“My dear
children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does
sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1
The
believers John is writing to have experienced a split in their church. Some believe they are spiritually superior
and it has caused a rift. The verses
above should not be misunderstood. It is
not a license to sin because forgiveness is always available. It is, however, inevitable that any believer
will stumble at times despite their best efforts to avoid it.
When we do fall into sin we have what the Greek refer to as a parakletos, a paraclete or lawyer, an
advocate to stand in the gap for us. It
is Jesus Himself. When we do happen to
fall into sin, Jesus Christ represents us before the Father. Christ’s blood has covered that sin if we ask for forgiveness. That’s very important. It isn’t a blanket of forgiveness for all
mankind from ‘the big guy upstairs’. It
is forgiveness given in response to our request for it. Christ blood removed all past sins, not every
sin we will commit in the future.
We must always realize that
with salvation comes the understanding that we will obey the commands of
God. Scripture refers to us as a ‘new
creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are different
and as a result should act like it.
Salvation is not a license to keep sinning; quite the contrary. We should seek to do God’s will in all
things. Our life is no longer our
own. It was bought with a price and a
hefty price at that. Christ gave up His
own life willingly so we wouldn’t have to pay the penalty ourselves, knowing
full well that we were unable to pay it.
The grace of God is a
marvelous thing. Don’t trample it under
foot by your indifference to His commands.
Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!
