1 John 2:12-14

¹² I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.

¹³ 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 wicked one.
I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.

¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is 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 wicked one.

Verse 12, which is sometimes taken as part of the next section, is to be regarded rather as a link between the two. The next section really begins with v.13, and contains distinct addresses to three parts of the heavenly family, whereas v.12 addresses all the children of God. … It forms a fitting close to what has immediately preceded, and points out what is especially true of those who are really children of God, in contrast to those who make a profession, but do not keep His commandments of love and therefore walk in darkness, and whose sins are not forgiven. — Vine, page 30.

your sins are forgiven (v.12) — Contrast this with 1 John 1:9. A believer’s sins are forgiven completely and forever, proving that the earlier verse had to have been written to unbelievers.

for His name’s sake (v.12) — Throughout the Scripture the Divine names are indicative of the attributes, character and ways of God. That anything should be done for His Name’s sake signifies that the doing is consistent with His character and counsels. These have been embodied and revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. This, then, is true in regard to God’s forgiveness of our sins. The Name is to be associated both with the Father and with the Son. — Vine, page 30.

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In regard to the three parts of the family of God, whom the Apostle twice addresses in vs.13-27, it is necessary to observe the distinction between the word paidia, rendered “little children,” the youngest members of the family (vs. 13 and 18), and the word teknis, similarly rendered in vs. 12 and 28, but denoting the whole family of God to whom the Apostle is writing his Epistle in general. Teknia is the word, for instance, in the fist verse of chapter 2. — Vine, page 30.

fathers (v.13) — suggestive of maturity and authority, older men with experience, those who are looked to for advice and assistance.

known (v.13) — from experience

Him who is from the beginning (v.13) — Christ, as in 1 John 1:1.

young men (v.13) — those who have some experience of spiritual conflict, those near or in the prime of life.

overcome (v.13) — Overcoming is a prominent subject in John’s writings, especially in this Epistle (6 times) and in Revelation (17 times). The perfect tense indicates the abiding results of past victories. There is of course no suggestion that there are not further conflicts in store. — Vine, page 31.

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The wicked one (v.13) — is Satan, who is thus described five times in this Epistle. … The word rendered “evil” [wicked] is poneros, and differs from the more frequent and general word, kakos, “bad,” in this, that, while kakos may simply mean what is evil in itself, poneros carries with it the idea of what is pernicious and acts detrimentally to others, no only evil (passively bad), but evilly disposed (actively harmful), whether in matters of false doctrine, or temptations in the moral sphere. The young men who are addressed have so far proved faithful, and have not yielded themselves to the corrupting influences around them. — Vine, page 31.

little children (v.13) — babes in Christ

A couple of my commentaries point out the switch in tense from “I write” (v.12-13) to “I have written” (v.14). They say that “I write” is the tense John used for the writing he was doing at that moment, and “I have written” is the tense he used for when the recipients would be reading it.

There is nothing additional in the second address to the fathers. Yet it is not mere repetition. There is … a suggestion of finality in regard to the subject of their knowledge, and … an indication of satisfaction in the heart of the Apostle with the spiritual condition of the fathers. — Vine, page 32.

known Him (v.14) — known Him as Savior

In the case of the fathers the appeal was to their maturity and authority; with the young men it is to their energy and victory of temptation. The means of their victory is their strength, and the secret of their strength is the Word of God … an indwelling power, giving strength for victory over the evil one. As in the introduction, in v.13, which is here expanded, victory in the past leaves its permanent effects, but it is not in itself sufficient to ensure victory in the future; hence the Apostle has fresh injunctions to give. — Vine, page 32-33.