1 John 2:12-13
"I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father."
In this passage, John wrote about the three stages of spiritual growth - Children, young men and fathers. Let's look at the children first. The first characteristic of the children is that they know the Father and they know that life comes from Him. In the Lord we have the same life and we have all accepted God's life. Life of a Christian is not just one of a "sinner-in-repair", but rather a brand new life; it's not an old life that has been fixed and remodeled, but rather a completely new life. That's why Nicodemus couldn't understand what Jesus said about being born again - Was it to return to the mother's womb and be physically born again? Not quite, the new life is born from water and Holy Spirit, for we receive the new life from God's Word and Holy Spirit, and then this new life enables us to be connected to other believers.
Many people wonder why there are so many denominations. The fact is that even though various denominations have different views on the rituals, we are one in the Spirit. Our unity is not shown through an organization or in our outward form, but it's in our life. As long as we have the same life from our Father God, we belong to the same family much like one physical family. When siblings are fighting, sometimes they ask why they would have brothers and sisters; the best answer is that because we belong to the same family so we need to accept one another. In the same way, even though there are many different denominations and formats in Christianity that sometime may have disagreements, we are still one because we have the same Heavenly Father and same life.
The second characteristic of the children is that they sins are forgiven. When we are connected to the life of God, the life of Jesus Christ is inside us, and thus our sins can be forgiven. How do we know that our sins are forgiven? It's because God's Word is the foundation of our life and our faith. Shortly after I accepted the Lord back in middle school, one time a counselor asked me: "are you saved?" I thought about it but couldn't respond immediately. The counselor realized that I wasn't sure about my salvation, so he showed me God's Word in Romans 10:9, "that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." He asked me: "Do you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart?" I said yes, and then he said "you will be saved!" I was suddenly awakened and I had the assurance in my heart that as soon as I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus was resurrected from death, God's Word told me that I will be saved. When we come before God, not only will God's new life come upon us, our sins will also be forgiven, and that is a precious promise!
