LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
We Have An Advocate
"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous" (1 John 2:1).
The ministry of the Lord Jesus on our behalf did not end at the cross of Calvary. In two of the last epistles of the New Testament we are shown two precious ministries of the Lord Jesus beyond the cross. Hebrews shows Him as our high priest at the right hand of God, and in the first letter of John He is shown as our advocate.
Because we sin, and are made guilty of death -the wages of sin is death- we need an advocate. An advocate is one who stands at the side of the defendant to defend him in court, before the judge. The lawyer has sympathy for the defendant, knows his crime, and seeks acquittal. In our case, the lawyer is of the highest efficiency, who not only sympathizes with us, but died for us. The judge, on the other hand, is not a distant and inaccessible God, but is also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our own Father. Everything, therefore, favors our defense, and assures forgiveness.
However, the word advocate does not say all that the Greek word parakletos means. Advocate is a possible translation, but it is not all that it means. The same word is translated in John 14 as comforter. Parakletos means, then, comforter, and also 'one who exhorts or encourages, one who stands beside another'.
In reality, this parakletos, who is Christ at the right hand of God, completes and complements the service of the Holy Spirit -the other parakletos- in us. One ministers in heaven and the other on earth. We have one parakletos in heaven and one on earth, within us. One defends us as an advocate above, and the other comforts us below, in the midst of life's vicissitudes.
This totally secures our fate. Nothing gives more security to the believer than the fact that now, in this very moment of difficulty and distress, in this hostile and enemy world, we have such a powerful help. Not only is there the work of the cross, perfect in its efficacy to reconcile us to God, but we also have this, which secures our heart while we reach our final home.
In the Olympics of ancient Greece there were parakletos, who helped the athletes to reach the finish line, encouraging them, and even lifting them up if they stumbled. Thus, in the race of life, there is the Holy Spirit here, and the Lord Jesus Christ there, at the right hand of God, so that we do not lose heart or give up running, until the laurel of the victors is on our forehead. Let us remember that, in this race of faith, what matters is not to arrive first, but to run to the end.