An Advocate
"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."
1 John 2:1 (ESV)
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
1 John 2:1 (ESV)
Jesus is not only our Intercessor; He is our Advocate.
The Greek word for advocate is parakletos. It's only other occurrences in the New Testament are in John 14-16, where it is always used to refer to the Holy Spirit as our advocate. (In the King James Version it is translated as "Comforter.") But here in 1 John 2:1 it is Jesus that is described as our advocate. Jesus speaks on our behalf to the Father.
And Jesus is also our propitiation, the One whose death has satisfy the requirement to bear the Father's wrath against our sin. First John 2:2 says, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (ESV)
What these two verses combine tell us is that we cannot approach the Father alone. We need an advocate who is qualified to represent us before the Father. And that person is Jesus.
And when we consider this alongside Jesus's intercerssion for us, what we begin to see is a picture of how Jesus continually acts on our behalf. He constantly, uninterupted, intercedes for us. And He advocates for us when we commit specific sins.
This should encourage us. Our Great High Priest, Jesus, is always interceding and advocating for us. We are never left to fend for ouself. We always have Jesus on our side. This great truth led John Bunyan to write, "Satan had the first word, but Christ the last. Satan must be speechless after a plea of our Advocate." The answer to the Great Accuser is the Great Advocate!
The Greek word for advocate is parakletos. It's only other occurrences in the New Testament are in John 14-16, where it is always used to refer to the Holy Spirit as our advocate. (In the King James Version it is translated as "Comforter.") But here in 1 John 2:1 it is Jesus that is described as our advocate. Jesus speaks on our behalf to the Father.
And Jesus is also our propitiation, the One whose death has satisfy the requirement to bear the Father's wrath against our sin. First John 2:2 says, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (ESV)
What these two verses combine tell us is that we cannot approach the Father alone. We need an advocate who is qualified to represent us before the Father. And that person is Jesus.
And when we consider this alongside Jesus's intercerssion for us, what we begin to see is a picture of how Jesus continually acts on our behalf. He constantly, uninterupted, intercedes for us. And He advocates for us when we commit specific sins.
This should encourage us. Our Great High Priest, Jesus, is always interceding and advocating for us. We are never left to fend for ouself. We always have Jesus on our side. This great truth led John Bunyan to write, "Satan had the first word, but Christ the last. Satan must be speechless after a plea of our Advocate." The answer to the Great Accuser is the Great Advocate!