Christ our Advocate | 1 John pt. 2

When Jesus died on the cross, He became the offering for our sins so we can have forgiveness. So, since we are sinners bound to mess up, can we accept our sinful state knowing that God will forgive our every mistake? According to the following passage in 1 John, the answer is no. When we are true Christians, we desire to leave behind our sins and submit our lives to the Lord in obedience.

Read 1 John 2:1-6

(v. 1) John encourages us not to sin and instead walk in holiness. However, sin is inevitable due to our human nature. When we do sin, Jesus advocates for our forgiveness to appease the wrath of His Father.

(v. 2) Our sins should have led us to death (Romans 6:23), but Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice to die in our place, bearing the punishment of the whole world's sins.

(v. 3) John shifts his argument from the redemption we receive from the cross to our expectations as followers of Christ; by following God's word, it is our display of evidence that we have come to know Him.

(v. 4 - 5) It is not our works that earn us eternal life, but rather God's gift of grace that we could never achieve on our own. But when we have truly come to know Him, we have the desire to follow His commandments. We don't just obey the Lord because the Bible tells us to; we obey because we long to walk with God in holiness and cultivate our relationship with Him. So we would be lying if we call ourselves Christians but do not have the desire to obey His commandments. But if we do wholeheartedly strive to follow His Word, it demonstrates how much we love God.

(v. 6) So if we are going to call ourselves followers of Christ, we must walk in holiness as He did.

In conclusion, God knew we could never live up to the standard of holiness as sinners, so He sent His Son as an offering for our sins so we may find forgiveness. Although we have the assurance that God's gift of forgiveness is all we need to obtain eternal life, we are not true followers of Christ if we take advantage of His grace, sinning with the knowledge that God will forgive us later. We know we are real Christians if we want to obey His commandments and grow closer to Him. Only when we strive to walk as He did do we demonstrate our love for the Lord.

Take a minute to think about what your desires in your life are. Do they align with God's Word or the world? If your answer is the latter, it may be a sign that you haven't surrendered your whole self to Christ and need to give up control of some areas of your life. I encourage you to cultivate your relationship with Christ until His desires for your life become your own. Then, your love for the Lord will be demonstrated by your wholehearted obedience to His Word.

- Lena