1 John 2:1b-Jesus Christ, the Righteous is the Believer’s Advocate with the Father

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (NASB95)

Lesson # 47

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (NASB95)

“And if anyone sins” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) conditional particle ean (ἐάν), “if” (2) nominative masculine singular form of the indefinite pronoun tis (τις), “anyone” (3) third person singular aorist active subjunctive form of the verb hamartanō (ἁμαρτάνω), “sins.”

The conjunction kai means “but, however” since the word is introducing a fifth class conditional statement which communicates an eternal spiritual principle which stands in contrast to the hypothetical situation in which one of the recipients of this letter commits a sin.

The conditional particle ean introduces the protasis of a fifth class condition, which is expressing an eternal spiritual principle or spiritual axiom with regards to the believer’s relationship to God when and if they do commit sin.

The indefinite pronoun tis means “anyone” refers to a hypothetical believer in the Roman province of Asia.

The verb hamartanō means, “to sin” referring to committing any mental, verbal or overt act of sin and the aorist tense of this verb is an ingressive aorist which would express the idea of the recipients of this epistle entering into committing an act of sin.

“We have an Advocate with the Father” is composed of the following: (1) noun paraklētos (παράκλητος), “an Advocate” (2) verb echō (ἒχω), “we have” (3) preposition pros (πρός), “with” (4) noun pater (πατήρ), “the Father.”

The verb echō means “to possess” a relationship with a person and expresses the personal relationship the believer possesses with their Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous.

The noun paraklētos means, “advocate” which refers to someone who pleads for and on behalf of another, or in other words he intercedes for another in a court of law as a friend.

The noun patēr means “Father” referring to the first member of the Trinity and is the object of the preposition pros which means “face to face with” since the word functions as a marker of association indicating that the believer’s advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous has a relationship with the Father.

The implication here is that the Lord Jesus Christ intercessory ministry is “face to face with” the Father since He presently sits at the Father’s right hand.

“Jesus Christ the righteous” is composed of the following: (1) proper noun Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), “Jesus” (2) proper name Christos (Χριστός), “Christ” (3) adjective dikaios (δίκαιος), “the righteous.”

The proper name Iēsous is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew word Jehoshua, “Jehovah saves,” and refers to the human nature of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.

The proper name Christos is a technical word designating the humanity of our Lord as the promised Savior for all mankind who is unique as the incarnate Son of God and totally and completely guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father.

The adjective dikaios means “a righteous person” since the word pertains to a person who is characterized by righteous words and actions and is describing a divine attribute of Jesus Christ.

My dear children, I am presently writing these things for the benefit of each of you in order that each of you would not enter into committing a sin. However, if anyone enters into committing a sin, we possess an advocate with the Father, namely, Jesus, who is the Christ, who is a righteous person. (My translation)

In the apodosis of , John asserts that Jesus of Nazareth is “the Christ.”

This is a technical word designating the humanity of our Lord as the promised Savior for all mankind who is unique as the incarnate Son of God and totally and completely guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father.

It denotes the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth, thus He is the Deliverer of the human race in three areas through His death, resurrection, ascension and session: (1) Satan (2) Cosmic System (3) Old Sin Nature.

“The Christ” signifies that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised deliverer of the human race from the bondage of Satan, his cosmic system, the old Adamic sin nature, personal sins, condemnation from the Law, spiritual and physical death as well as eternal condemnation.

In the apodosis of , the apostle John asserts that the believer possesses an “advocate” with the Father, namely Jesus who is the Christ, who is righteous.

An “advocate” is one who pleads for and on behalf of another, or in other words he intercedes for another as a friend in a court of law.

When John says that Jesus is the believer’s advocate “with the Father,” he is saying that Jesus is in the presence of the Father and face to face with Him.

A comparison of Scripture with Scripture reveals that Jesus now presently sits at the right hand of the Father, which theologians call His “session.”

It also speaks of His present work in heaven as the believer’s great high priest.

In the Supreme Court of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ acts as the believer’s advocate with the Father when the believer commits any mental, verbal or overt act of sin.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the believer’s advocate with the Father and thus defense attorney to defend and intercede for them when Satan accuses them (cf. ; ).

A comparison of Scripture with Scripture further substantiates this interpretation.

, and teaches that Satan accuses the believer day and night before the Supreme Court of Heaven.

The Greek New Testament terms Satanas, “Satan” and diabolos, “devil” are legal terms.

The former means “adversary,” and the latter means “slanderer, false accuser.”

Therefore, the believer needs an advocate or defense attorney to defend them against the charges of Satan.

These charges are true because Satan wouldn’t waste his time bringing a lie to God about a believer since the omniscience of God would know Satan is lying.

In fact, Satan doesn’t need to lie about the believer since believers will and do sin all the time.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ defends the believer by stating to the Father that He paid for the sins committed by the believer that Satan is bringing up before the Supreme Court of heaven.

is an example of what our Lord does presently at the right hand of the Father since it records our Lord stating that He had interceded on behalf of the apostle Peter when Satan asked for permission to sift Peter like wheat.

teaches that as our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ intercedes on behalf of the believer before the Father since He now sits at the right hand of the Father during His present session.

Intercession involves our Lord’s representation of His people at the throne of God.

The Lord’s voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross are the basis for the Lord’s intercessory ministry at the right hand of the Father because all accusations against the believer are met perfectly and refuted by our Lord’s sacrifice on the cross.

This intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ as the defense attorney for church age believers at the right hand of the Father is directly related to the Lord Jesus Christ present session and Great High Priesthood (; ; ).

In , the apostle John describes Jesus of Nazareth as “a righteous person” which asserts that His nature and character as being in a state or condition of being perfect “integrity” in the sense that His character is perfectly sound and adheres perfectly to His own holy standards and what He has promised to men.

Thus, He is upright, honest, perfectly whole, undiminished and sound, and unimpaired and in perfect condition and describes Jesus Christ’s character and nature as being perfect “virtue” in the sense that His character is perfect moral excellence, goodness, and He always conforms to His own perfect standards.

It speaks of the Lord’s character and nature as being in a state or condition of always fulfilling His obligations to His moral rational creatures, whether angels or men.

Therefore, when John uses this description in relation to Jesus Christ, he is describing the Lord as being an advocate with perfect integrity and virtue and will always do right by them and give them justice.

“A righteous person” is used to describe the believer’s advocate with the Father, namely Jesus Christ.

It is used to describe the character of Jesus Christ who is presently functioning at the right hand of the Father as the believer’s advocate and describes an attribute of the Lord Jesus Christ and refers to the impeccability of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, it signifies the perfection of His high priesthood and His advocacy with the Father on behalf of all believers.

Therefore, since Jesus Christ is a righteous person He is qualified to intercede on behalf of the believer at the right hand of the Father.

The fact that the apostle John describes Jesus Christ as “a righteous person” expresses the fact that Jesus is impeccable in contrast to the believer who is not because they still possess a sin nature and still commit sin through the function of their volition.

The impeccability of our Lord is an essential aspect of His present high priestly ministry on behalf of believers since the impeccability of His Person and work on the cross implies a perfect high priestly ministry because if He is not perfect, then the Father would not accept His death on the cross as the payment for our sins.