1 John 2:1-2

Christ's Propitiation and Its Influence upon the Life of the Christians.

Christ our Advocate and Propitiation:

v. 1. My little children, these thing's write I unto you that ye sin not. And it any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous;

v. 2. and He is the Propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

If there is any form of admonition which ought to make a deep impression, it is this form of affectionate and personal appeal which is here used by the apostle: My little children, this I am writing to you that you may not sin. This is the apostle's favorite form of address, that of an affectionate father to children whom he tenderly loves. He reminds them of the necessity of showing their new spiritual nature in resisting sin. He has already told them that their fellowship with Christ and God prevented their serving sin. He has given them the blessed comfort that God forgives the sins which come upon them unawares, as it were. The result must be, of course, that Christians desist from sinning, that they do not permit sin to rule them, as Luther writes, that they refuse to be willing servants of sin, Romans 6:12-2 Chronicles :.

It is a statement with a world of comfort which the apostle adds: And if someone sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Just One; and He is the Propitiation for our sins, but not for ours alone, rather also for those of the whole world. If someone does sin, if, in spite of all his vigilance, it happens that he stumbles and falls, then it is not God's will that he should remain in his unfortunate condition and despair. He should remember, rather, that Jesus Christ, who in Himself is absolutely righteous and just, without a single sin, stain, or blemish, who also fulfilled the Law of God perfectly in our stead, is our Advocate, our Intercessor with the Father. He died for our offenses, but was raised again for our justification. He is at the right hand of God, He is making intercession for us, Romans 8:34. He can point to His perfect atonement, which has been earned for all men and is imputed to all believers. Jesus can truly be the Champion of our cause, because He is the Propitiation for our sins. "Our Advocate does not plead that we are innocent, or adduce extenuating circumstances. He acknowledges our gilt and presents His vicarious work as the ground for our acquittal. " He suffered the full penalty for the sins of the whole world. He Himself is the Propitiation, being both High Priest and Sacrifice. That one point cannot be emphasized too often or too strongly, namely, that the redemption of Christ was made for the whole world, for every single person that ever lived or is living today, that it is there without our merit and even without our faith, the latter being only the hand which accepts the salvation as it lies ready for all men. That is the great art of faith, to cling to Christ in the midst of temptation and sin, knowing that His satisfaction covers every conceivable case and was not confined to any individual case or class of people. He is my Advocate, my Intercessor, my Redeemer.