Young Men

“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 2:14

There are two commendations about the “young men” (typically applied to those under forty) that John notes. They are “strong” (vigorous, healthy, both physically, and mentally) and the word of God “abides” (remains, endures) in them. These are those who have come through their believing childhood, no doubt guided counseled by the “fathers” in their lives, who are now active in the “good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12).

Like Abraham, they are “strong in faith” (Rom. 4:20), not staggering under the burden of unbelief. Like the leaders in the church at Rome, they are willing to “bear the weaknesses of those without strength” (Rom. 15:1), and to be alert, standing “firm in the faith” (1 Cor. 16:13). Even though they would have faced opposition from among professing Christians, they were “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).

These are the ones who “have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God” (2 Cor. 4:2), but gladly received it as “it really is, the word of God” (1 Thess. 2:13). They know that “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12), and have taken time to treasure the Word in their heart (Psalm 119:11). These “young men” know that if God’s “words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).

Those attributes make possible the result you “have overcome the evil one.” Safe in the secure saving faith of God, guided by the great truths of the Word of God, these young men have not been “overcome by evil,” but have “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).