“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”. (1 John 2:1)

John addresses the Christians who would read his letter with the compassion of a loving Father.

John rightly characterizes sin as dangerous and destructive and something to deliberately avoid. Yet, he lovingly reminds Christians if we sin that we have an Advocate—and not just any advocate, but Jesus Christ -the righteous.

The Righteous One. The only sinless, righteous, perfect, One….the only One worthy, is our Advocate!

Let’s understand what this means. Our Advocate is not arguing our innocence like a human defense attorney might. No, our Advocate is fully aware of our sin and steps in to take our punishment upon Himself.

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

This understanding of what Jesus has done, and continues to do for us, should compel us to keep His commandments.

The question to ask yourself is, “Do I desire to do what God, in His Bible, commands me to do?”

Is that desire even on your radar right now? Are you just living life for yourself and what you think is best for you? Do you think about Jesus? Do you have a desire to obey Him?

John explains that this how we can know if we know Jesus in a true, saving way—“Now by this we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He who says I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3).

If we have no desire to obey the Lord, if we can sin, plan to sin, or live a lifestyle of what the Bible calls sin, and it not bother us—we should ask ourselves if we are truly a Christian.

I’m not asking you if you attend church, or if your grandma prays for you. I’m asking you to slow down and truly ask God to show you if He is Lord of your life. You can know a lot about Jesus and remain lost. The demons do. The Bible tells us that in James 2:19.

May God open each of our eyes to truly evaluate this for ourselves. What’s more if we truly believe this to be true, may we share this truth with others— for how can we truly love others and not tell them about it?

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Note – this is a continuation of my study of 1 John.