“IF ANY MAN SIN”
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” —I John 2:1-2
In this short passage we have first John’s statement of purpose in writing: “These things I write unto you that ye sin not.” The aim is to direct believers to “walking in the Light,” rather than to be entrapped in the darkness of sin. That is the divine intention for the redeemed between here and eternity, and if it is not our desire, we hardly qualify as true believers.
God’s provision in Christ is not merely our justification, but also our sanctification. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, declares that Christ is “made unto us…sanctification.” The design of God in redemption is through our union with Christ to afford believers not only justification, or the removal of sin’s penalty, but sanctification, which is practical holiness of heart and life and includes deliverance from sin’s power. “Sin shall not have dominion over you… [Rom. 6:14].”
Justification is instantaneous; sanctification is a process. In principle we are sanctified from the moment we believe, but in practice, we are a work in progress. That this is true is evident in John’s emphasis in the previous chapter where he says categorically, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves…” Every discerning Christian is aware of his own imperfection. Here, while exhorting that we “sin not,” he immediately follows with this consideration, “And if any man sin…,” allowing if not the probability, certainly the possibility of sin in any believer’s life. Our susceptibility to sin is also verified in the testimony of the apostle Paul:
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members [Rom. 7:18-23].”
It is in the face of this ongoing and ofttimes discouraging conflict in the sincere heart that the apostle John brings the encouragement of our nugget for today, enlarging our understanding of Christ’s relationship to us. Two things in particular should win our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude: “we have an Advocate” (v.1), and “He is the propitiation for our sins” (v.2). Together these provide an impregnable fortress for embattled saints.
As our Advocate the Lord Jesus Christ is, as it were, the believer’s legal representative before the Father in the judgment hall of divine justice. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: [Heb. 9:24 my italics].” As a lawyer represents and pleads for a client, so the Son of God pleads the case for those who have put their trust in Him.
But, there is a great difference here. In an earthly setting a lawyer must either presume his client is not guilty of the charges against him, or hope to manipulate the evidence to make it impossible to prove him guilty. In the courtroom of heaven no such circumstances will prevail. The Judge, the Advocate and the client all know that the one charged is, indeed, guilty. Our Advocate does not plead our case on the basis of our innocence, but on the ground of His role as “the propitiation for our sins.” The propitiatory work of Christ (think “sin offering”) is the ground upon which, as our Advocate, He pleads our case. The case against us is not dropped, but the due penalty for our transgression has been paid for by Another. When the charge is laid against us by the all seeing, all knowing “Judge of all the earth,” our Advocate responds (so to speak) “I died for that!” We are spared the penalty (“the wages of sin is death”) because He paid it for us. Hallelujah!
Granted, this is a rather simplistic approach to a most profound issue, but it at least outlines a great truth. And, it should initiate a double motive for our forsaking the darkness and walking in the light. First, the redeemed must love God, and for love’s sake do not want to grieve Him. Second, our sins exact sorrow and suffering from our Advocate, and we should not want to add anything, as it were, to His incredible burden borne on our behalf.
For the praise of our Advocate,
"Pastor" Frasier
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