Most persons have had the experience of making a remark that was intended for one individual and of having an entirely different individual take it personally. It may even have been that the one who applied the remark to himself was the one who least needed it. An experience like this is so common that we can easily imagine that it was in John’s mind as he began to write the next section of his letter. He had just said something intended for certain individuals, and he was afraid that the Christians, for whom he had not intended it, might take it wrongly.
John has been stating the tests by which the presence of the life of God within the individual may be discerned and conversely he has spoken of those in whom it is not present. At times his words have been harsh. He has said that those who profess to know God but who fail to obey God’s commandments are liars. He has added that those who say they love God but fail to love their brothers are in the dark, walk in the dark, and do not know where they are going. What would be the reaction of John’s readers to these words? We can imagine some of them taking the words quite personally, as John undoubtedly imagined that some of them might do. They would admit that at times they did not obey God’s commandments and did not love one another, and some would wonder if therefore they were truly born again. But this is not the way John wanted them to think. Indeed, he is writing his letter not to increase their doubt but to strengthen their assurance. As a result, at this point he interrupts his presentation of the tests to direct a personal word to his readers.
First, he assures them, in spite of what he has said, that he has no doubt of their having truly come to a knowledge of God. In fact, it is because they know God, rather than not knowing God, that he is writing to them. At the same time, however, he indicates the way in which his remarks are to be taken by Christians. The first of these points is established in verses 12-14. The second is made in verses 15-17.
John’s first remarks are addressed to “little children.” Whether we take this as referring only to those who are young in the faith or to all believers the meaning is the same, for all who have believed in Christ have known this experience. John says that it is twofold; they have had their sins forgiven for Christ’s sake, and they know the Father. These almost without exception are the first conscious experiences of the new Christian.
The testimony of Charles H. Spurgeon to the nature of his conversion is a good illustration of this point. He had been converted suddenly at a fairly early age after several years of conviction of sin. In these years he had known great misery but, having come to Christ, he found all things changed.
When my eyes first looked to Christ, he was a very real Christ to me; and when my burden of sin rolled from off my back, it was a real pardon and a real release from sin to me; and when that day I said for the first time, “Jesus Christ is mine,” it was a real possession of Christ to me. When I went up to the sanctuary in that early dawn of youthful piety, every song was really a psalm, and when there was a prayer, oh, how I followed every word! It was prayer indeed! And so was it, too, in silent quietude, when I drew near to God, it was no mockery, no routine, no matter of mere duty; it was a real talking with my Father who is in Heaven.1
In these references John writes to the newborn in Christ to assure them that he is writing, not because they are not saved (which some of his remarks might lead them to question), but because they are and because he wants them to progress in their Christianity.
1C. H. Spurgeon, C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography, Volume I: The Early Years, 1834-1859 (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1973), 162.