Jesus Christ, Our Defense Attorney, Our Advocate

Jesus Christ, Our Defense Attorney, Our Advocate

2:1 MY DEAR CHILDREN, I WRITE THIS TO YOU SO THAT YOU WILL NOT SIN. BUT IF ANYBODY DOES SIN, WE HAVE ONE WHO SPEAKS TO THE FATHER IN OUR DEFENSE—JESUS CHRIST, THE RIGHTEOUS ONE. ^NIV

After focusing on the false teachers and their lies in chapter 1, here John focused on his readers, the Christians. The address "my dear children" is used in a warm, fatherly way. John was not talking down to his readers but was showing affection for them. At this writing, John was very old. He had spent almost all his life in ministry, and many of his readers were indeed his spiritual children.

The first step for living in the light (1:5, 7) is to confess sin (1:9). The second step is to forsake all sin (2:1). John emphasized human sinfulness in chapter 1 in order to make his readers despise their sin and try to stay free from it. "So that you will not sin" means that you will try to stay free from sin by avoiding it, refusing it, but then also confessing it when it does happen. Christians will sin because they have not yet been made perfect. John fully understood this. He did not want his readers to take the inevitability of sinning as an excuse to sin. The tension between the phrases "so that you will not sin" and "if anybody does sin" forms a balance between a too harsh or too lenient view of sin. "Believers have no business sinning," says John, "but when they do sin . . . God has provided a way for them to be cleansed."

Believers should not condone or excuse their sin, but they should go to the Father without fear. "But if" means "but when." When believers sin and then come to the Father for forgiveness, there is one who speaks to the Father. The word paraclete means "advocate, intercessor, one called alongside to help." This "one" is Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Christ's righteousness contrasts with humanity's sinfulness. To people who are feeling guilty and condemned, John offers reassurance. In Matthew 1:21, an angel told Joseph, "Name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (NLT). The best defense attorney in the universe will intercede with the Father for them and plead their case. 

Because Jesus is righteous, he is the one who "pleases God completely" (2:1 NLT). Jesus Christ will speak in their defense and on their behalf. Paul wrote: "Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us . . . [and is] pleading for us" (Romans 8:34 NLT); and "Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save everyone who comes to God through him. He lives forever to plead with God on their behalf" (Hebrews 7:25 NLT). Not only is Jesus the Judge's Son, but he also has already paid the penalty. Because Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and paid sin's penalty for all who believe, he can plead for them based on justice as well as mercy. Believers cannot be punished because someone else has already taken the punishment for them.

LIFE APPLICATION: OUR DEFENSE ATTORNEY

John was no doubt aware that for the Christian who wants to make progress in the spiritual life, nothing is as demoralizing as sin. "Why did I give in to that temptation again?" we lament. "I knew better!" we cry. "How could God forgive me for this?" we moan. Our enemy, Satan, adeptly uses our failures to accuse us, to fill us with guilt, and to cause us to wallow in despair. The answer for such miserable moments? Rely on Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, who appears before God as our advocate (Hebrews 9:24).

Christ is our defense attorney. Having paid for all our sins and purchased our complete forgiveness, Jesus Christ is well able to represent us before a holy God. We need not fear judgment. Because of what Christ has done, we are "not guilty"; furthermore, we possess the very righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)! When you pray, regard Christ as though he were by your side, discussing your situation with God.

2:2 AND HE IS THE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS, AND NOT FOR OURS ONLY BUT ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD. ^NRSV

When Jesus Christ speaks to the Father in people's defense (2:1), he doesn't falsely claim that they are innocent. Instead, he maintains that they are guilty of sin but then points out that he has already paid the penalty. The Greek word for "sacrifice" is hilasmos, the noun form of a word that in the New Testament means "to atone" or "to expiate" (the word is used only here and in 4:10 in the New Testament). Just as people in the Old Testament could approach God when the blood of the sin offering was sprinkled on the altar so that believers can fellowship with God because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Fellowship with God is always based solidly on the fact of Christ's atoning death. Because Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (see also 4:10), he can stand before God as the believers' mediator. His death satisfied the wrath of God against sin and paid the death penalty for it. Thus, Christ satisfies God's requirement. In him, believers are forgiven and purified.

Yet this picture of God as Judge and Jesus as defense attorney must not be taken too far. God is not like a human judge who might make unfair decisions based on personal feelings or private bribes. Jesus is not a helpless third-party pleading for people and trying to make peace between the Judge and guilty sinners. Instead, the picture must be seen through the eyes of love. God loves people so much that he wants them to be set free—he does not want to inflict the death penalty. But justice required that the penalty be paid. Jesus paid the penalty, also out of his great love. John wrote of God's love in 4:10, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (NIV). In 3:16, he describes Jesus' love, "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us" (NRSV).

In the phrase "not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" John was reminding all believers that Christ's atoning sacrifice is sufficient for the sins of every person in the world. Martin Luther brought this point home when he explained, "You, too, are part of the world, so that your heart cannot deceive itself and think, 'The Lord died for Peter and Paul, but not for me.'" While Christ's death is sufficient for every sin of every person who ever lived or ever will live, it becomes effectual only for those who confess their sin, accept the sacrifice, and embrace Christ as Lord and Savior. John was not teaching universal salvation—that everyone was saved by Christ whether he or she believed or not. We know this from John's statements in 2:19-23; obviously, the antichrists had not found forgiveness and acceptance in Christ.

LIFE APPLICATION COMPLETE AND TOTAL

Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Sometimes it is difficult to forgive those who wrong us. Imagine how hard it would be to forgive all people, no matter what they had done! This is what God has done in Jesus. Not one of us, no matter what sin has been committed, is beyond forgiveness. All a person must do is turn from sin, receive Christ's forgiveness, and commit his or her life to him.

<><

Bruce B. Barton et al., Life Application Bible Commentary – 1, 2, & 3 John, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1998), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "1 JOHN 1:1-2:11".

<><