“I write these things…”

It seems like every time I spend some time in 1John I am always so blown away by it that I can’t help but write about what the Lord is showing me through His Word. I hope you are blessed by it.

John doesn’t waste anytime diving right into the “meat” and neither will I as I start in chapter 2. John has explained in chapter 1 in a very convincing fashion that he had firsthand experience and knowledge of who Jesus is and why He came.

Now in chapter 2 he tells the reader why he is “writing these things”. In other words, there is a goal of John’s letter – “that the children of God may not sin”. This crucial point was made by Paul in several texts, but most notably in 2Timothy 2 when Paul said Christians are to abstain from sin. This is not a suggestion, this is a command, it is the goal because as Christians we want to honor our King, we want to glorify His Name, and obedience to Him does both honor and glorify Him.

Although abstaining from sin is the goal, if we fail to be perfect (and we will), John has a CRUCIAL “but”: “BUT if anyone does sin”.

This “BUT” is like a big sigh of relief. It is almost like being submerged under water and you don’t know how much longer you can hold your breath and you finally get to the surface and with that breath is the release of all the panic that began to set in as you were under. Much of 1John has that “panic” feel; but we can always (as Christians) return to this great “BUT”:

“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate…”

What is an advocate?

One who stands in on your behalf.

How does Jesus stand in on your behalf?

Verse 2 tells us, He (Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins!

What does propitiation mean?

He (Jesus) satisfied the Wrath of God on your behalf. You deserve God’s eternal Wrath because of your sin, but Jesus was crushed under the Wrath of God that your sin debt might be satisfied.

Why “might”? Why “might” be satisfied? Isn’t it a “for sure”?

It is “might” because not all who hear the Gospel will repent and believe.

To “repent” is a change of mind, and a true change of mind will result in a changed direction.

The most important question you can ask is, what must I change my mind about?

2 things:
1. Who God is. He is the Creator of all things. He is sovereign over all things. He is Holy and Righteous. He is Light in whom there is no darkness. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is angry with sin, He is also angry with those who sin, and He not only can, but will (and must) send all those who have broken His Law into eternal punishment in a place called hell.
2. You must change your mind about the severity of your sin. Your sin is a big deal. Even if you are a “good person” compared to those around you, even in comparison to most of those in the world; relative “goodness” does not factor into the severity and consequence of your sin. One infraction of God’s Law is enough to condemn you (and everyone else) for eternity.

In short, you need to change your mind about God’s Holiness, and the severity of your sin.

Upon hearing this (or reading this) there are basically only a few things that can happen:

1. The person says, “I don’t believe this to be true”. This could be from a several different viewpoints. Some may say, “I know I am a sinner, but God would not send me to hell” OR “I know I am not perfect, but I have done a lot of good” OR “I don’t think God exists, we live, we die, we turn to dirt” OR “How do I know this is true, and all the other religions in the world are wrong”. All of these are what you could say are “yea, but” objections – which ultimately means there has been no change of mind. There is nothing wrong with asking questions if you will diligently seek the answer; but too often people put up their hand up in objection and do not seek Truth. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, even if it is from the perch of a skeptic.
2. Another reaction might be a complete disregard. A person hears this, does not consider it, and moves on with life content to let “the chips fall where they may”.
3. Another reaction is total hostility. Hostility that there would be a God that would ever send someone to eternal torment which usually results in hostility toward the person sharing the message of the Gospel.

But then there are those that have that panic feeling. That “drowning” panic feeling where they are asking, “what must I do?!?!”

This is called the conviction of the Spirit. Although it doesn’t seem like a blessing at the time, God has blessed them with this panic, this concern for what is going to happen when they die. The Scripture refers to this as being broken over their sin, they are seeing the severity of their sin for the first time.

The answer to “what must I do?” is, you must understand that Jesus’ bloody death on the Cross where He suffered under the Wrath of God was for you. If you trust in Him to save you He will. You must cling to Him like you are clinging to a buoy in the raging sea – if you let go you will be swept away and drown in the sea of God’s Wrath. The bad news is, you deserve God’s Wrath, the Good news is, Jesus can save you if you will trust in Him alone. Don’t trust in your religion, your goodness, your church attendance, or anything else; trust in Jesus like you would trust a parachute if you had to jump out of a plane.

When you do that, He is now your Advocate with the Father. Jesus cleanses you from all your unrighteousness and you are made new, you are looked upon by God as if you have never sinned; not because of what you have done, but because what Jesus has done. Your sin was put upon Him where the debt was paid, and His Righteousness is given to you – it is a legal transaction that results in forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

Evidence of this transaction, the genuineness of your repentance and belief in the Gospel is a changed life. He who is in Christ is a new creation, which means you are born again, you walk in a new direction, away from sin and towards righteousness, with a desire to honor and glorify your King.