Mensa Otabil - Jesus, Our Advocate (10/07/2025)
Well, we start another study, and we go to 1 John chapter 2. My purpose with this study is to cover as much of the Bible as possible and give the listeners and people who read a broad view of the Scriptures and the word of God, so we don’t become just narrow and shallow with merely a little bit of the Bible. I try to cover as much of the Scriptures as possible every week.
In 1 John chapter 2, we’ve already done chapter 1 earlier. In verse 1, it says, «My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin; and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.» The Apostle John, who wrote 1, 2, and 3 John, was one of the last living apostles of Jesus. At this point, he is correcting some of the errors that are creeping into the early church.
Most of the things he addresses are related to wrong teachings in the church. He tells us not to be in the habit of committing sin. He expresses God’s ideal by stating that he writes to us so we do not sin; God does not want us to sin. However, he also says that if we sin, then God has a way of dealing with our sin. That is what the Christian life is all about. God wants us to live without sin; that is His perfect will for us- the ideal. But sometimes we do sin; we may do something that is wrong. In those days, some people would sin and say, «Well, it doesn’t matter; I’ve already been forgiven by Jesus,» so the sins they are committing now have nothing to do with Jesus Christ. They did not take sin seriously, and John is saying that it is a serious matter. God doesn’t want you to sin, but if you do, this is how God wants you to handle your sin. He says we have an advocate with the Father. An advocate is a defense lawyer.
What John is envisioning here is like a courtroom-God’s courtroom, where God is the judge, and we, when we sin, are the accused. Satan is the accuser; he is the one who accuses us before our God. Jesus is our advocate. So there is God, the judge; we, the sinners who have committed the sin; Satan, who is pointing and saying, «Yes, they did it»; and Jesus, who is our advocate. In the passage, he calls Jesus the righteous one.
What this means is that the reason Jesus can defend us before God is because He is righteous, and He uses His righteousness as our defense. When we sin, our defense is not, «Oh, I didn’t know it was a sin,» or «Oh, the devil made me do it.» Instead, we point to the advocate because He is the righteous one, vouching for us. He is defending us by pointing to Himself, saying, «I am the righteous one, and because I am righteous, I defend these ones.»
That is why in Christianity, we do not come to God on our own merit; we come on the merits of Jesus Christ, the righteous one. So when you sin, instead of running away with your sin, instead of saying, «Oh, it wasn’t my fault, I didn’t know about it,» you own up to your sin and go to Jesus. Jesus Christ, who died for us, then steps in before God and pleads for us on the basis of His righteousness-not our righteousness, because we don’t have it. When we have sin, we damage our righteous relationship with God, but Jesus, the righteous one, steps in to defend us. It still speaks to us today.
God doesn’t want us to sin, but when we do, don’t defend yourself; go to Jesus. He is our defender. When you sin, don’t plead your innocence-"Oh, I didn’t do it; they put it on me.» Own up to your sin and go to Jesus. Our advocate, the righteous one, stands before God and pleads our case. This is what John the Apostle is telling the early Christians and us now about how to handle sin if it should ever befall us.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I desire to live righteously before You. Thank You for providing a way out of sin. In Jesus' name, amen.»
Well, that’s verse one. We’ll continue tomorrow. I’ll catch you again. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.