The Advocate: Day 3
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” - 1st John 2:1-6 (ESV)
The goal of the Christian life is to know God intimately and follow His word. John writes in the first chapter about how Christ is life itself made manifest before our eyes. He also speaks about a harsh reality on whether we are actually walking with the Lord or are we merely lying by saying we follow the Lord. He opens chapter 2 with the purpose of chapter 1; “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” The essence of the Christian life is to be so consumed with our love for God and His word that we walk in a manner that pleases the Lord. However, while that is our goal, we are not perfect beings. In fact we won’t actually be perfect until we are in heaven in our glorified bodies. With that, there will be times when even the “best” of us will stumble and sin. John acknowledges this by offering a word of hope.
“If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” When you think about an advocate you think about someone who is speaking on your behalf. Nowadays advocates usually try to justify that person’s actions and explain their intent. However, John isn’t writing that Jesus advocates on the basis of saying “Well you see I know Stephen sinned but that wasn’t his actual intent! His heart was in a good place when he did XYZ. Maybe you should just look this one over Father and let this one thing pass.” Because for God to be a just and holy God, he cannot overlook a single sin. Yet in that is the joy of this amazing hope.
John writes that Jesus is the “propitiation” for our sins. Meaning that Jesus was the sacrifice that appeased the wrath and justice of God. It’s the payment that satisfies. Jesus as our advocate means that when we sin, repent, and turn back to the Lord, Jesus stands in heaven and says “I have covered the cost for him.” Now this isn’t a license to do whatever we want whenever we want because the cost was already paid. John gets at this by restating the harsh reality. “Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
The reality of the Christian life is summed up in verse 6 “Whoever says he abides in him, ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” As a follower of Jesus, we should see that our lives reflect Christ’s. We aren’t perfect and will stumble but do not worry! Christ is our advocate when we stumble. But in our stumbling, we should continue our pursuit of loving him with everything in our lives. Do you actually know and abide in Christ? Does your life reflect your answer? Keep walking towards Christ and remember that he is your advocate for when you stumble. Let your life reflect what you say you believe.
