1 John 2:13

‘I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.'

To ‘the fathers', the older men, he feels that he need do no more than remind them that they ‘know Him Who is from the beginning'. This latter probably refers back to 1 John 1:1. They seek no new ‘knowledge' because their knowledge is of One Who pre-existed time itself and has come as the Word of life among them. They are content and settled in Him Who is the true light shining among them. They need to know nothing more.

To the young men he gives the reminder that they have overcome the Evil One (or ‘evil'). They are strong in Christ and have learned to resist temptation, being delivered from the Evil One (Matthew 6:13). This last is true both of their status as having bee transferred from the power of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 2:2) and of their daily victorious living as they walk in the light. They have learned to stand firm (Ephesians 6:14) and to resist the Devil (James 4:7), and to flee from youthful desires (2 Timothy 2:22). Let them continue to do so. These men are at the forefront of the battle.

The idea of being an overcomer is constant in John's writings (see 1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:4). All who are in Christ are ‘overcomers', (‘whoever is begotten of God overcomes the world' - 1 John 5:4) although at differing stages, and this is because the One Who has overcome the world (John 16:33) dwells within them and lives through them. They overcome both the powers of evil (here and 1 John 4:4) and the world (1 John 5:4), although here both go together, while the whole world lies in the Evil One (1 John 5:19). This overcoming is especially emphasised in Revelation where the battle is revealed at its fiercest (Revelation 2:7; Revelation 2:11; Revelation 2:17; Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 3:12; ev 3:21; Revelation 5:5; Revelation 12:11; Revelation 15:2; Revelation 21:7). Paul also declares that we ‘are more than conquerors through Him that loved us' (Romans 8:37). Victory is secure in Christ.

Thus all true Christians are overcomers, for the Scripture makes plain that all Christians will be worked on by God (Philippians 2:13) Who will confirm them to the end (1 Corinthians 1:8) so that they will be led, sometimes very slowly, through to victory.