting the good fight keep it up! His reason for writing is to encourage them to keep fighting against satan because they have already recieved victory over him through the death and resurrection of Jesus!

Transition: not only can we be forgiven, be assured, and be victorious,

4. We can be strong.

1 John 2:14 CSB

14 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.

Most English translations actually place

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

I have written to you, children,

because you have come to know the Father.

as part of verse 13. However, most of Greek New testaments we have place this statement as part of verse 14. The Christian Standard Bible chose to keep it where most of the Greek text we have originally placed it.

Keep in mind this does not impact, in anyway, the meaning of the text. Keep in mind, the original text did not have verses or chapters. These are man made additions to help us identify texts and quickly move around in our Bible reading.

The one benefit we see to how the CSB chose to structure this is that it captures the flow of the previous two verses.

I am writing to you, little children

I am writing to you, Fathers

I am writing to you, young men

Now

I have written to you, children

I have written to you, fathers

I have written to you, young men.

It helps to paint the picture that John is emphasizing his message to the church.

To the children, the whole church, he says not only are your sins forgiven (v13), but you have come to know the father (v14).

When we receive the forgiveness of sins, at that very moment we begin the processes of growing to know the Father more deeply through Jesus! It is a beautiful picture of how we gain access to the Father through the working of Jesus!

To the mature believers he again emphasizes that they have come to know more fully the one from the beginning.

Yet, possibly most significant reemphasis comes for the young men.

He says,

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

I have written to you, young men,

because you are strong,

God’s word remains in you,

and you have conquered the evil one.

Now in both cases he says that “you have conquered the evil one, where there is a difference is that he adds the statement “because you are strong, God’s word remains in you”

Let’s be real honest here, we all know that the younger the person age wise the more vitality they have. We can look at professional sports to see this play out. The prime of a MLB professional player is said to be between 26-30 years old.

Essentially, Baseball players work hard and improve physically until about 26 years old, then around 30-31, their athletic ability begins to degrade, some more rapidly than others. While vets are very capable of performing well, they are typically not going to perform with the same quality and athletic impact on the game. Their body just cannot handle it anymore. I can tell you that even as a 35 year old, I cannot go out and perform athletically like I did at 30.

There is a level of excitement and energy that younger christians, even spiritually speaking have over the more mature ones oftentimes. There is a real danger that as we mature in Christ, our hunger to study God’s word fades, we have read it so much we fail to cherish our time in it.

Our passion and vigor to share the gospel fades, whether from repeated rejections or simply being tired from the rigorous effort evangelism can have on us. Yet, we shouldn’t allow our age, experience to hinder our efforts. Our strength comes from Jesus! It is not our own.

All the authority we have is found in Christ, and because he has conquered Satan we have conquered Satan.

1–3 John—Fellowship in God’s Family John Writes Because We Have Overcome Satan through the Word (v. 14)

Yet if your mind is saturated with the Scriptures, the love of God, the daily presence of God in your life, you are equipped to win the victory over any temptation. You are not a soldier in enemy territory ill-equipped to handle the enemy; you are a soldier who daily can put on the whole armor of God (

How can we have strength?

a. We are strong when we know the Father.

Keep in mind that this is a message to the whole church.

b. We are strong when we remain in God’s Word.

As mature Christians, even though this is spoken to the younger, less mature Christians, it should be true of mature Christians also. We must remain in God’s Word because it is the source of our strength.

We fight against temptation through God’s word. We are encouraged and strengthened in the faith through God’s word. And we continue to grow in in our knowledge of God through his Word!

c. We are strong when we stay vigilant against Satan.

We must no let our Guard down! We must be in constant awareness of what is happening around us.

Closing

No matter where you are on your faith journey, whether you are a young believer or a mature believer of 60 years or more, are you celebrating your forgiveness daily? Are you resting in your assurance of your salvation in Jesus? Are you living a victorious life over Satan and sin through Jesus? Are you remaining strong through abiding in the word of God?