I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
As children, John’s readers had known forgiveness by their heavenly Father (cf. 1 John 1:5 to 1 John 2:2). As fathers, they had experienced fellowship with God through Jesus Christ (cf. 1 John 2:3-11). "Fathers" connotes seasoned experience with God. As young men, they had known some victory over their spiritual adversary, Satan (cf. 1 John 2:15-23). John mentioned these three experiences in their proper experiential sequence in the Christian life. "Him who has been from the beginning" (1 John 2:13 a) is Jesus Christ (John 1:1).