CHILDREN · YOUNG MEN
FATHERS

Three stages of spiritual growth — and what marks each one

1 JOHN 2:12–14 · READ THROUGH FROMKE
"I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. 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."
1 JOHN 2:12–13
THE PROBLEM BENEATH THE SURFACE
John's words may have been written as pastoral address to overlapping groups in the church. But there is something more here — a picture of spiritual maturity, a progression few believers complete. Many remain at the "children" stage, endlessly focused on forgiveness, personal blessing, and what God has done for me. Some advance to "young men" — fighting battles, growing in the word, overcoming. But very few press through to "fathers" — those who know Him who is from the beginning, who see God's eternal purpose and live for it rather than for themselves.

Read this way, the journey from children to fathers traces a movement from man-centred Christianity to God-centred Christianity. It is the ultimate intention applied to spiritual growth.
01
CHILDREN
1 John 2:12–13
Your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake... you have known the Father.
WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR ME
THE MARK: FORGIVENESS KNOWN
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The child knows one glorious thing: my sins are forgiven. I know the Father. I'm in the family. This is real, it's wonderful, and it's the foundation of everything. No one outgrows the need for forgiveness. But it is the starting point, not the destination.
THE FOOD: MILK
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Peter says "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word" (1 Peter 2:2). Milk is pre-digested — someone else processes it for you. The child depends on others to feed them. Sermons, devotionals, someone else's insights. There's nothing wrong with milk. Babies need it. But a thirty-year-old on a bottle has a problem.
THE ORIENTATION: ME-CENTRED
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The child's faith revolves around personal experience. What has God done for me? How do I feel? Am I blessed? Am I forgiven? This is natural and appropriate for infants. But Fromke's challenge is that vast portions of the church never move beyond this. Much of church life is structured around servicing spiritual infants — keeping them happy, entertained, and assured of their forgiveness — without ever calling them to grow up.
THE DANGER: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
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Hebrews 5:12 — "By this time you ought to be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the elementary principles." A widespread spiritual condition in the Western church is adult believers who are still infants. They know they're forgiven. They attend services. They consume teaching. But they've never moved beyond what God has done for them to what God is after for Himself.
GROWTH REQUIRES
02
YOUNG MEN
1 John 2:13–14
You are strong, the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
WHAT GOD IS DOING IN ME
THE MARK: OVERCOMING
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The young man has moved beyond just knowing he's forgiven. He's in a fight — and he's winning. He's overcome the wicked one. This is the believer who has learned to apply Romans 6, to reckon the old man dead, to stand against temptation by faith. He has tasted victory over sin, not by willpower but by the word of God abiding in him. This is the stage where the Christian life becomes active and powerful.
THE FOOD: THE LIVING WORD
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Jesus said "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). The child lives on milk, receiving truth already digested by others. The young man feeds on Christ directly. "The word of God abides in you." It's not just heard on Sunday — it lives inside. This is the believer who reads Scripture and hears Christ speaking, who takes in the word and is strengthened by it. The word abiding builds strength. The young man is strong.
THE ORIENTATION: BATTLE-FOCUSED
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The young man's world is defined by warfare. Overcoming sin. Fighting the enemy. Gaining spiritual ground. Growing in knowledge. This is a significant advance from the child — he's no longer passive, no longer just receiving. He's engaged. But notice: the focus is still largely on his own spiritual life. His battles. His growth. His victories. He sees what God is doing in him. He hasn't yet fully grasped what God is doing in the universe.
THE DANGER: STAYING A WARRIOR FOREVER
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Many strong believers plateau here. They become experts in spiritual warfare, deeply grounded in the word, able to overcome — but they never transition from warriors to fathers. They know what God is doing in them but haven't yet seen what God purposed before the ages for Himself. They become the spiritual equivalent of a career soldier who never becomes a father — strong, disciplined, capable, but not seeing beyond their own walk.
MATURITY REQUIRES
03
FATHERS
1 John 2:13–14
You have known Him who is from the beginning.
WHAT GOD IS AFTER FOR HIMSELF
THE MARK: KNOWING HIM FROM THE BEGINNING
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Notice what John does not say about the father. He doesn't say "you have overcome more." He doesn't say "you know more Scripture." He doesn't say "you have a bigger ministry." He says one thing, and he says it twice for emphasis: you have known Him who is from the beginning. What does it mean to know God from the beginning? Within Fromke's framework, this points to knowing God in terms of His original intention — not just as Saviour (the child knows that), not just as the one who strengthens for battle (the young man knows that), but as the one who purposed something before the foundation of the world and is still working toward it. The father sees the beginning. He sees the end. And he sees where he fits.
THE FOOD: SOLID FOOD
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Hebrews 5:14 — "Solid food belongs to those who are of full age, who by reason of use have their senses trained to discern both good and evil." The father feeds on the deep things of God — not deep in the sense of complicated, but deep in the sense of ultimate. God's eternal purpose. The mystery hidden for ages. These are not advanced topics reserved for scholars. They are the actual content of God's heart — what He purposed before the ages. But they require maturity to receive. The one still occupied with personal blessing alone cannot digest what was never meant to terminate on him.
THE ORIENTATION: GOD-CENTRED
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This is Fromke's paradigm shift made personal. The child asks: what has God done for me? The young man asks: what is God doing in me? The father asks: what is God after for Himself? The entire orientation has shifted from self to God. The father doesn't despise forgiveness — he still needs it. He doesn't stop fighting — the warfare continues. But he's no longer the centre of his own spiritual universe. He lives for the ultimate intention, not for his own spiritual experience.
THE FRUIT OF FATHERHOOD: REPRODUCTION
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A father produces children. That's what makes him a father. Spiritually, one mark that often appears in mature believers is the capacity to nurture others into Christ and toward maturity. Not just evangelism — the child can share the gospel. But the father builds. He sees the whole arc from infancy to maturity and can guide others along it. He doesn't just win battles — he raises warriors. He doesn't just know truth — he reproduces it in others.
THE SIMPLICITY OF THE FATHER
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Notice something striking: John's description of the father is the simplest of the three. The child has two descriptions (sins forgiven, knows the Father). The young man has three (strong, word abides, overcome the evil one). The father has only one, repeated: knows Him who is from the beginning. Maturity isn't complexity — it's simplicity on the other side of complexity. The father has come through all the battles, all the theology, all the experiences, and arrived at one thing: knowing Him. Not knowing about Him. Not merely knowing doctrine. Knowing the Person. Everything else serves that single reality.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH
Many churches function mainly as nurseries — and rarely lead people into maturity.

They are endlessly occupied with the care and feeding of spiritual infants — forgiveness, assurance, comfort, blessing — without ever challenging them to grow up into the Father's purpose.

The starting point has become the stopping point.
The milk has become the permanent diet.

God is looking for fathers — those who know Him from the beginning, who see His eternal intention, and who will build accordingly.
THE HONEST QUESTION
Where are you?

Are you a child — still primarily occupied with what God has done for you?

Are you a young man — strong, in the word, overcoming, but still focused on your own spiritual life?

Or are you pressing into fatherhood — seeing God's eternal purpose and finding your place within it?

The journey isn't about being better.
It's about seeing bigger.
From what He's done for me — to what He's doing in me — to who He is.

The child knows the Father's love.
The young man knows the Father's power.
The father knows the Father's heart.

All three are real.
But the last has begun to see
what it was all for.

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