Growing in the Faith
The Passage
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:12–14
Introduction
In 1212, a young boy in Europe begins preaching claiming that the purity of youth could reclaim the holy land from the Muslims. Apparently, this thinking gained steam and thousands of young children join him to reclaim Jerusalem. According to legend, either their ship sank en route to Jerusalem, or the sailors sold all the children into slavery.
Although there’s much we can learn from this story, one thing we should learn is it’s not the place for children to fight battles. In today’s passage, we consider three levels of Christian maturity and the responsibilities attached to each level.
Summary of the Passage
Last week, John taught us on the importance of Christian love. This week, John reminds us of the importance of Christian growth. He uses the analogy of three levels of Christian. First, he talks about children in the faith. Then he mentions fathers in the faith. Lastly, he mentions young men in the faith.
But before I move on, let me give a brief explanation why John refers to masculine terms. Notice John refers to young men and fathers. He doesn’t say young women and mothers. I believe women are included in all three stages of growth. But John deliberately uses the masculine term. Why? John refers to growth in the church with masculine words because the church is feminine. Biblical femineity submits to the instruction of the husband. The church is the bride of Christ and Christ says in His word that His bride should have masculine representatives. Now, I don’t think the intent of John was to plumb the depths of masculine and feminine in the church. But since our culture is so confused on the subject, sometimes the quiet part needs to be spoken out loud.
So, let’s consider the three levels of Christian maturity.
Children in the Faith (2:12, 13c)
Their sins are forgiven for Christ’s name (2:12). The first mark of a child in the faith is that they are no longer a child of sin. Remember what John said in verses 1 and 2. Jesus is our atoning sacrifice and our advocate. He is our propitiation and our permeant older brother. Jesus pays the penalty for all our sins. In Christ, we stand forgiven.
They know the father (2:13c). One of the great comforts in the faith is how we move from children of wrath to children of light (Ephesians 5:8). We were formerly guilty in God’s courtroom, now we are children in His dining room (Romans 8:15).
To enter the kingdom is to be a child. A problem with modern evangelicalism is we demand children to enter the kingdom like mature adults while we expect mature adults to live like children.
And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Luke 18:15–17
We’re like Nicodemus in John 3 who thinks the new birth is something he can bring about. God gives life to every baby in the womb. God also gives spiritual life to every baby Christian in the church. Moms and dads do their part to bring about new physical life, but they can only do that by staying faithful to one another. It works the same in the church, we can’t micromanage salvations just like a helicopter mom can’t micromanage her son to obey. When we stay in our lane, we can see how God made the world. When we get in His lane, we get frustrated with all the traffic.
A frustration I have with church life is we seem more concerned with numbers than growth. We complain about declining baptisms, but we don’t utter a word about discipleship. If we’ve been faithless to disciple children in the faith, why would God bless us with more children in the faith? Just because new Christians hang out at church a lot doesn’t mean they’re growing in the faith. MORE CHURCH PROGRAMS ARE NOT THE ANSWER.
Fathers in the Faith (2:13a, 14a)
They know Him who has been from the beginning (2:13a, 14a). John wants to remind the elders in the church that even though they can eat meat while the children still drink milk, they all get nourished from the same father. Children and fathers in the faith both know the same God, but those older in the faith know God more. Their knowledge is a ripe, mature, full knowledge.
Children in the faith must grow to be Fathers the faith. Even though children begin life as children, they shouldn’t stay that way. Our Christian life begins with salvation. But salvation isn’t the only point of the Christian life. If a person grows physically, but remains immature, we know something is wrong.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:12–14 (See also 1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
America has perfected lowest common denominator faith. We spoon feed a watered-down faith and wonder why the church seems so impotent for the trials of the day. So, Christian, remember your salvation, but also grow in your salvation.
I just mentioned how more church programs aren’t the answer to grow babies in the faith to fathers in the faith. So, what’s the answer? A necessary part of the answer is diligently obeying the Bible before trying our hand at creativity. For example, we see young families join our church and we immediately think the answer is to start a new young parent’s Sunday school class, beef up our children’s ministry, and double our VBS budget. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do that. I am asking where is that in the Bible? Where is children’s ministry in the bible? I’ll show you.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Titus 2:3–5
Here’s my point. God has given us more in His word on how to grow in the faith than we think. Sometimes growing in the faith means unlearning things that aren’t in the bible so you can understand what’s in the bible. The fact that we don’t have older women teaching younger women means we have a bunch of unlearning to do.
Here's also something we need to remember. Children don’t know or care that green beans are good for them. Children in the faith will complain when we offer what’s good for them.
Young Men in the Faith (2:13b, 14d)
God’s word abides in them (14c).
How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. Psalm 119:9
A key ingredient to growth in the Christian life is meditating on God’s word. This is one reason why we as a church encourage daily bible reading and why most of us go through a yearly bible reading plan.
They overcome the evil one (2:13b, 14d). A sign of growing in your faith is how much you’ve overcome by your faith. The sins you once struggled to fight and kill now barely cause you trouble, so you move on to others. The sign of someone growing in their walk are dying sins. The sign of life in a Christian is death of sin.
Brothers and sisters, by God’s grace you can overcome the evil one. Yes, his craft and power are great and he’s armed with cruel hate. On this earth he has no equal. 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: Dost 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.
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us; The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him (Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress is Our God)
They are strong (14b). Another sign of growth in the faith is strength. As a Christian grows, he is able to take on more and more responsibility in family, church, and the community. Notice, John doesn’t say these men are grumblers or complainers. They don’t spend their time saying, “if only my dad played catch with me more, then I would be a better Christian.” They are strong, which means they don’t complain about the problem, they lift and move the problem. These men don’t cower and worry. They don’t practice morbid introspection but act and move.
I recently heard an analogy by author N.D. Wilson that fits well with this. The Christian life is like working at conveyer belt for clay coffee cups. Your job, as the chunks of clay pass by on the blet is to quickly mold them into a coffee cup. And the first hundred you do look more like an ash tray than a cup. Over time you get good at it. But you only get good if you focus on what’s in front of you. Most of us ignore the opportunity in front of us because we think about the missed opportunity or the prefect execution. We grow in strength as a Christian by living in the moments God gives us and doing the best with what we have.
Conclusion
God is growing Christians from children to fathers and mothers in the faith. Let us be faithful. Let’s care for children in the faith, discipling them and teaching them who their heavenly father is. Let’s challenge the young people in the faith, expecting them to defeat the evil one. Finally, let’s pray for fathers and mothers in the faith to pass down stories and instruction from God’s word that we all need.