BiblicalMastery Buddy's bible blog

Lesson 3

More than an Advocate

1 John 2:1-10

The first time the word advocate is used in the Bible is in Job 16:19. In fact it is the only place that it is used in the Old Testament. Job speaks of there being a witness for him in heaven and then calls that individual an advocate. Even in the oldest book of the Bible, actually written before Genesis, a man speaks of a representative acting as his spokesman defending him before God. A little earlier he cried out for that advocate seeking an umpire to rule fairly on his behalf.

There have been a couple of occasions when I felt I was vulnerable as Job must have felt. Sadly, I found myself disappointed with a person who I believed would defend or at least understand my side of the issue. I may have told the story before of criticizing some software which was doing what the manufacturer had promised it would do. My vice president called me into the office with the director of the department and my manager. Expecting my manager to stand up for me because he had experienced the same frustration as I, he actually began to side with his bosses. I narrowly escaped that meeting with my job intact.

I learned as the Psalmist did from the events of his life that we are only to put our trust in God. In my life I have seen when my world seemed to be falling apart that God was still in heaven and everything was going to be worked out in the end. Nothing that happens catches God by surprise. The sooner all of us discover that fact the more we will realize just how much He is in control of the situations of our lives.

Probably, the greatest disappointment a person can have in a church is to believe that no one truly cares what is happening in their lives. Everyone is too busy to take the time and listen what is happening to that individual. So many walk away because the needed and advocate, one who would stand with them only to find that they were alone in the midst of a crowd. It is so easy for christians to so get wrapped up in their own little world that they do not recognize of someone who is hurting deeply. Man will disappoint but God will not. 1 John is full of promises. They are there so that we will trust God and then to help others who are just like us in so many ways.

1 John 2:1

When a person is as old as John was at that point in life he could have easily called all of those who had come him his little children. There was great affection for the church in the heart of John. Once again he alluded to the fact that he had written to them. It was a reference to all the evidence he had presented about Jesus. They were to understand extreme measures to which God had gone. He wanted to make sure by emphasizing those things that his children not take sin lightly. It came with a great cost to Jesus. They as children were to live a Christlike life. Both Paul and Peter admonish the readers of their letters to understand that just because they had received grace they should never use the freedom from sin and death as an excuse to be disobedient to God.

John goes on to use two important word in reference to Jesus. One has already been mentioned in the introduction. It is the word, advocate. In the Greek the word is parakletos. It describes who comes along aside in the situation in which he might find himself. The Holy Spirit is often often described as the Paraklete, the comforter. A present day analogy might been one who goes into a court of law to

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defend a person against charges made. Jesus plays this role for man. As the devil comes accusing man of sins as one writer put it Jesus only has to raise his nail scarred hands and the devil is defeated. Not only does Jesus defend man but He is also the propitiation for man’s sin.

John ended verse one with a very important statement about Jesus which he had been expressing all through the first chapter. He declared Jesus as righteous. Everything he had written as was going to write hinged on that one truth. Without the perfect relationship Jesus had with His Father advocacy and propitiation were impossible.

1. Why did John use the term little children?

2. What was his concern? (He did not want them to use their new found life in Christ as a license to sin.)

3. What did John mean when spoke of having an advocate when we sin?

4. Who has been one who has walked with you through a very difficult time in your life?

5. What did that person mean to you?

6. What important characteristic did John express about Jesus?

7. Why was it so righteousness so crucial for what Jesus was accomplishing among the little children of John?

1 John 2:2

The other word is propitiation. Hilasmos is the Greek word that John used. Through the work of Christ man’s sin has been removed. Using the courtroom analogy again. Propitiation comes when the one who has the right to pronounce a sentence on someone steps forward and takes the place of the guilty one when the sentence is actually announced. Man is the guilty one but instead of paying the price for his sin Jesus stepped in and took upon himself the judgment and punishment for that sin. Man as Paul said in Colossians, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Col. 1:13-14.

John then emphasized that the work of forgiveness on the part of Jesus was not just for those who were the recipients of his letter. It would carry over into every part of the world whenever a person was willing to confess and receive what God was offering to him.

1. How does one is the propitiation differ from an advocate? (One who is the propitiation actually takes on the burden that you may have had or is willing to suffer the consequences of your actions.)

2. Why is the courtroom scene a good analogy of what Jesus did for all of us?

3. What was the great work of God described in Colossians?

4. What was the good news that John shared that impacts us two thousand years after he wrote the words?

5. If it was important for John to write the good news how have they impacted your life?

1 John 2:3-4

The evidence that man has an intimate relationship with Christ is by keeping His commandments. Anyone who does not keep what Jesus has commanded but claims to be His follower is called out as a liar by John. If a person is a liar about the most important things then he is an untruthful and cannot be trusted.

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1. What does it mean to know Jesus? (it is to have a close and intimate relationship with Him in every area of our lives?

2. How does man show he has that kind of relationship?

3. What are some of the commands that come to mind that you should keep? (Start with Matthew 22:37-38)

4. Why does Christ call us to keep His commandments? (They are to our benefit.)

5. In what ways is it obvious that person does not really know God?

6. What is the most obvious way to remedy that situation?

1 John 2:5-6

The man who different than the one mentioned about keeps God’s word. By meditating on it, studying it and living by it man will find the love of God fleshed out in his life. He will become a mature follower of Christ. The evidence that a man is abides in God is by his walk. He should act and speak just as Jesus lived out His life on this earth. He needs to follow up his claims of being a child of God by the way he carries out God’s commandments.

1. How does a man become mature in Christ?

2. What does it mean to keep God’s word?

3. What are some of the ways that have indicated to you that a person is truly walking with the Lord?

4. What are you doing in your own life that shows the world that you indeed love Jesus?

1 John 2:7

John almost seems to be saying that what they have been taught from their earliest years as important for them to follow. The old commandments about which he is writing may be those of the Old Testament. Jesus used some of them as the basis for some of His teachings as are found in Matthew 5:27-28, 31-37, 43; 22:37. The Old Testament references are found in Exodus and Deuteronomy.

1. Why would John refer to commands found in the Old Testament? (Jesus did not invalidate them in His teachings.)

2. What are some of the Old Testament commands that you might find in the New Testament?

3. How important is the Ten Commandments to you in your life?

4. How did Jesus make them valid for those among whom He lived?

5. If they were true for those people how important are they today?

1 John 2:8

After saying he is not giving a new commandment he then wrote that indeed he was doing just that.

It is a new day. Jesus had brought new meaning to the old commandments. He had shed His light on them. To carry out His directives meant that the darkness of sin was being the true Light who had come into the world. Darkness will always flee when the true light arrives. A spirit of grace replaced a time of the Law.

1. Why did John immediately refer to a new commandment? (All Jesus had done gave new meaning to the old.)

2. How did He give new meaning? (He dealt with the intent or spirit of the law and not the letter of it.)

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3. What did John mean by the fact that the Light was shining? (The kingdom of grace had been come.)

4. What happens to darkness when light appears?

5. How has your relationship with Christ chased away the darkness from your life?

1 John 2:9-11

The final point John was making now moves into the horizontal relationships. He has clearly laid out the verification of the fact that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Then he covered the work that Christ accomplished as the Light of the world. Next he spoke of each man’s responsibility for his own sin before God. He also included how God through Christ stepped in and took what man deserved becoming sin for him.

That fellowship with the Father and the Son is displayed in how man relates to man. John deals once again with the idea of light and darkness. To call oneself a follower of the Light and then hates those with whom he or she lives everyday proves that person is still walking in darkness. To love one’s brother shows clearly that one is walking according to the commands of God and his love of Christ. Jesus spoke much of friendship in the gospel of John especially in the chapters following 13. Hatred will keep man from seeing beyond himself. It is one of the characteristics of a fallen man and can consume every waking hour of the day. Although now mentioned hatred is pride because one looks to his own desires and lusts instead of caring for those around him. If there is no light in one’s life he certainly will stumble and not know the direction to take.

1. What are the factors that should draw every man to a fellowship with God? (God and His Son are light and have done everything to show their love for man.)

2. What is one of the clearest evidences that man has a right relationship with the Father and Son?

3. When John speaks of one’s brother to whom is he referring?

4. What actions show that a person does not care for others?

5. What evidences are there in society of the prevailing darkness?

6. In what way is hatred a picture of pride?

7. How can we overcome the attitudes of hatred in our own lives?

8. What reasons do you think give you the right to hate others?

9. Who are some examples of those who you believe you hate?

10. How did Jesus deal with those who hated Him?

11. What can we do to be like Jesus?

• Do not take sin lightly remembering that it cost the life of Jesus?

• Be thankful that Jesus took the penalty of death that you deserved upon Himself. It is called propitiation.

• Work to be one to whom a person can come and know that you will walk alongside them in the difficulties of life.

• Seek to always abide in Christ knowing that by doing so He abides in you?

• Put away all hatred and malice from your life?

• Know that pride is the source for hatred etc. and know that God is the judge of others. It is not our business.

If man did not have sin in his life there would be no need of church. We know as humans that we can

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not go through life with sinning at least once. Therefore we need what only Jesus has to offer to reestablish a relationship with His Father. He is both our Advocate and propitiation for bringing us into the presence of God. First He is the One who argues our case before the Father and is the comforter in time of need. Secondly, because there can only be a guilty sentence pronounced He has been willing to take our punishment upon Himself. The church owes such a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. We just have to accept what He has done for what it is, the gift of grace. Since all of us are under the same penalty we should treat each other as fellow travelers along the road of life. There is no room for hatred but only agape love in the fellowship. We have to be very careful that we are not guilty of judging those who need someone to lift them up out the darkness in which we once walked.

Our church needs to be a place of light in a dark world. The unchurched will only see that light if we live in the Light and project the light into the darkness. Remember, Jesus stated that those do there activities in the light of day will not stumble. This an important responsibility that we have been given. Let us carry it out to be best of our ability.