In 1 John 2:1 Christ is an Advocate with the Father. The phrase with the Father is used also in 1:2. In each case the Greek word translated “with” is pros, with the accusative, a preposition of motion, implying living, acting, in union and communion with. The Lord Jesus as our Advocate is living in communion with the Father.
In 1 John 2:1 the divine title the Father indicates that our case, which the Lord Jesus as our Advocate undertakes for us, is a family affair, a case between children and the Father. Through regeneration we have been born children of God. After regeneration, if we sin, it is a matter of children sinning against their Father. Our Advocate, who is the sacrifice for our propitiation, undertakes for us to restore our interrupted fellowship with the Father that we may abide in the enjoyment of the divine fellowship.
John speaks of the blood of Jesus in chapter 1 and of our Advocate in chapter 2. Not only has God provided the blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for us so that we may be forgiven and cleansed, but God has also prepared Christ as our Advocate. First, the Lord Jesus shed His blood as the price of our redemption. Then after shedding His blood, He becomes our Advocate, our heavenly attorney, taking care of our case. How marvelous that our Advocate pays our debt and takes care of our case!
The fact that Christ is our Advocate with the Father, and not simply with God, indicates that our case, which the Lord undertakes for us, is a family affair, a case between the Father and us as the Father’s children. Whenever we sin, we offend our Father. Our judge, therefore, is a Father-judge, our court is our spiritual home, and our case is a family matter. But we do have a member of our family, our elder Brother, the Son of the Father, who is our Advocate with the Father. As our Advocate, our elder Brother takes our case. Christ in the heavens today is also our Advocate before the righteous God. If we sin after we are saved, based upon His being our propitiation, He pleads for us in order to recover the broken fellowship between God and us. This is the reason John says that we have an Advocate with the Father.
The truth in the Bible is always presented in a balanced way. The truth in 1 John 2:1 is also balanced. On the one hand, the title Father is a sign of love; on the other hand, the title Advocate is a sign of righteousness. For example, a father loves his child. But if the child misbehaves, the father will have a case against him, a case based on righteousness. Although the child is still loved by his father and will continue to be taken care of by him, the father has a case against the child and may need to discipline him. In a similar way, whenever we sin, the Father has a case against us. Therefore, we need a heavenly attorney. We need Jesus Christ, our elder Brother, to be our Advocate.
Our Lord Jesus is the only righteous man among all men. His righteous act (Rom. 5:18) on the cross fulfilled the righteous requirement of the righteous God for us and all sinners. Only He is qualified to be our Advocate, to care for us in our sinning condition and restore us to a righteous condition that the relationship between us and our Father, who is righteous, may be appeased. Jesus Christ, the Righteous, is the righteous One, who is our Advocate, our Attorney with the Father, our heavenly Judge.
Instead of saying “Jesus Christ the Righteous,” we may say “Jesus Christ, the right One.” Jesus Christ certainly is the One who is right, the right One, and only this right One can be our Advocate with the Father. The reason we have a problem and the Father has a case against us is that we are the wrong ones. Because we are the ones who are wrong, we need the righteous One to take care of our case, the One who is right with the Father and with us.
Christ is “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Here the propitiation refers to the sacrifice for propitiation. The Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself to God as a sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 9:28), not only for our redemption but also for the satisfying of God’s demand, thus appeasing the relationship between God and us. Hence, He is the sacrifice for our propitiation before God.
The Lord Jesus is a sacrifice for propitiation, not only for our sins but also for the whole world. However, this propitiation is conditioned on man’s receiving the Lord by believing in Him. The unbelievers do not experience its efficacy, not because it has any fault but because they do not believe.
The Greek word for “propitiation” in 1 John 2:2 and in 4:10 is hilasmos. In 1:7 we have the blood of Jesus; in 2:1 the person of Christ as our Advocate; and now, in verse 2 we have Christ as a propitiation for our sins. Our Advocate, who shed His blood for the cleansing of our sins, is our propitiation. This word propitiation indicates appeasing, or peacemaking. When a child is wrong and his father has a case against him, there is no peace between them. In such a situation, there is the need of peacemaking and of appeasing the father. This peacemaking, this appeasing, is propitiation.
Whenever God’s children offend the Father, the fellowship between them is broken. Instead of peace, there is turmoil. Realizing the situation, the children should make confession to the Father, who is ready to forgive them and cleanse them. The cleansing blood has been provided, and the Father Himself is faithful to forgive and righteous to cleanse. But how can the peace between the Father and His children be restored? We may think that as long as there is forgiveness and cleansing, peace will come automatically. However, there is still the need for our Advocate to be our propitiation between the Father and us so that the Father may be appeased and the peace restored.
We need to be deeply impressed with all the divine provisions: the cleansing blood, the faithfulness of God, the righteousness of God, the Advocate, and the propitiation. With God we have the provisions of His faithfulness and righteousness, and with Christ we have the provisions of His blood and of Himself as our Advocate and propitiation. Day by day, we who have the divine life and the enjoyment of this life in fellowship need to be on the alert concerning sin. But if we sin, we should immediately make confession. Then we will experience the effectiveness of all these provisions. We will have the washing of the Lord’s blood, the faithfulness and righteousness of the Father for our forgiveness and cleansing, and Christ as our Advocate and propitiation for the appeasing of the Father and the restoring of the peace between the Father and us. Through Christ as our Advocate and propitiation, we again have peace with the Father, and we enjoy fellowship with Him.
According to its biblical meaning, propitiation leads to enjoyment, for it ushers in fellowship between God and us. According to Paul’s word in Romans 3:25, God has set forth Christ as a propitiation cover through faith in His blood. This indicates that Christ is not only the One who propitiates, but also that He is the place of propitiation. Christ as the propitiation place is the place where God and His redeemed people may converse, have fellowship, and enjoy one another.
Christ is the Advocate who pleads our case with the Father and who Himself is our propitiation, our Peacemaker. Christ Himself is actually the peace between God and us. This peace is the ground on which God and we may converse, have fellowship, and enjoy one another.
If we sin, we need to confess. If we confess our sins, the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from our sins. Then in His faithfulness and righteousness, the Father will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness. Furthermore, our Lord Jesus Christ will be the Advocate with the Father to handle our case. Eventually, after we confess our sins and are cleansed by the blood and forgiven by the Father, the Lord handles our case with the Father and then becomes the enjoyment that appeases the Father. In other words, this precious One becomes our propitiation and thus the base, the ground, where we enjoy God and have fellowship with Him and He with us.
As we consider this matter, we will realize that this is not merely a doctrine but is something very experiential. From experience we know that when we confess our sins, we have the sense that the blood has cleansed us and that the Father has forgiven us. Immediately, there is also a sense of enjoyment. That enjoyment is Christ as our propitiation. It is by this enjoyment, by Christ as our propitiation, that we may converse with God and He with us, and that together we may enjoy Christ and have fellowship around Christ. Therefore, Christ is the enjoyment that is the propitiation with God for us. Eventually, He becomes the ground of our fellowship with the Father. It is in this way that our fellowship, which is broken through sin, may be recovered. We should praise the Lord that by the five provisions—the blood, God’s faithfulness and righteousness, the Advocate, and the propitiation—we are restored to full fellowship with God.
As the Lamb, Christ is the propitiation concerning our sins (1 John 2:2). A propitiation is a kind of appeasing. Because of our sins there was a turmoil, a problem between God and us. There was no peace. Christ as the Son of Man who was the Lamb of God died on the cross to be our propitiation. He calmed down the turmoil and solved the problem; hence, He is our propitiation. He calmed the turmoil, and He appeased God. So now there is a peaceful condition between God and us. This is for life dispensing. If there is not such a peaceful condition, there is no way for God to dispense His life into us. Life dispensing needs a peaceful situation. The Lord Jesus became the propitiation concerning our sins between God and us to create a peaceful situation for the life dispensing.
The Lord Jesus is the Attorney in the heavenly court, handling our case upon the basis of His own propitiatory work. When we come into the light, we are exposed that we are both sinful and unholy. Yet we should not be bothered by the exposing because immediately the blood of Jesus cleanses us. Because we lack the assurance that the blood has cleansed us, the apostle John goes on to remind us that Jesus Christ the Righteous is our Attorney and our propitiation. We should not be upset by the exposure of our evil condition, for it has already been taken care of by Him. As the propitiation for our sins, Christ has settled our problem with sin. Based upon His propitiatory work, He is now our heavenly Attorney who represents our case in the heavenly court.
We should notice that God “is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1:9). In this verse John does not say that God is merciful and kind. We are inclined to beg for mercy when we sin, but it is righteous for God to forgive us. Christ has made propitiation. God can therefore righteously forgive us, not because He is merciful or kind but because He is righteous. He has given us the good news; now He must keep His word. Otherwise, He would not be faithful. He righteously forgives us because of Christ’s propitiation and faithfully forgives us because of His own spoken word.