Remember who you are, 1 John 2:12-14

As a teen, whether I was headed to youth group, to my shift as a waitress, or out to ski for the day, my parents’ most-repeated phrase before I closed the door behind me was, Remember who you are. They may have just finished piling on heaps of last minute advice (Be kind. Do your best. Go the speed limit!) or pointing out potential dangers (Watch out for that crowd. Be careful on the slopes today!), but their parting words reassured me that they hadn’t said what they did as if they viewed me as wholly unkind and reckless. Rather, their statement, Remember who you are, rooted me in an identity they supported and reminded me to live according to it. 

Leading up to verse 12, John has just drawn a hard line between darkness and light, piling up evidence for one lifestyle and pointing out deficiencies in another. It could have sounded accusatory, as if the Spirit was implying that the readers’ lives were defined by darkness and that it was time to confront them in writing. But that’s not the case. Instead, verses 12-14 are like a gentle reprieve, rooting them in their identity. Remember who you are.

They are: 

Little children whose sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus’ name

Fathers who know Him who is from the beginning

Young men who have overcome the evil one

Children who know the Father

Fathers who know Him who is from the beginning

Young men who are strong, have God’s Word abiding in them, and have overcome the evil one 

The repetition of similar wording is confusing, so let’s see what we can discern with a closer look.

Little children is a term of endearment that teachers used to address their students, and, in this book, John frequently refers to his entire audience as little children. Jesus addressed his disciples like this, and Paul called the Galatians by this term (John 13:33; Galatians 4:19). Here, the Apostle John specifies that the little children who follow his teaching are not forgiven of their sin on account of their own names or because of their esteemed teacher’s name.  Likewise, our forgiveness is not because of us, or who we follow, or whose Bible studies we complete, or who our pastor is. There is only One whose name clears our sin record, and it’s His name we claim as His little children (1 John 2:2).

The second reference to children is a different Greek word. As explained in Vine’s Expository Dictionary, it describes a person who is young in age or in development. No matter how old someone is when they trust Christ, or how recent someone’s re-birth may be, their conversion results in a relationship with the Father. There is no advanced stage, phase, or level to reach in order to know Him. Our Father isn’t holding us at arm’s length until we grow up and get it together or act like someone else who’s further along. Children are not excluded; counter-culturally, they’re welcomed (Matthew 18:3; 19:13,14). 

Fathers could be taken literally or figuratively, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, and since it’s repeated twice, it may imply both.  Whether some were physical parents or metaphorical “founding fathers” in the faith, they themselves are not the originators of life or of eternal life. Even the mature and advanced have someone ahead of them to look to and lean on: the Alpha who began it all and who existed before it all began. (Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 21:6). 

Strong’s Concordance explains that young men means, “a youth, under 40” (and all the 30-year-olds nod in approval). My teenage sons would be thrilled to be described as “strong” or “overcomers” against anyone and anything. The battle for the young is real. It’s against the “malignant one”, as Vine’s Expository Dictionary translates evil one, and the battle is threatening, because it attacks like a disease. But instead of being a scare tactic, convincing youth to run for cover, this message is one of victory. Their abiding strength is God’s Word in them, like a concealed weapon. 1 John will later expand on the concept of overcoming, pointing to the Spirit inside who is greater than the spirit of the antichrist. Power to overcome is because of faith in Jesus, mightier than all the evil in the world (1 John 4:4; 5:4).

With whatever category you most identify today, this is written to you. Remember who you are. Put it on repeat.