The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
1 John, Part 3 – Amazing Advocate
I was talking to a friend last week about God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness. These are characteristics that do not come naturally to us humans and so we have difficulty comprehending them in God. It is a good thing Jesus does not require comprehension. He only requires faith and obedience.
1 Peter 2:24 tells us that Jesus, “…bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” How can it be that we still sin then? If we are saved shouldn’t we live a holy life unblemished by any sin at all? Since we are redeemed souls living in unredeemed bodies, we do sin. The difference is in the on-going practice of sin in the unbeliever versus times we believers step aside temporarily – tempted by the world, the flesh, and the devil – and find that we have sullied the name of Christ by disobedience to His Word. Persistent participation in darkness (sin) and denial of our sin show equally that a person is not in fellowship with God and is not of God (1 John 1:10).
The sequence of Jesus’ basic remedial action on our behalf when we do sin is found in 1 John 2:1-3: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” That 1 John 2:2 describes the propitiation of sins for both us and for the whole world confirms the first person plural audience of Christians, which includes himself, that John is writing to.
That Jesus Christ is an advocate on our behalf before God is an aspect of our relationship with Him that is stated in easily understood terms. An advocate is a lawyer, a person who is trained to know the law and is responsible for the defense of his client and to seek the best outcome for his client. Christ knows our hearts and everything about us. Even with that knowledge He still stands in our defense before God, triggered by our repentance-based confession indicated in 1 John 1:9.
I can just imagine the plea that Jesus makes to the Father in Heaven’s courtroom: I died for this people. Their past, present, and future sins are forgiven because I shed my blood as the ultimate sacrifice. No other sacrifice is required. My blood bought their forgiveness and reconciliation to you. My grace has healed and redeemed them to me.
In this, Christ’s function as advocate both overlaps and comes out of His function as the propitiation for our sins. His sacrifice on the cross gave us propitiation, a legal term meaning appeasement or satisfaction, of the sin charges laid against us by a holy and just God. As Colossians 2:13-14 states, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.”
Update/Prayer Request: We praise God that Dan’s health continues to improve and most of the time he is able to sleep through each night. However, his stamina is still very limited requiring frequent rest during each day. Please pray that the congestion and wheezing that often keep him awake at night completely clear up. He continues to take meds for it and will revisit the ENT later this month. Please pray also for Susan’s hand as she deals with scar tissue that prevents her tendons and ligaments from working properly.
