Introduction
My friend, David Burtt, told me of a time when he was overcome with feelings of inadequacy, of not being good enough for what he wanted to do. But he came across Martin Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” and he started singing it. He came to the second verse:
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving will be losing,
Were not the right man on our side,
The man of God’s own choosing.
Doest ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His name;
From age to age the same,
And he must win the battle.
The phrase, “Lord Sabaoth” means the “Lord of hosts” or the “Lord of the armies of Heaven.”
David told me, “That verse hit me hard, and suddenly that phrase, Lord Sabaoth, became my favorite name for our Lord. I was struck by its totality, its weight and power and mystery, and I received complete peace. I sang that verse over and over.”
There is a great power in our hymns and spiritual songs, which is why Martin Luther championed the singing of both old and new music during the Reformation. At that time, there was little or no singing being done by congregations in churches, but Luther knew that his Reformation message would spread more quickly through music. So he wrote new hymns, and he encouraged other German musicians to do the same. And he also went back to the older Latin hymns and translated them into German, so the church could sing songs both old and new.
The apostle John also knew that his congregations needed music, and so he wrote a song for them to sing. I believe it’s a song because it is poetic and lyrical, and John knew what every minister knows – that music is critical for Christian education and maturity. These three verses have repetition and rhythmic flow. They are poetic. They are musical. So let’s read John’s simple, little song, recorded for us in 1 John 2:12-14:
Scripture
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.
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.14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
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 lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Background
Let’s deal with a couple of background issues. First, John wrote 1 John because of a crisis that had arisen in the churches over which he was overseer. He had finally written his Gospel, and many of the Greek or Hellenistic thinkers in the churches could not accept his literal view of Christ being God who came incarnate as a man to die and rise again to serve as the Messiah. So they were leaving the churches, and they were upsetting those who remained. John wrote this letter to reassure them. His basic message is, “They are wrong, and we are right. They have the spirit of the antichrist, but we have an anointing from the true Christ. They are of the devil; we are of the Lord. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t be rattled; just be right. Be resolute. Be reassured.”
That’s the great theme of this book. That’s why we go to 1 John to find strengthening reassurance about our solidity, our solidarity in Christ.
Now, there is a second preliminary issue. Why did John single out these age-groups—children, young men, older people. Some people believe this was John’s way of addressing three levels of people here—new Christians; more experienced Christians; and very mature Christians. But I think in fact he is addressing everyone, and that’s also the view of most commentators. It’s as if I was preaching and I said, “I want every child, every young adult, and every older adult to listen to me.” John is addressing everyone, those who had remained in his churches and had not deserted the cause of Christ. He is writing to reassure them, to tell them they are right, that they are real. And he uses this lyrical formula because he intends for them to sing these words, which sum up his epistle.
John presents six rock-solid realities for the born-again Christian—things that aren’t true for anyone else on earth, but they are true for those of us who know Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
1. Your Sins Have Been Forgiven
First, our sins have been forgiven. Verse 12 says: I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.
I think a lot of us have heard this so much in church services and Bible studies that we take it a little more lightly than we should. We are living in a world that is overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. I thought it might be a good idea to research this in the popular press and especially in newspaper and on-line advice columns. Here’s what I found. I’ll list for you some of the questions that showed up very frequently:
- Why do I feel guilty all the time?
- Why do I feel guilty for no reason?
- Why do successful women feel so guilty?
- I feel so guilty over giving someone COVID. What should I do?
- What do I do about my feelings of guilt over my loved one’s suicide?
- Why do I feel so guilty about spending money?
- One person said: Sometimes I feel so guilty I get nauseous.
- Another: I feel guilty for having more money than my siblings.
- Another: I totally missed the fact my teen was struggling and I feel so guilty.
- I feel guilty that my current relationship is causing my former partner so much pain.
- Why do we feel so guilty about using our vacation days?
- Why do I feel guilty for feeling good?
- One person wrote: “Is it normal to feel so guilty you want to die?”
- Jennifer Lopez says she struggles with guilt because her kids are having a lot of trouble being in a famous family.
- Carrie Underwood said she struggles with guilt about leaving her kids at home while she’s touring with concerts.
- Children struggle with survivor’s guilt years after school shootings.
- Soldiers can struggle with survivor’s guilt for decades, or feeling of guilt about their combat experience.
- Even lottery millionaires struggle with what is called winner’s guilt.
What if there was one thing—and only one thing—that could wash away the reality of anything and everything that makes us guilty? John has already said in chapter 1: The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all guilt.
He has already said in chapter 1: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
John has already said in chapter 2: If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And now He says: I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.
We need to learn to tell ourselves that our guilt has been covered by the blood of Christ. It’s human to feel guilty, but it’s Christian to overcome those feelings on the basis of the Atonement. We have to tell ourselves, “I’ve felt guilty longer than I can bear it. God no longer sees that guilt. He just sees the blood of Christ. Now I’m going to take His view of it. I’m guilty no longer.
Paint companies have hundreds of shades of red you can choose for painting your room, but there is only one red in all the universe strong enough to cover sins forever—the blood red sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
2. You Know Jesus Christ
Second, not only have we been freed from all guilt, but we also have a priceless relationship with the one who accomplished this for us. We personally know Jesus Christ. Look at verse 12 and 13 again: I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning.
This is how John identified Jesus Christ at the beginning of his Gospel and at the beginning of His epistle: In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and lived among us….
I’ve been fortunate to know the great Gospel singer Babbie Mason. The last time I was with her I looked at her, and said, “I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus.” She beamed back a warm smile, because that’s one of her signature songs:
I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
How I found a friend in Him so strong and true.
I would tell you how He changed my life completely;
He did something that no other friend could do.
No one ever cared for me like Jesus;
There’s no other friend so kind as He.
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me.
O how much He cares for me.
3. You Have Overcome the Evil One
There’s a third reality for genuine Christians. We have overcome the evil one. He says this twice for emphasis. Look at the passage again:
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.
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.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
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 lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
This is John’s title for the devil.
- Look at 1 John 3:12: Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.
- And 1 John 5:18: We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
John got this title from Jesus. The title, “the evil one” isn’t found in the Bible until Jesus used it in the Sermon on the Mount. After that, it’s one of the primary titles for Satan.
- Jesus told us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37).
- In Matthew 13:19, He said, “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.”
- In His high priestly prayer of John 17, Jesus prayed for all of us, saying, “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one” (verse 15).
- The apostle Paul wrote, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, which with you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).
- Second Thessalonians 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”
When John tells us here in his lyrics that we have overcome the evil one, He means that when we give our lives to Jesus Christ, we are choosing to leave the dominion of the evil one and live under the protection of Him who defeated Satan by His death on the cross and by His glorious resurrection. The devil and his demonic forces have infiltrated our world, our governments, our entertainment, our schools, our politics, our finances. But Jesus Christ has defeated Him and we belong to Jesus Christ.
John says this very plainly in the next chapter. In 1 John 3:8, he writes, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
Going back to the great Reformation hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” let me remind you of verse 3:
And though this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear for God has willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not at him;
His rage we can endure,
For, lo, his doom is sure.
One little word shall fell him.
Someone asked me the other day what that little word was, the one that will lead to Satan’s downfall. What Luther meant was that it will only take a single word from the lips of Jesus to consign the devil to the everlasting pit of hell. One breath from Jesus is vastly stronger than all the powers of darkness.
4. You Know the Father
Fourth, John tells his readers that true Christians have been forgiven of their sins; they know Jesus Christ; they have overcome the evil one; and they even have a relationship with almighty God the Father, the Yahweh, the Jehovah of the Old Testament. Verse 14 says: I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father.
This again goes back to what John wrote in his Gospel. John is doubling down on everything he said in the Gospel of John. If you read the Gospel of John and count all the times the word Father is used, you’ll find over 100 occurrences in the 21 chapters, and the vast majority of them refer to God.
It begins in John 1:14: The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus said, In My Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you (John 14:2).
He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me (John 14:6).
He said, As the Father has loved Me, I have loved you (John 15:9).
He said, As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you (John 20:21).
How can we get our minds around the fact that through Jesus Christ we have a personal relationship—especially in prayer—with the Almighty, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Holy, Loving, Supreme, Eternal Creator of the Universe?
Immortal, invisible, God only wise
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes.
And yet, He is our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!
5. You Are Strong
The fifth rock-solid truth is that when you are in Christ, you are strong. Let’s read our passage again:
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.
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.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
If you’re like me, you don’t always feel very strong, but our strength isn’t in ourselves. Remember what Luther said, “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing.”
It’s the Holy Spirit within us that makes us strong, able to withstand the difficulties, able to advance the cause.
I recently read one of the most gripping stories I’ve ever seen. The book was entitled In Peril on the Sea, and it was by Robert W. Bell, who, as a child, had lived through a horrendous crisis. The hero was his mother, missionary Ethel Bell. Ethel was a widow, but she served faithfully with her small children as missionaries in Africa. In 1942, Axis powers overran the African Colonies, and Ethel had to take her children and evacuate. They boarded a ship bound for home, but on the high sea that ship was torpedoed by a German submarine, and it sank in less than two minutes. Ethel gathered her children and ended up on an eight-by-ten raft with 19 people, including 14 sailors. No one knew the ship had sunk, and sharks constantly swam around the raft. During the day, they were exposed to blazing sunlight, and at night they shivered. Little Robert was among them, and years later when he wrote this story he said:
[My mother] could feel her energy draining away. Three nights without sleep and the constant watching over the four children in her care had left her with no reserve for tension. For the first time she felt a wave of weakness, a flood tide of discouragement and self-pity sweeping her away from her strong moorings in hope. She seemed so helpless, so outnumbered. How much longer could her faith hold out before it cracked and gave way to the realities of their circumstances? They were lost at sea! Now the men were threatening to fight among themselves. The captain had lost his strength. How long would it be before ultimate disaster struck and they all found themselves devoured by the sharks? It could happen! What could prevent it?
But then, Bible verses began coming into her mind. She began to quote Scripture aloud, including Psalm 34: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him and were radiant.”
Later that night, while the men moaned in restlessness and cursed their misfortune, Ethel Bell watched the moon passing among the silhouettes of clouds. It had been a more difficult day than any since the shipwreck—perhaps the most difficult she had faced since George’s death six and a half years before. But in spite of her own discouragement and seeming lack of faith, she had somehow been able to restore faith for others. Out of her emptiness had come fullness; out of her weakness, strength.
And that leads us directly to the final rock-solid reality of the born-again Christian.
6. The Word of God Lives [Abides] in You
Our strength comes because the Word of God lives in us. Let’s read this passage one more time:
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.
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.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
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 lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
The word “lives” is the same word that Jesus used in the Upper Room and is often translated “abides.” The Word of God abides in you. In John 15:7, Jesus said, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
When we abide in Christ, we want His words to abide in us. That simply requires study and, if I can say so, memorization of Scripture. On that raft, Ethel Bell didn’t have a Bible. The ship had sunk in five minutes, before anyone could gather anything. But she had portions of God’s Word in her mind, and that was her Bible.
Kenneth Berding is a professor at Talbot School of Theology. He has an excellent article on how to memorize Scripture. He learned this from his favorite professor, who was 90 years old at the time. It’s a matter of selecting the portion of Scripture you want to learn, and then saying it out loud and with expression fifty or more times over a period of days.
You don’t really try to memorize it, as such. You just keep reading it aloud with expression until you discover that you know it. Right now I’m doing that with a passage here in 1 John—chapter 3 and verses 1 through 3:
Behold what manner of love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! And so forth.
Everyone else in the world may try to intimidate us. We may have deserters and deconstructionists and those who sound virtuous by their false philosophies and dangerous ideas.
Don’t be rattled by that; just be rock-solid, because…
- Your sins have been forgiven.
- You know the Lord Jesus Christ.
- You have overcome the evil one.
- You know the Father.
- You are strong.
- And the Word of God abides in you.