Christ Our Advocate 1 John 2:1-6 1 John 2:1-6 My

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Christ Our Advocate 1 John 2:1-6 1 John 2:1-6 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. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Introduction Over the last two weeks, we have considered how eternal life is fundamentally a matter of the quality of our lives in relationship with God. In John 17:3, Jesus prayed to the Father, saying, “And this is eternal life, that they might know You and the One whom you have sent.” Eternal life, according to Jesus, is knowing and fellowshipping with God. What we saw last week was that our fellowship with God, which was described as “walking in the light,” was not rooted in our perfection or personal holiness, but in God’s mercy and grace to forgive us and cleanse us from sin. We are not perfect people who have earned our right to fellowship with God. We are broken sinners who have come into God’s light in order to be healed and made whole again. This morning, we are going to see John address a common misunderstanding about God’s forgiven and grace, especially in light of our fellowship with God. As you might remember, John is writing this letter to combat false teaching among Christians, and while we do not know all the details about the false teachers, it would seem that we at least know some of the details. These false teachers were teaching false things about Jesus and the Christian life. Some were suggesting that they had never done anything for which they needed to be forgiven. They were claiming to be sinless and to have no need of Jesus. On the other hand, some were claiming that they were truly fellowshipping with God, but they were living contrary to God. Like we saw last week, God is perfectly holy with no sin in His being at all. Therefore, those who would have fellowship with Him must be cleansed of their sins by the blood of Jesus. But these false teachers were claiming that they were walking in God’s light while openly living in darkness, which was fundamentally at odds with God’s nature. It is this group of false teachers and their misunderstanding of what it means to be in fellowship with God that we are going to see John address this morning in 1 John 2:1-6… Exposition I.

Preserving Fellowship (Vs. 1a)

Sin impacts our fellowship with God, because sin is ultimately against Him. Sin is what we do when we refuse to obey God’s commands, which are a reflection of his perfect, holy character. Remember 1 John 1:5? One cannot walk in darkness, that is unrepentant sin, and also walk in the light, which is humble repentant obedience.



So, since John understands that the enjoyment of eternal life as a present reality is inextricably tied to fellowship with God, he wants to help Christians preserve their joy in Christ by not sinning. For John, the pursuit of holiness (i.e. – not sinning) is about maintaining joy and fellowship with God. John is not being a kill joy, instead, he is writing to keep us from the things that kill our joy in God. Now, in order for us to receive John’s instruction we must believe that God’s word is true regarding sin. If John is going to be effective in his writing, if he is going to compel his audience “not to sin,” then they must feel the way he feels about sin. They must understand that the pleasures of sin are fleeting and ultimately destructive, leading to a broken relationship with God and with others. John does not want to see his original audience or us forfeit our fellowship with and enjoyment of God on account of our sin. T.S. – All of this fine and good, but what happens if we fail to heed John’s instruction and sin against God? Is there any hope for us? II.

Procuring Fellowship (Vss. 1b-2)

The answer, according to John, is a resounding, “Yes.” He writes, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” As we saw a few weeks ago, God, who is perfectly holy, can have no association with sinful darkness. For sinners like us, this initially sounds like really bad news, but fortunately, God, in his holy love, chose to have mercy upon us and sent his son to accomplish redemption and salvation for us. And this is what John is speaking of in verse 1 & 2. Jesus Christ is our perfect advocate before the perfect Father. Christ, who was like us in every way except without sin, stands before the Father on the basis of his own perfect righteousness and advocates for us to be in relationship with the Father. And what is the basis of his advocacy? According to verse 2, it is the fact that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the sin that would threaten to estrange us from God again. This is what John means when he writes that Jesus is the “propitiation for our sins.” Our sin, apart from Christ, would have always excluded us from fellowship with God. God’s wrath burns toward our sin because, as we heard early, our sin is a direct rebellion against His command. Sin is incredibly offensive to God! And He is holy and justifiable anger with the sinner everyday (Psalm 7:11), yet, even in His wrath, God remembers His mercy and provides a means of escape in Jesus. Christ is the One who alone can stand before the Father on the basis of His own righteousness and advocacy for us to be in fellowship with God. Our fellowship with God has been procured by Christ, not our good deeds! And here is the beauty of what God has done in Christ -- He has extended and offered this provision to the entire world. In other words, it is not just the Jew who can enjoy fellowship with God, it is anyone who turns from their sin and rebellion to Jesus Christ for salvation. The gospel welcomes anyone and everyone to be forgiven and come to know and fellowship with God. No one is to be excluded from hearing this good news! This good news that addresses us in our failures, in our brokenness, and in our rebellion. Telling us that while our sins have made us



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disgustingly ugly and must be forsaken, God loves us, longs to fellowship with us, freely offers to forgive us, and welcomes us into His presence on account of Christ Jesus! Have you ever felt entirely inadequate as a Christian? Like you do not even deserve to call God your Father? Like you should never be known as one of His children? John’s has good news for you! Jesus the Righteous One ever lives as your advocate, as the propitiation for all your inadequacy, sins, rebellion, and failure before the Father! Christ has done this so in order to provide you with fellowship with God, and that even when you fail, your fellowship might be restored by His grace and mercy! T.S. – So far, then, John has spoken of the preservation of our fellowship with God through the pursuit of holiness and the procurement of that fellowship on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ. Now, in the final four verses, John takes a practical look at what it means to practice fellowship with God. III.

Practicing Fellowship (Vss. 3-6)

In brief, John’s point in these last four verses is the same point that we have seen earlier in the book of first John. Those who know God strive by His grace to obey God. They do not presume upon His grace or live with indifference toward sin. They pursue holiness through obedience to Christ’s command. If you claim to walk in the light, to walk in fellowship with God, to be a Christian, you must also walk as Christ Himself walked in submission and obedience to God the Father. Conclusion God has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light in order that our sins might be exposed and forgiven by the grace of Christ. Once we are in the light, God intends for us to walk in humble dependence and complete acknowledgment of our need for Christ’s daily forgiveness. As we “walk in the light,” we become more like Christ, which means, we become, practically speaking, more holy. And while we do not become sinless, we should sin less as followers of Christ. As we pursue holiness, without fail we will falter at times and sin against God. But God, who is rich in mercy and grace, forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness as we confess our sins and repent in obedience. This pattern of pursuing holiness as we pursue Christlikeness, asking for forgiven when we sin, and trusting in Christ’s work to be enough for us, is the way of life that characterizes a Christian. In other words, those who “know Christ” are those who hate sin and love righteousness. So the matter before us this morning, then, is pretty simple. In light of this passage, everyone here should examine themselves to see if they truly “know Christ.” The passage makes it clear - We can be sure that we know Christ when our desires and grace-empowered efforts are directed toward pursuing holiness and forsaking sin. If you are here this morning and you hate sin and love holiness, then, according to this passage, you “know Christ,” and to know him is to have eternal life. If, however, you are here this morning and you love sin, enjoy living contrary to God’s word, have no desire to really know God, then regardless of what you know or someone told you, you are not a Christian.



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You can say the sinner’s prayer every Sunday for the rest of your life, you can walk the aisle every time the opportunity is given to you, you can speak of the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” as often as you would like, you came claim that you are just “back-slidden,” but if the direction of your life never changes and the affections of your heart never move heavenward and you are indifferent to sinning less and content to simply assume upon God’s willingness to forgive you, then let me be loving, but firm with you this morning, you do not know Christ and do not have eternal life. You may be thinking, “But pastor, that sure does seem harsh. I mean, I’ve got a friend or a family member that made a profession of faith when they were young but haven’t really lived for Jesus in decades. But I know they are saved.” According to John, you have no biblical grounds whatsoever to make such a claim! People can claim to be born again all they want, but if they do not manifest the fruit of spiritual life, they should be assumed to be spiritually dead. Why do I make this point so strongly? I do so because Christ loves these people and desires for them to know him! Isn’t that what our passage said this morning? Christ died not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world. He died that the “back-slider” would no longer “back-slide,” that the sinner may no longer live in sin! We have been set free from slavery to sin in order to be a slave of righteousness (Romans 6:18). We do not continue in sin so that grace may abound. On the contrary, we pursue holiness, we walk in light of God’s forgiveness and grace, abiding in Christ! So where are you at this morning? Are you living in the darkness while claiming to walk in the light? Or are you walking in the light in humble dependence upon God’s forgiveness, seeking to live as Christ lived in obedience to the Father?



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