Help! I Need A Barrister, A Helper, An Advocate To Plead My Case! 1 John 2:1-2 Series

HELP! I NEED A BARRISTER, A HELPER, AN ADVOCATE TO PLEAD MY CASE! 1 John 2:1-2

1John 1 v 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 1John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

INTRODUCTION FROM CHAPTER 1

All these verses go together. They are precious truths God has given for our edification and grounding. Let us look at these few verses in an overall context. In verse 8 John is denying the state of sinless perfection here on earth. We are deceivers if we go around saying we do not sin. We are deceiving ourselves, and make ourselves look like idiots. But, that then, leaves us with a dilemma – Christ died for our sins, but we are still sinners. It is our sin that breaks fellowship, or communion, if you like that word. We don’t lose salvation, but we do lose fellowship.

In verses 9 and 10, God provides the remedy for the sin that still breaks out in us, be it action or inner thoughts and attitudes, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That remedy is confession. Confession leads to restoration; the word is cleansing,

Then in verse 1 the Apostle then says, {{“My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin,”}} and why does he do that? There are several answers to the question. The most obvious is that we have now been created in the image of Christ, and the Son of God does not sin; neither should we. We carry around with us the foul smelling garment of the old nature, which will be shed when the Lord returns, or when we are raptured to His presence if we are still alive.

However, the reason behind John’s desire that they do not sin, is this. If we have a remedy for when we sin, then why worry about sinning? One may say, “It’s alright to sin in a not too serious way like murder, because all we need to do is then confess our sins and we are back to normal.” Do you know what that is? It is a licence to sin. Keep on sinning – just go to confession and a priest will forgive you. There is a false church that adopts that line. Sin as much as you like – just go to confession.

Sin is so evil, even “light sin”. Just one light sin would have required Calvary, let alone, our truck loads of sin. God knows we are sinners, but it is scandalous to think that God now treats our sins lightly because of Calvary. Some Christians (professing Christians) think that way. Now that they are saved, then sin does not matter that much. It is outrageous. The cross and salvation do not give you a licence to sin. Sin, and all lawlessness should be hated.

When we continue with verse 1, we see that John uses this expression – “and if anyone sins” whereas we might have said, “when anyone sins”. What’s the difference? Well, the use of “when” is conceding too easily, whereas “if” acknowledges the likelihood of sinning. There is a subtle difference. We must abhor sin, reject it, stand against it, not leave the house in the morning and say, “Well I am going to sin today because I am human and have the old nature, but God forgives me.” What sort of Christian attitude is that?

PART A – JESUS CHRIST OUR ADVOCATE

Now we come to the heart of the message today, taken from verses 1 and 2 of chapter 2. There is very deep and rich teaching in these two verses where the Lord Jesus Christ is set forth as holding these wonderful positions for us. I want to break the message up into 3 sections. The first is “Jesus Christ our Advocate”. The second is “Jesus the Anointed Righteous One”. The third is “Jesus Christ our Propitiation”.

John comforts us by saying if we sin, we have an Advocate with the Father. The true Christian does not want to sin, but sin is that which does so easily beset us. It is deceitful, cunning and catches us out. When we fall and sin openly or secretly or internally, we have an Advocate with the Father. What is an advocate? If you are to face a lawsuit you may have a solicitor acting for you, but on the day of a court hearing, your case may be taken up by a barrister, or if really serious, by a Queen’s Counsel. It is he who represents you, who takes up your case and pleads for you. Jesus acts like the barrister for you when there is sin.