Who is Your Advocate?

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 1 John 2:1-3

 

Who is your advocate? Why do we even need an advocate—someone to stand up for us? Is it that in our imperfection we can’t stand before God the Father? Only the pure in heart can even appear before the throne of God. “If anyone sins….” When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Romans 5:12-13 NLT. All people sin—we can’t be pure…on our own. Only Jesus is pure…only Jesus can represent purity for us to God the Father. Only He can be our advocate.

 

So, if we keep His commandments we show that we know and love Jesus. He said…If you love me, obey my commandments. John 14:15 NLT. Jesus stated the importance of obedience to God’s commandments over and over… "Why ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments." Matthew 19:17 NLT. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. John 15:10. Are you living…abiding…as Jesus directed?

 

Prayer ~ Holy Spirit…guide me in the path that leads me to obedience to God’s commandments—not just to keeping the letter of the law, but to following Jesus’ teachings from the heart.

 

© 2015 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

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