◄ What Does 1 John 2:1 Mean? ►

What gracious words to the Church are these wise instructions on holy living from the aging apostle John. The desire of his heart is that those who have come to faith through his ministry might not sin but would strive to live lives that are holy and acceptable to God: "My little children," he says, "I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin..." 

As part of God's family, through faith in Christ, we are all called to be holy because our Heavenly Father is holy. It is the will of God that all His children are to be holy and perfect as He is holy and perfect. However, John is not suggesting that sinless perfection is achievable in our fallen state, but is letting us know that we have a freewill choice to sin or to resist the temptation to sin.

John knows that we are fallen men and fallen women with a sinful nature who have been saved by grace, redeemed by the blood of Christ, identified with His righteousness, and forgiven of our sin through faith in Him. The apostle knows that we have an old sin nature, which is very prone to sin, and he also knows that when a believer sins, it removes us from sweet fellowship with the Father.

God will never have fellowship with a sinner for sin separates fallen man from a holy God. The Lord is holy; He is without sin and will not compromise His holiness. And so John warns us, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

'Though our union with God will never end, our communion with Him is broken when we sin. Once we are God's child, our relationship with Him cannot be altered but fellowship with the Father can be fractured. Sin is the instrument that erects a barrier between ourselves and God, and close communion can only be restored if we confess our sin to Him... through Jesus Christ our Lord Who alone is able to bring us back into fellowship with the Father - for Jesus Christ is our Advocate. He is our Kinsman-Redeemer. He is the only Mediator between sinful man and a holy God.

Sin is the thing that blocks our fellowship and checks the sweet communion we can enjoy with our Heavenly Lord. But praise God that He has put in place the way for every believer to be quickly and beautifully restored into communion with Himself. We have an Advocate with the Father. We have a sinless Man Who is ready to plead our case before God - Jesus Christ the righteous, for He is the propitiation for our sins. Jesus is the one and only Mediator Who can restore man into fellowship with God.

Our Lord Jesus is our representative Man Who identified with our sin. He is the righteous One Who broke the power of sin in our lives. Jesus is the only Person Who can speak to our Heavenly Father on our behalf. Jesus is the only Person Who can plead our case before God when we confess our faults - when we acknowledge our sins before Him. Indeed, He ever lives to make intercession for us at the throne of grace by pleading our case so that sin can be forgiven and fellowship restored.

Sometimes pride is the sin that comes between God and His child, and sometimes unforgiveness may bar the way to the throne of grace. But whatever way we choose to transgress against the Lord, we must never forget that if we sin, we have an Advocate to Whom we should fly and cry out, "Father, I have sinned." And because of our faith in Christ Jesus, God will graciously open His arms of love wide and show us the nail prints in His hands which paid the price for your sin and mine.

You see, little children, our sins are all forgiven, forever, to those that believe. But the sin of a believer places us outside the gate of mutual fellowship with God. But if we confess our sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One Who will plead His blood over us and return us back into the arms of our Father, to Whom be praise and glory forever and ever, amen.

Heavenly Father, thank You that I can enjoy wonderful fellowship with You, simply because I have trusted Christ as my Saviour. I confess that there are times that sin has excluded me from Your presence. Help me to keep a short rein on such wrong-doing by flying to You to confess my sins. Thank You that the Lord Jesus is my righteous advocate Who ever lives to make intercession for me. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.