Our Advocate
John knew, however, that all believers will sin even though they are committed to a life of obedience to Christ. So, event though he said he wrote so that his readers would not sin, he followed that by covering what happens when we sin. When we sin, all is not lost, because we have an advocate with the Father. That advocate is Jesus Christ.
The Greek word the English Standard Version (ESV) translates as “advocate” is “parakletos”. In ancient Greek writings, it refers to one who comes forward to speak on behalf of someone. It does not mean a professional, like a defense attorney, but a friend, sponsor or mentor.
For example, for several years I mentored a young man who had been somewhat of a rebel in high school. People who knew him then sometimes asked me how I could be friends with him. I spoke in his defense, telling how he had matured and changed. The NIV captures this thought and translates the word as “one who speaks to the Father in our defense”.
The fact that we need an advocate shows us that something bad has happened. Sin has broken our fellowship with the Father. We do not lose our salvation, but we lose our fellowship, our close communion with the Father. That is because the Father hates sin and cannot abide its presence. It is also because a sinful man or woman cannot stand to be in the presence of a holy God. Isaiah 6 demonstrates this. Upon encountering the Lord, whom the angels proclaim as holy, Isaiah cries out “woe is me” and acknowledges his sin.
So, Jesus is in the presence of the Father (“with the Father”) and speaks in our defense when we violate the Father’s laws. Jesus can do this because he is righteous. John calls him “Jesus Christ the righteous”. (2:1) He pleads his righteousness to the Father on our behalf. He is the one who has acted righteously and defends those who have not acted righteously.
Not only is Jesus our advocate, he is the priest who bears God’s wrath against our sins, turning away God’s wrath from us. That is why the English Standard Version (ESV) says he is the “propitiation” for our sins. He is the one who’s actions resulted in a change in God’s attitude toward us, from being against us as sinners facing judgment, to being for us as those who are in Christ. Jesus is able to advocate for the Father’s mercy because he has borne the Father’s wrath against sin on our behalf and turned God’s wrath away from us.
Some of the newer versions say “atoning sacrifice” rather than propitiation. However, atonement deals with the guilt of our sins, resulting in death and hell. While it is true that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, this passage is not dealing with that, but with God’s reaction to the sin of believers, an expression of his wrath against sin that separates us from him until we repent and confess. Therefore, the word “propitiation”, the turning away of God’s wrath, seems more appropriate.
When John says, not only for our sins, but also the sins of the whole world, he does not mean that everyone on the planet is saved from God’s wrath. John is not a universalist. But, he means that believers, those who know Christ, across the world, not just in north Asia, receive the benefits of Christ’s death for us.
How do we know that we know God? John tells us in verse 3. We can know that we have come to know God if we keep his commandments. Now, it is an easy jump to think John means the Ten Commandments, the Old Covenant law. But, John is not dealing with the Old Covenant here, but rather with life in Christ. Rather, the Father’s commandments are that we believe in his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another.
John states this clearly in 3:23, when he says “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us.” In is gospel, John recorded Jesus teaching this same truth, saying “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29) and “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.” (John 13:34)
In verse 4, John states this truth in the negative. He says, if we say we know God, but do not keep his commandments, we lie. In verse 5, he states it again in the positive: the believer’s love of God is perfected in the one who keeps God’s commandments.
John states it in another way in here 5: if we abide in God, we walk (or live) in the way Jesus walked. Leon Morris once wrote that “it is impossible for men who really know God to be unaffected in their daily living by this knowledge.”
John is not talking about legalism, a dry and joyless obedience to tedious rules. He is talking about loving Jesus in a way that compels us to imitate him and please him.
Remember that “knowing God” does not mean just knowing facts about him. It means to have a personal relationship with him, demonstrated by loving obedience. It involves having a true understanding of his nature. It means having fellowship with him.
John brings this up at least partly because those who have left the church claim to know God, to have a relationship with him, yet live lives that indicate they do not. They claim to walk in the light but show that they live in the darkness. Our world is full of those type of people today.
Do not be like them.
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