1 John 2:1
Christ Our Advocate
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous…” - 1 John 2:1
Introduction
There’s a new show making headways in evangelicalism called The Chosen. Some are using the success of the show as an incredible evangelism opportunity, while others are concerned about the way it adds to Biblical narratives, sort of like Christian fan-fiction. I know the show isn’t perfect and it may have many flaws in the years to come, being that it’s only in season two, but I have been personally edified by much of what I’ve seen! The most controversy the show has had came over a recent scene where Mary Magdalene, who was delivered from many demons, backslid for a few days and was then restored. In the two episodes, Mary gives into temptation, returns to the brothel Jesus originally saved her from, and then spirals into more sin. Some of the disciples find her, and she tells them she’s too ashamed to go back to Jesus, “He saved me once, and I’m broken again” she reasons. Eventually the disciples do end up taking her back though. When she met Jesus, humiliated and embarrassed, she said, “you redeemed me and I threw it all away.” To that, the show’s portrayal of Jesus responds, “That’s not much of a redemption if it could be lost in a day.” She fully expected to be cast out by Christ upon her return, but was met with complete forgiveness.
Some folks were offended and outraged by that scene because they think there’s no way a truly saved person could ever fall back into a season of sin. Either they are self-deceived, thinking they have no sin when they really do; or they are self-righteous, assuming they are better than others when they're really not. As we discussed in the previous chapter, the Christian still lives with an indwelling sinful nature along with its manifest actions. As Luther said, we are simul justus et peccator; simultaneously righteous and sinful. We should not be surprised to find ourselves broken again at times, and the Lord knows our frame as well.
Dear friend, Jesus is the perpetual friend of sinners! Jesus makes it His business to never give up on the struggling saints who were given to Him by His Father. He is ever committed to never break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax. Day by day, bit by bit, through the power of His Spirit, He destroys our sin and makes us more like Him. Christians still struggle with sin. Sometimes their failures go on for extended seasons, but if they are saved, Jesus will overcome in and through them. This is only possible because of what we read here in 1 John chapter 2. In this chapter we will deal with Christ our advocate, and in the next we will deal with Christ our atonement. The most precious truths in the Christian life.
Keep Fighting!
After telling us of the character of Christ, the light of God, and convincing us of our remaining corruption as believers, John moves to an important clarification. I fear a great many people reading the last chapter may have thought themselves excused to unrepentantly sin after learning of their perpetual fallenness in this life. John clears that foolishness up quickly here in this verse, as if to say, “I didn’t write those words so you could justify your sin. I wrote that so that you would be aware of your nature and do everything in God’s grace to keep fighting it. Make the aim of your life be to stop sinning, and if you do sin, remember you have an advocate with Jesus.” John doesn’t want us to be ignorant of our enemy within. If our guard is let down, and we walk through the battlefield of life like it was a nice sunny day in the park we are bound to be destroyed. The reality that we still sin ought never to make us give up and think it’s okay or doesn’t matter. No. The path to heaven is paved with mortified sins which were only able to be killed by the gospel of God’s grace.
I think there is an important distinction in this verse that so many of us easily overlook. John describes the Christian’s relationship with sin as a conditional “if” not a guaranteed “when.” Now John has made it clear that we will not be completely free of sin until we receive glorified bodies at the resurrection. When Solomon prayed for Israel at the dedication of the temple, he asked for God to be merciful to them when they sinned, saying “for there is no man that sinneth not (1 Kings 8:46).” But this necessary “when” of our sin should never make us think we need to be bound by the same sins tomorrow that we struggle with today. There is victory to be had! Victory must be had! Don’t think, “I’ve struggled with this one sin all my life, I’ll just ask forgiveness when I carelessly do it again tomorrow.” No. Your mindset should be “I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. I will beat this worthless habit, and if I happen to fall again, I will get back up and keep going until I move on to the next battle.”
Sin is not the standard, nor is it to ever be the primary identity of a Christian. Yes we are sinners, but we are first and foremost sons and daughters of God. There is a great movement amongst otherwise conservative evangelicals to allow for “LGBTQ Christianity.” With the Revoice conference, there are many people who recognize that homosexuality is sinful according to Scripture, but that because we’re all sinners, people should be allowed to identify as gay Christians if that’s what they struggle with. This is so wrong. No believer ought to put the sin they are particularly tempted with in conjunction with their identity in Christ. Let no one say, “I am an adulterous Christian, a murderous Christian, an idolatrous Christian, a gay Christian, a hateful Christian, etc.” We should see ourselves the way Scripture sees us: new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), adopted children of God (Ephesians 1:5), “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9).” Our confession should be that of the apostle Paul, “by the grace of God I am what I am (1 Corinthians 15:10).” Our sin is not a when anymore, it is an if. Keep fighting!
The Advocate
With victory over sin as our aim in life, we have a promise for the times we fall, Jesus Christ is our advocate. This word comes from the greek “paraklētos” which identifies one who is called to another’s aid, one who pleads another’s cause; a helper. Jesus sits before the Father as a true human who not only understands our frailty, but has personally paid the price for our sins on the cross. If we sin and ask the Father for forgiveness, Jesus doesn’t tell the Father to go ahead and forgive because our sin isn’t really that big of a deal. Nor does Jesus lie and say that we are actually innocent or deserving of mercy for ignorance on our part. Rather, He pleads His blood. Even after His resurrection from the dead and ascension back to heaven, Jesus still has the scars of His sacrifice. Those wounds are a perpetual plea for our forgiveness, assuring us a place at God’s throne of grace. Where the blood of Abel called for Cain’s condemnation, the blood of Jesus calls for our justification (Hebrews 12:24).
Jesus’ intercession sounds something like, “Father, they are sinful and broken, but I love them and paid the price for their redemption.” The Father told the Son in Psalm 2:8, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” The Son has asked, and longs for his inheritance: you and I. The Father will answer His prayer.
The Scripture describes the roles of Christ in many different ways. He is our prophet, declaring the true Word of salvation. He is our King, ever reigning for the good of His people. But He is also described as our great high priest. Whereas the prophet brings God’s Word to the people, and the King brings protection to the people, a high priest brings the people to God and secures their place before Him. Hebrews 7:24-27 says:
“But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.”
This means Jesus still has a job; He has business He means to complete. You may object that the work of Christ was finished on the cross, and that’s true. The work of the cross is finished, but it’s not finished working in you. The seed of God’s grace has only yet been planted, and He won’t give up on us until the harvest is reaped. Until we are brought safely to heaven to be with Him and see His glory, Jesus is still interceding for us as an advocate. The promise of Scripture for every believer is Philippians 1:6, “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
One of my life verses is Isaiah 42:3-4/Matthew 12:20-21, and it describes how Jesus carries out His advocacy for us. The prophet says:
“A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.”
When a reed is bruised, it’s lost its ability to be of any use. When a reed gets bruised, a person will break it and toss it away. Isaiah says that’s not how Jesus deals with His struggling people. Even when your gifts and talents are ruined, and you feel like your life is of no use to God for your repeated and manifold sins, Jesus has promised not to break you completely and throw you out as a useless thing. He still cares about you. When speaking on this subject, the puritan Richard Sibbs said “There is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in us.”
The smoking flax is a flickering candle which is ready to go out. A candle is meant to fill a room with light and fragrance. But when a candle begins to go out, it does just the opposite. The light is dim, and the fragrance is replaced with smoke and stench. When a candle reaches this stage, the logical thing to do is quench the wick, throw out the candle, and get a new one. Again, this is not how Jesus deals with us. In our times of sin, we sometimes despair at the thought that Christ would reject us forever. Instead of being the light of the world and the aroma of grace, we carry darkness and just stink up everything. But Jesus will not quench us and give up!
If a candle can still make smoke, it means there is still a spark; if there is still a spark, then there is yet hope. Jesus has promised us that He will fan that spark into flame and consume our sin. That it was what the latter part of verse twenty one teaches when it says, “til he send forth judgment unto victory.” Jesus will judge and destroy every part of us that refuses to be conformed to His image, one way or another, and this is the most encouraging thought in the world. Take heart, dear Christian, Jesus isn’t done with you. He won’t break or quench you, He will be made victorious in you. He is your advocate.
Conclusion
In the Pilgrim’s Progress, there is a famous section where Christian battles the menacing Apollyon (an allegory for the devil). However, before they begin the fight, they exchange a dialogue. Apollyon tries to convince Christian to return to his old life in the City of Destruction, only for Christian to tell him he can’t because he gave his life to Jesus. Apollyon then tries to discourage him by basically saying, “How can you say you serve Him? You should give up because you have already failed so many times and sinned against Him even after you began to follow Him!” To this, Christian agrees that he has sinned, and that Apollyon doesn’t even know the fullest extent to all his sins, but Christ has fully pardoned all of them and guaranteed him a place in the kingdom.
Dear Christian, fight your sin. Aim to be like Christ; to conquer whatever struggles you have today and not do them again. And know that if you do fall, your righteous advocate Jesus Christ is committed to continue His work in you, even then. When conscience condemns, the law convicts, and the devil calls for your destruction, reply back to them all, “You don’t even know the half of my sins! I deserve far more of a damnation that you could ever know! But my punishment has been paid, and my place in God’s family has been secured by another, and He is my friend. He is Jesus Christ, the righteous. I found this prayer from the Valley of Vision to be particularly fitting:
“Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in thy appeasing wounds. Though my sins rise to heaven thy merits soar above them; though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell, thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne. All things in me call for my rejection, all things in thee plead my acceptance. I appeal from the throne of perfect justice to thy throne of boundless grace. Grant me to hear thy voice assuring me: that by thy stripes I am healed, that thou wast bruised for my iniquities, that thou hast been made sin for me that I might be righteous in thee, that my grievous sins, my manifold sins are all forgiven, buried in the ocean of thy concealing blood. I am guilty, but pardoned, lost, but saved, wandering, but found, sinning, but cleansed. Give me perpetual broken-heartedness, keep me always clinging to thy cross, flood me every moment with descending grace, open to me the springs of divine knowledge, sparkling like crystal, flowing clear and unsullied through my wilderness of life.”
