These things write I . . . that ye sin not

Every family has its characteristics, so too does the family of God. Those born into it have the same Father, vv. 1, 13, 15, 16; they don’t habitually sin, v. 1; they love their brothers and sisters, v. 9; their sins have been forgiven, v. 12, and in the family they grow and mature, vv. 13-17. John underlines his personal interest in this family with the seven occurrences of ‘I write’.

‘If any man sin . . . ’, that sin is disruptive in the family. But says John, there is no need for the Christian to sin. Sin is forgivable, but not excusable. Such is the seriousness of sin, that as soon as a child of God sins - not when he repents - the Advocate begins to act on his behalf. He is singularly qualified for the task, for He Himself is ‘the righteous One’ and the propitiation for our sins, vv. 1, 2. Fellowship with the Father can be restored, 1. 3; and once more obedience will mark His child. John draws particular attention to one matter that sin would disrupt - obeying the commandment to love his brother, 2. 8-10. Because he abides in the light, he will not stumble his brother: a grave matter against which the Lord Himself had spoken in John’s hearing, ‘Woe to that man by whom the offence cometh’, Matt. 18. 6-10.

John recognizes that not all members of a family have reached the same point of maturity. In the family of God, there are those who are mature enough to be acknowledged as fathers, 1 John 2. 13a, 14a, others less so - the young men, vv. 13b, 14b-17, and the little children, vv. 13c, 18-27. John uses the masculine gender ‘fathers’ and ‘young men’, not that spiritual progress is exclusively a male pursuit!

John begins with the fathers because in them we see the progress the Father seeks. They were not necessarily highly gifted, nor of a great age, but they knew Christ in a personal, intimate way. They had learned how valueless everything was compared with Christ. The young men’s glory was their strength, Prov. 20. 29, spiritual strength to overcome ‘the wicked one’ 1 John 2. 14. Their resource was in the abiding word. The little children of this family had come to know the Father. He knew their need and would continue to meet that need.