My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world (1 John 2:1-2, NLT).
John’s line of thinking crosses into chapter two. There, he presents Jesus as both advocate and atoning sacrifice. The imagery is of a court room, where sinners stand before a holy judge. Our guilt has been established. Jesus acts as our defense attorney and pleads our case. But not only does he plead our case, he serves our sentence. His body and blood covers the debt we cannot pay on our own. What’s amazing about this picture is that the judge, our Heavenly Father, is not reluctant to forgive!
