John Calvin Commentary 1 John 2:12

"I write unto you, [my] little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name`s sake." — 1 John 2:12 (ASV)

Little children. This is still a general declaration, for he does not address only those of a young age, but by little children he means people of all ages, as in the first verse, and also later. I say this because interpreters have incorrectly applied the term to children. But John, when he speaks of children, calls them παιδία, a word expressive of age; but here, as a spiritual father, he calls the old as well as the young, τεκνία.

He will, indeed, shortly address special words to different ages; yet they are mistaken who think that he begins to do so here.

But, on the contrary, lest the preceding exhortation should obscure the free remission of sins, he again impresses upon them the doctrine which specifically belongs to faith, so that the foundation may with certainty always be retained: that salvation is stored up for us in Christ alone.

Holiness of life should indeed be urged, the fear of God should be carefully instructed, people should be sharply spurred to repentance, and newness of life, together with its fruits, should be commended. But still, we should always be careful lest the doctrine of faith be smothered—that doctrine which teaches that Christ is the only author of salvation and of all blessings. On the contrary, such moderation should be presented that faith may always retain its own primacy.

This is the rule prescribed to us by John: having faithfully spoken of good works, lest he should seem to give them more importance than he ought to have done, he carefully calls us back to contemplate the grace of Christ.

Your sins are forgiven you. Without this assurance, religion would be nothing other than fading and shadowy. Indeed, those who overlook the free remission of sins and dwell on other things build without a foundation. John meanwhile suggests that nothing is more suitable to stimulate people to fear God than when they are rightly taught what blessing Christ has brought to them, as Paul does when he beseeches by the bowels of God’s mercies (Philippians 2:1).

Hence, it appears how wicked is the slander of the Papists, who pretend that the desire of doing what is right is frozen when that is extolled which alone makes us obedient children to God. For the Apostle takes this as the basis of his exhortation: that we know that God is so benevolent to us as not to impute to us our sins.

For his name’s sake. The material cause is mentioned, lest we should seek other means to reconcile us to God. For it would not be sufficient to know that God forgives us our sins, unless we come directly to Christ and to that price which he paid on the cross for us.

And this should be especially observed, because we see that by the deceit of Satan and by the wicked inventions of people, this way is obstructed. For foolish people attempt to pacify God by various satisfactions and devise innumerable kinds of expiations for the purpose of redeeming themselves.

For the more means of deserving pardon we impose on God, the more obstacles prevent us from approaching him.

Hence John, not satisfied with stating simply the doctrine that God remits to us our sins, expressly adds that he is propitious to us out of regard for Christ, so that he might exclude all other reasons. We also, so that we may enjoy this blessing, must disregard and forget all other names, and rely only on the name of Christ.