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.
with the Father,
This is the third time we have had the title “Father” in this epistle. Each time the preposition “with” occurs with the title.
1 Jn 1:2, “…and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us…”
1 Jn 1:3, “…that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
The place of Jesus’ advocacy is “with the Father.” The word “with” means facing, turning towards. Jesus directs our cause to the Father. Jesus always enjoys unhindered access to and communion with the Father. Jesus does not represent rebellious creatures to God as the Creator but erring children to the Father.
The Father is the Maker of all His creatures, but He is only the Father to His dear children – “little children” [born ones].
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus defends us against the accusations of the Devil.
APPLICATION:
Jesus is our defense attorney against the accusations of Satan. The name “Satan” means accuser (Job 1:6-11; Zech 3:1-2; Re 12:9,10). He has a worldwide network of agents (demons) that report on believers everywhere. Jesus is our advocate for each allegation. He represents us in the highest court of all – the final court of an absolute God.
We retained a Defense Attorney when we believed in the finality of the death of Christ on behalf of our sin. Christ bore all our sins on the cross. There is no suffering for sin that needs to be suffered.
2 Co 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
1 Pe 2:24, “…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.”
1 Pe 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit…”
Re 1:5, “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood”
The Father judged all of our sins for all-time on the cross. There is, therefore, no more penalty to be paid for sin. There is a law in civil government called “the law of double jeopardy.” This law says in effect that a person cannot pay for the same crime twice. If Christ paid for our sins, then we do not have to pay for them. He did it all, all to Him we owe. That is why God throws Satan’s accusations out of court. God has already judged our sin on the cross.
The sin of the believer is a family of God matter. Should we sin without confession, then God takes us to the woodshed (He 12:6-7). God disciplines his family members should any of them stay out of fellowship very long.
The moment we confess our sins, God restores us into fellowship. He does this on the merit of Christ and the work He did on the cross. That is why God can throw the accusations of Satan out of court with a good conscience.
