1 John 2:1-6

Lets break this passage up in two parts. verses 1 and 2 are really just a continuation of lasts week lesson.

1 John 2:1–2 “1 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.”

Before I touch on those first two verses I want you to hear some words from the president of my seminary where I went and got my MDIV.

Modern studies on the historical Jesus can be fascinating. They can also be deceiving and disappointing because they are so far removed in truth and time from the Jesus revealed in the Bible. In a book entitled The Historical Jesus: Five Views, it is noted that modernist options include:

[A]n eschatological prophet, a Galilean holy man, an occultic magician, an innovative rabbi, a trance-inducing psychotherapist, a Jewish sage, a political revolutionary, an Essene conspirator, an itinerant exorcist, an historicized myth, a protoliberation theologian, a peasant artisan, a Torah-observant Pharisee, a Cynic-like philosopher, a self-conscious eschatological agent, a socioeconomic reformer, a paradoxical Messianic claimant and, finally, as one who saw himself as, in some sense, the very embodiment of Yahweh-God. (Beilby and Eddy, The Historical Jesus, 53)

I would argue that it is the last one that matches up with Scripture.

And this one who is "the very embodiment of Yahweh-God" is both our advocate and our atonement in His work of redemption. Who could ever have imagined or made up anything like this? This Jesus may not be a Jesus we can be comfortable with, but He is the Jesus we need and the whole world needs! In the Chronicles of Naria one of the children asks of the great Lion-king Aslan, "Is he safe?" The answer:

"No! But he is good!" Oh how true that is of the Lion-King of Judah.

Before I talk about this.. How do we see Jesus as our advocate?

John starts this verse by saying my little children. Its really a term of endearment, almost as one as a father. ( john sees the people he is writing to as his spiritual children )

So He starts by saying.. I am writing to you these things the things of verses 5-10 so that you may not sin. Part of the sanctification process is that sin does not reign.

Now We know based on last weeks text that we if we say we have no sin we lie but if we confess he cleanses us from unrighteousness.

Remember Confession of sin is admitting and agreeing with God that our actions, words, or thoughts violated His law, leaving us guilty. And Repentance goes further, involving a true desire and action to change; without it, confession is empty. Scripture teaches confessing to God, who forgives and cleanses, and to others when appropriate, seeking restoration and prayer. Pride, insincerity, and ignorance often hinder confession, yet ignorance is no excuse before God. True confession includes seeking forgiveness from those wronged and pursuing accountability. God desires pure hearts and clear consciences, made possible through ongoing confession and repentance, How we handle each situation is determined by the circumstance and conviction of that person.

And we can be forgiven from our sins, because we have an advocate with the Father.

This word advocate occurs 5 times

John 14:16 “16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”

John 14:26 “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

John 15:26 “26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

John 16:7 “7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

1 John 2:1 “1 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.”

You might have noticed as I read you those verses 4 of the times referrers to the Holy Spirit, only here in first John does it refer to Jesus who we know is the one without sin. He does not have a drop of blemish perfectly Holy, who when we sin cleanses us again and again.

So when you think about it we have two helpers one that lives in us, and one in heaven.

And he is our atonement.

We see the phase he is a propitiation for our sins. That word propitiation is so important in our bibles. Comes from the greek word. Hilasmos.

The meaning of the Word carries around the idea of Satisfaction.

I have asked you already in our study some one word answers who you thought Jesus is, and who God is, and we know he is Holy, God has to deal with sin, its not in his character to overlook it.

The horrific things that happened on the cross that I showed you were beautiful on Sunday had to happen so he could be the Just and Justifier for our sins.

The bible uses this word propitiation in a few places.

Romans 3:25 “25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

Hebrews 2:17 “17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

1 John 2:2 “2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

1 John 4:10 “10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

As a result of that sacrifice the whole world ( who believes can be saved )The gospel is Inclusive implies a wide, open scope, and yet its exclusive implies a restricted, high-class, or specific scope to only those who believe.

2 Corinthians 5:19 “19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

I have used a similar illustration like this before in the past, but was just reminded again how great it is.. I took part of what one man said and made it more personal. Listen.. Jesus Christ, the righteous one is altogether righteous and paid my penalty on the cross when he died for my sins as my substitute, Jesus is my advocate. No other advocate do I possess. No pope or bishop or priest or the Virgin Mary is my advocate. No pastor or deacon or Bible study leader is my advocate. I have but one advocate, "Jesus Christ the righteous." The reason he alone is my advocate is because he alone paid the price for my sins.

[In a courtroom scene at least four people are involved: the judge, the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant. Picture in your mind God as the judge. The prosecutor is Satan, and you are the accused. The attorney for your defense. Jesus, intercedes with the judge on your behalf. What a picture!

Have you ever read Revelation 12:10? An interesting statement is made about Satan. He is called "the accuser" of Christians, and he accuses them before the throne of God "day and night." Apparently Satan has access to the very throne of God He is called the accuser of the brethren, the prosecuting attorney.

Then there is the defense attorney, Jesus Christ. When Luke sins, I can imagine Satan rushing into the presence of God to accuse me. I can almost hear him as he quotes Scripture concerning the penalty for sin and how it is punishable by death. Then I can imagine my defense attorney, the Lord Jesus, saying. "Yes, Father, he is guilty of that sin. But, Father, I went to the cross and died for that sin. When he was a 16 year old boy through faith in me any atonement was applied to him and his sins were forgiven. I put my robe of righteousness on him. He is covered by my blood, and he is forgiven because he is my child." In the modern legal world, the defense attorney defends the detendant on the merits of the defendant's case. In John's thought, however, the merit on the part of the accused is entirely absent! All of the merit is on the part of the advocate!

Lets read on 1 John 2:3–6 “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.”

Does obedience matter? Yes Does it save? No Does it show we are saved? Yes.

Remember this book is full of these tests throughout it. This book is a great test for your own personal walk. Remember the three tests. The theological test, the moral text, and the ethical test.

And there in verses 3-6 is a moral test.

Chuck Colson (1931-2012) of Watergate and Prison Fellowship fame wrote a masterpiece entitled Loving God. In it he said the essence of the Christian life is obedience:

"But how do we love the Lord?" we ask. Jesus answered this in a discussion with His disciples: "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15). Or, as the apostle John wrote later, "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" (1 John 5:3). (Loving God, 40)

Dietrich Bonheoffer similarly states, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes" (quoted in Colson, Loving God, 19).

Both to love Him and to know Him is to obey Him. Knowing God and loving God are intimately wed ideas in 1 John (he will use the words more than 40 times each in this five-chapter letter), and both of them lead to obedience. To know God is to love God and to love God is to obey God. This obedience, John teaches us, reveals the genuineness of our faith (2:3), the authenticity of our confession (v. 4), the maturing of our love (v. 5), and our growth in Christlikeness (v. 6). For John-and it should be the same for us—there is a massive difference between merely saying and actually doing, between merely saying and truly knowing (L:6,8,10; 2:4,6,9).

Knowing you are saved when it gets down to it is found in these verses here in 1 John chapters 1 and 2.

You have an understanding who God is, and what he has done on behalf of sinners, and you are keeping his commands, When you look closely at the word keep it means to keep:to guard, or watch to protect.

Lexham Theological Wordbook τηρέω

tēreō). vb. to keep; to guard, watch, protect. This verb can indicate obedience as keeping commandments or words.

You you can read verse three 1 John 2:3 “3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep/guard/watch/protect his commandments.”

John continues to say. 1 John 2:4 “4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,”

Keep, guard, watch protect his word so we do not make ourselves liars. True faith produces obedience.

v5. If you noticed when you examine your walk with Jesus and obey His Word your love for Jesus grows it matures, and you keep becoming more like Christ. Our love for Christ is connected to everything about our walk.

v6. you will know you are abiding in Christ if you continue to walk how he walked.

One commentator said.. John says we have both a statement to prove and a Savior to imitate.

John 15:4–5 “4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

1 Corinthians 11:1 “1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Ephesians 5:1 “1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”

1 Peter 2:21 “21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

As we leave here tonight what do we have to know.

HEAD (What we know)

Jesus is both our advocate and our propitiation.

Jesus stands before the Father for us, and also satisfying God’s wrath for our sin.

If we do sin we are not without hope, because of who Christ is.

But true knowledge of the Lord is not just profession its by proven obedience.

Remember there is that idea of to know him is to love him and to love him is to obey him.

Obedience will never save us because we always fall short but true profession is proven by obedience.

HEART

As a Christians we should feel both conviction and comfort: conviction because sin is serious and God is holy, and comfort because when we fail, we are represented by a perfect Advocate.

Our hearts should move away from pride and empty confession and toward genuine repentance and humility.

There should be a growing love for Christ, recognizing that every act of obedience flows from what He has already done for us.

We develop a deeper assurance of salvation, not by perfection, but by a life that is being shaped into Christlikeness.

We begin to desire not just forgiveness, but fellowship—to walk as He walked.

HANDS (What we do)

Confess and repent regularly—not just admitting sin, but turning from it and seeking restoration where needed.

When you sin, run to Christ, not away from Him—trust your Advocate instead of living in guilt or self-condemnation.

Guard and keep God’s Word—actively watch, protect, and obey His commandments in daily life.

Examine your life honestly—does your obedience reflect a real relationship with Christ? This is what convicts me most about this book.

Imitate Jesus intentionally—in your actions, attitudes, and responses, strive to walk as He walked.

Live with the understanding that obedience is not optional, but it is empowered by a relationship, not forced by obligation.