Written by Paul J Bucknell on September, 19, 2024

1 John 2:12-14 Three Stages of Christian Maturity, Part 1

An Introduction to 1 John 2:12-14

This is part 1 of two parts, the second being a full description of the three discipleship stages.

The Purpose

This article is designed to help believers understand the three stages of Christian maturity as developed in 1 John 2:12-14. It aims to help them identify their position on the growth chart, evaluate their spiritual life, and better equip other brethren they might be discipling.

The Passage (1 John 2:12-14)

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:12-14, NASB).

Thoughts to Ponder

• How do Christians grow? 
• Why is it that many Christians do not grow? 
• How does Jesus charge His disciples to help them face this problem?
• How can a person help others to grow?
•  

1. The Three Stages of Christian Maturity from 1 John 2:12-14

People can be funny. Parents invest much more money and energy in a baby's birth than in his or her upbringing. Once the baby is born, parents often decrease their input into their children’s lives. Babies are very demanding, so once their obvious needs are met, parents can easily decrease the amount of focus they once had on their child.

The same is often true in Christian life. Many Christians talk about salvation and make many evangelistic efforts but spend less time following up or caring for new believers. This can be tragic, for they waste many evangelistic efforts without follow-up.

Christian growth patterns parallel human growth patterns. Unlike animals, humans spend much of their lives cared for and instructed. These many years of nurturing are with purpose, being designed to nurture their children. Animals only have their physical growth to be concerned about, but humans need to pay heed to their mindsets, attitudes, and knowledge before their children and youth can function as adults.

John showed much concern over this element of growth. In the Gospel of John, he speaks about the different degrees to which people believe in Jesus. Jesus, too, often used illustrations of life and growth to describe Christians’ spiritual development. The point is clear. God’s goal is to bring people into His kingdom and develop strong, joyful, and loving people as His representatives. This wonderfully works with the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples …” (Matthew 28:18-20). We need to train those who enter God’s family.

God is intent on making His saved children Christ’s disciples. Disciple means ‘a learner,’ so discipling means causing a person to learn. But many have not asked what this growth looks like, more than mastering a doctrinal statement or regular church attendance.

Think through a few questions with me:

• Do you follow up with new Christians? If so, how? What do you want the new Christian to learn?
• Has anyone spent particular time discipling you when you first believed in it? Describe this time.
• How do Christians grow? Do you understand the process of spiritual development?
• How would you describe this process to another Christian?

Only a few churches or Christian leaders have given thought to these issues. Effective church programs tend to focus on the smooth operation of the church organization rather than understanding and developing the process of Christian growth. For sure, the spiritually concerned hope both are being accomplished. For instance, many churches have Sunday School, which originated centuries ago in England as a reading class for illiterate children. The intention was to teach them how to read the Bible. However, many churches mistakenly believe that today’s Sunday School meets the growth needs of their congregants. Of course, learning the Bible always helps, but we need to be disciples, not just informed believers. (How are these different?)

If not carefully thought out, programs like these can do more harm than good. Why? There are two problems. First, we give them only a little of what they need now. Their nutrition is lacking. Second, Christian leaders and those being trained will believe that this input is all they need to grow spiritually. This produces undiscipled Christians who bear little or no fruit. The programs lack a long-term strategy built on God's spiritual development and goals for His people.

We must be more strategic and build our course design on how Christians grow. Let’s use our limited time and resources to maximize results; our opportunities to teach and train God’s people are rare. Once we know how Christians spiritually develop, we can identify specific needs and be more strategic in handling those needs. 

Reflection

• Think for a moment. What is the greatest need of the people you are serving? Identify one or two of these. 
• Have you thought of a way to minister to their particular needs? 

Our solutions will often clash with the church’s programs. If we push forward too quickly, we will cause friction and resentment among leaders and God’s people. The best way is to devise God’s plan prayerfully, seeking God’s timing.

2. The 3 Stages of Christian Growth Compared

How does God develop spiritual growth in His people? 1 John 2:12-14 fascinatingly describes the three stages of discipleship. 

¹² I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:12-14)

There are several ways to visualize the process of Christian discipleship other than the one presented in 1 John. Each picture provides an analogy that enables us to care for the believer appropriately. We can think of Christians as sheep and Christ as the true Shepherd. Our goal would be to train each sheep to listen and obey their Master. However, we will spend our time on this particular ‘growth’ pattern picture from 1 John 2:12-14. The childhood, youth, and adulthood stages help us understand how the spiritual growth process mirrors the physical maturation process.

The Child: The new believer learns about the Christian life and how to live it.

The Young: The young believer masters the fight over the world, Satan, and the flesh with God’s Word.

The Fathers (the mature): The maturing believer develops a deep and strong faith to carry out God’s work.

The three groups are inclusive. Every genuine believer belongs to one of the three stages of life: child, young person, or adult. John decided to teach more about spiritual life through this picture. We will do this in two ways. First, we will learn to compare this picture of spiritual growth with how people grow physically. Second, John will make special comments regarding each group.

The groupings enable us to cater to the unique needs of any individual Christian at any given stage of discipleship. God oversees the specially designed experiences believers need to grow at their particular stage of spiritual life: a child, father, or young. We only facilitate it.

Spiritual life begins with a spiritual birth.

The spiritual life process begins with spiritual birth, just as John mentioned in chapter 4: “…Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). In John 3:7, he describes spiritual birth as being born again or born from above. God, through faith in Christ and the Spirit’s regenerating power, causes us to be born again. “According to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3). We had no spiritual life, but now we do—just like physical life.

An Explanative Note

What group are you in? Our grouping is not based on physical age but on one’s spiritual maturity. Before explaining each, let me point out a few technical observations. 

First, he addresses each group two times, the first in the present verb tense and the second in the past tense. Each description helps us more accurately understand the group’s unique developmental needs. Second, John presents the groups out of sequence twice. We will discuss this later, but we will follow John’s order below. Before going into detail, we will briefly introduce each group.

Challenges and Needs of Children

Securing trust in the Lord

Children represent new believers, and as in human growth, it is hard to define when a child is no longer a child. I remember looking at one of our children and suddenly realized that I couldn’t call our eighth child a ‘baby’ anymore. She isn’t. There might be some ambiguity when one starts and ends, but the groupings help us track the spiritual growth process. 

Children are unstable and need security. John writes about them and the other two groups at two different times. I quote from the NASB version.

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake” (12).

“I have written to you, children, because you know the Father” (13).

The new or very young believer in Christ must clarify the certainty of their relationship with God through Christ and affirm how they can now relate to God as their Heavenly Father. 

From John’s warnings, we note that the special needs are (1) to fight off doubts about their salvation that cause significant instability, (2) to ward off rejection or wrong concepts of the true Christian faith, and (3) to relate to God as their Father. Assurance of faith plays an integral part in their training.

Challenges and Needs of Fathers

Fathers have deep questions and must find solutions to their crises as they step closer to the Lord.

“I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning” (13).

“I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning” (14).

John writes the same thing twice to the fathers, those who are mature and have been close to the Lord through the years. Crises will come and go. Many ‘why’ questions arise from the difficult situations they experience or face. Every answer is found by more deeply knowing the Eternal One. 

The special needs of mature believers revolve around these life challenges, where they learn how the Eternal One helps them weather these storms. They need a deeper faith to guide them to trust in God rather than remain in the narrow corridors of pessimism.

Challenges and Needs of Young Believers

Young men face particular temptations that must be overcome.

“I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one” (13).

“I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (14).

Young men fight intense temptation because the evil one is trying to cripple them. The war, however, is over. They only need to learn how to trust God in different situations. God’s Word leads them to overcome all sorts of temptations.

Their special needs come from their inexperience, instability of faith, and surge of temptations. Satan attempts to cause them to fumble before they can be steady. The Word of God, however, can guide, keep, protect, and comfort them. They have all they need if they would meditate on His Word.

Strategy  for Children New believers must be well cared for by other believers., from whom they can learn from the knowledge and experience of others. New believers need to be carefully instructed in three areas.  • The plan of salvation  • The meaning of salvation  • Their new relationship with their Heavenly Father.

Strategy  for Fathers These fathers have come to experience God’s faithfulness and sovereignty in their lives. They need to be attentive to the following areas.  • Keep a vibrant time with God.  • Always keep growing.  • Live in hope for God's mercy.

Strategy  for Young Men Young believers are fighting the world, their flesh, and the evil one. They need to master the areas below.  • Ins and outs of temptation  • The art of scripture meditation  • Living by faith  Depending on their life situation, they must learn and apply old biblical principles.

Summary 

A Christian’s spiritual growth can be compared to a person’s physical and social growth on earth. What can be observed and experienced helps us understand the unseen. Since everyone goes through different physical stages of life, the specific needs and expectations associated with each stage are generally understood. Therefore, we can identify the needs of a believer at a particular spiritual stage and have a good idea of what they may be struggling with. Moreover, John identifies each group's key encouraging thought(s).

Discipleship focuses on what the person is learning, not the material itself. Suitable training materials never become the mentor but the brother or sister. Their attitudes, advice, and caution help the believers interpret and apply biblical knowledge, protecting them from the devil’s many attacks and giving them a long-term perspective of their spiritual journey.

Study Questions for 1 John 2:12-14

• What are the three stages of Christian growth that John describes? How do these parallel the physical development of a person?
• What characterizes each of the three stages of the Christian’s growth?
• What are the problems or challenges that those in each group might face?
• What does John, the elderly apostle, say to each of the three groups? Make three lists if necessary.
• How does what John says in the first section (2:12-13b) differ from what he says in the next section (2:13c-14)?
• What observations of the two sections can you make? What is John’s point?
• What might happen if Christians do not get the needed support while going through these stages? Be specific.

Other References on 1 John 2:12-14

Part 2 of the Three Stages from 1 John 2:12-14

 

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