God’s intent is to produce men and women that have been transformed. That we are the person that God intends for us to be.
1 John aims toward that same goal. John makes it crystal clear that it is impossible to become the person God intends for us to be in His plan for us, without first becoming a Christian. So, God is not just an option in life, which is a popular idea today, He is the absolute necessity of life. It is impossible to be who God intended us to be without coming to know God through Jesus Christ.
In 1 John 2:12-14, John has told us there are three stages in the process of becoming who God has designed us to be.
Three Stages of Growth
“I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.” 1 John 2:12-13 (NLT)
There are three stages of spiritual growth: little children, mature and young. There are other verses in scripture that confirm these same three stages. For example, Jesus’ parable of the Sower tells us that the Gospel produces three levels of results–some 30-fold, some 60-fold, and some 100-fold. Both Peter and Paul talk about three stages of growth: “milk” of the Word–for infants, “bread” which brings life, and “the strong meat” of the Word.
Little Children
“I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one. I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the Evil One.” 1 John 2:13b-14 (NLT)
John first focuses on the spiritual little children. Earlier in verse 12, they were described as those “whose sins are forgiven”. That is the most basic thing you can say about a Christian, their sins are forgiven. Why are they forgiven? “Because they know the Father.” That’s why they are forgiven. They are part of God’s family and have come to the Father by believing in Jesus. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6 (NIV).
John uses the word here in verse 13 that means “children who are being instructed”. The specific word in verse 12 for children means “newborns.” John tells us that these new Christians have a Father. It is one of the first lessons God wants us to know about our personal relationship with God. We have a tender, strong, faithful Father, with a Father’s heart. We are in the hands of a Father who knows us and loves us, who is intensely focused on our development, who knows our deepest needs, and is abundantly able to provide them.
But the sad situation is if that baby remains forever an infant–a situation of arrested development. I think babies are great. In fact, I have even been called the “baby whisperer”. But infancy is tough to live with on a permanent basis. I remember looking forward to the day of no diapers, no bottles, sleeping through the night.
In Hebrews 5, Paul lists some of the problems of spiritual babies: they don’t know the difference between good things and bad things for them spiritually. So, they get into trouble without realizing it. They struggle with applying the Word to their lives. And they can’t help others but stay self-focused.
The Mature
John focuses on “you know HIm who is from the beginning.” In other words, the path to spiritual maturity and the sign of maturity are the same thing. This is a picture of someone who walks with God and knows the faithfulness of God.
The key here is the word mature. It doesn't mean that someone's perfect. It does mean that someone has a growing spirituality, and they are experiencing 1000 ways of seeing God at work. It's like how we use this word mature about our physical life. When a child is in their 20’s we say that they are full grown. Do we mean that they are ready to stop living? No, they're ready to start living. It's not the end of progress at all. More than anything it is the beginning of their life. The maturity John talks about them is because they've learned how God operates and are walking with Him.
The Young
“I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.” 1 John 2:14 (NLT)
John has the young last for a very important reason: he describes the young as those who have overcome the evil one and the Word of God lives in them. The last part about the Word of God living in them is important. It is important because that is the path of spiritual growth. How does a spiritual child become in the young category or in the mature category? The word of God abiding in them! That is the path of spiritual growth.
The Key to Spiritual Growth
It is totally impossible to grow spiritually as a Christian, to be transformed unless the Word of God lives in your life. Satan can’t stop us from following Jesus and becoming a Christian but he will try to keep us from growing spiritually into mature Christians.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18 (NIV). Our relationship with God’s Word is not to be a casual, that’d-be-nice-if-I-have-time relationship. We are to be focused and diligent about our intake of God’s Word in our lives. Then the Bible must be our compass for our actions and attitudes in normal day-by-day life.
If a Christian vents about the decline of the world, the nation, of people in general–I know that is someone who is not letting God’s Word sift and judge their heart. That negative attitude is a lack of love and sympathy knowing that we too can drift, and become defeated.
Closing Thoughts
1 John 2:12-14 shows us how we grow spiritually. So let me ask you: Is your stated purpose to be a strong, mature, growing, fully God-dependent man or woman, able to face life and its problems without being tossed about by whatever comes your way? That is what He calls us to. That is what it means to have this personal, walking with God relationship. The tool that has been given to us by God is the Word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God.
