These sixteen verses are also very polemical. These verses are the most polemical section of this Epistle. We have already mentioned that John’s writings are polemical, for he was fighting against heresies, including Gnosticism, Cerinthianism, and Docetism. These heresies were related to the Person of Christ, and they caused damage and confusion to the church life. Therefore, it was necessary for the apostle John to be polemical and to fight against these heresies, inoculating the saints against the poison of the heresies concerning the Person of Christ.
In these sixteen verses John gives a word regarding the deep truth of the Trinity. But John’s way of writing is based on the growth in life of the believers. For this reason, John classified the believers into three groups: children, young men, and fathers.
In verse 12 John refers to the recipients of this Epistle as “little children.” This is a general address and does not refer to any specific class of believers. As we have already mentioned, according to verse 1 of chapter two, the aged apostle considered all the recipients of his Epistle his dear little children in the Lord. We shall see that later in verses 13 through 27 John writes to the young children, young men, and fathers. But here he addresses all the believers as little children, no matter what their spiritual age may be. On the one hand, all the believers are God’s children. On the other hand, in the church life God’s children were also John’s children.
John considered the believers his children, not his students or his followers. To be a student is a matter of knowledge, and to be a follower is a matter of participating in a certain activity. But the word “children” indicates life. In this Epistle John refers to the believers in a way that indicates life. John did not even say “my dear children.” Instead, he used the more intimate expression “little children.”
Sometimes an elderly parent will refer to his mature son as his child. For example, a man may be in his eighties and his son, in his sixties. Nevertheless, the father may still refer to his son as his child. This is a sign of a tender, intimate relationship. In this Epistle, John, an elderly father, addresses all the believers as little children. Writing in an intimate manner, he says, “I write to you, little children....” This term of address also indicates that in writing these verses John is concerned with the believers’ growth in life.
In verse 12 John says, “I write to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you because of His name.” The forgiveness of sins is the basic element of God’s gospel (Luke 24:47; Acts 5:31; 10:43; 13:38). Through this, the believers who receive Christ become the children of God (John 1:12-13).
John realized that forgiveness of sins is a basic factor in our becoming God’s children. In verse 12 John tells the little children that their sins have been forgiven because of the Lord’s name. They have believed in this precious name and have received the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is the first basic element in the gospel. If we believe in the name of the Lord and call on His name, the first blessing we receive is the forgiveness of sins. Through forgiveness, we have been justified and have become the children of God. Regeneration, therefore, is based on the forgiveness of sins. This is the reason the apostle John regards forgiveness of sins as the basic factor in addressing the recipients of this Epistle as little children.
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