3 Reasons We Can Know That Jesus Is Our Advocate
- Whitney Hopler Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
- Updated Nov 05, 2021
We all need to keep learning and growing on our journey through life. Along the way, we often face challenges or make mistakes. Thankfully, we can rely on help and forgiveness from our spiritual advocate: Jesus Christ. The Bible declares that Jesus is our advocate in all circumstances. Here are 3 reasons we can know that Jesus is our advocate.
What Does it Mean to Have an Advocate?
The English word advocate is based on a translation of the Greek word parakleton (meaning “helper or counselor”).
An advocate offers wise and caring assistance. Having an advocate means that we don’t need to worry about being left alone in tough times. Whenever we need support, advice, or someone to stand up for us, we can rely on an advocate to do so. If we need strength to help us when we’re weak, an advocate will support us. If we need guidance to figure out what decision is best to make, an advocate will counsel us. If we need someone to intercede for us when we’ve made mistakes, an advocate will make a case for mercy toward us. An advocate can help us in any circumstances – even the most challenging situations.
3 Reasons We Can Know That Jesus Is Our Advocate
The Bible proclaims that Jesus serves as an advocate for everyone who puts their trust in him. 1 John 2:1-2 reveals: “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. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Here are 3 reasons we can know that Jesus is acting as our advocate:
1. Jesus advocates for us before a righteous God so we can be saved.
None of us can stand by ourselves in front of our perfectly righteous God, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Since we have been corrupted by sin in this fallen world, we can’t be in God’s holy presence without an advocate whose righteousness helps us. Our own merits aren’t enough, since we all make mistakes. But Jesus’ righteousness is perfect, so his advocacy for us makes it possible to stand before God with full forgiveness for our sins.
John 3:16-17 describes the importance of Jesus’ advocacy work in regard to human salvation: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. By sacrificing himself during the crucifixion, Jesus took the punishment for sin that justice requires on himself, making salvation possible for all humanity. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people…” 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says.
Now, if we trust Jesus to be our advocate, we don’t have to worry about suffering the punishment of alienation from our sinless Creator. We won’t be condemned for our sins, thanks to Jesus’ advocacy work on our behalf. As Romans 8:1-5 explains: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
2. Jesus advocates for us by guiding us.
We can count on the best advice from Jesus whenever we ask him for help making decisions. As someone who lived a fully human earthy life even while being fully divine, Jesus knows exactly what it’s like to face the challenges of this fallen world. Jesus suffered in the same ways that we suffer, too. He experienced being misunderstood and mistreated. He felt disappointment, sorrow, and anger. Like us, Jesus was tempted to sin, but was able to overcome temptation and model how to do so for us.
Hebrews 4:15 points out, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus can plead our case from his own personal experience of what it’s like to be human. He is not guiding us from a place of distance, but from a close relationship. As our advocate, Jesus guides us with compassion as well as wisdom.
3. Jesus advocates for us by helping us grow spiritually, through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus often works in our lives through the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16, Jesus says, “… I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.” The Holy Spirit arrived on Earth to help humanity after Jesus ascended to heaven. Since Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all united in the Holy Trinity, the Spirit’s advocacy work in our lives represents Jesus and God working in our lives, as well. In my book Wake Up to Wonder, I describe how the Holy Spirit helps us grow spiritually and experience awe along the way – thanks to Jesus’ advocacy – through the nine “fruit of the Spirit” that Galatians 5:22-23 mentions: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The way that advocacy work happens is by the Holy Spirit renewing our minds to point us in the direction of those qualities that Jesus wants us to develop. Our thoughts lead to our attitudes, which lead to our actions, which shape our entire lives in either positive or negative ways. Through his Spirit, Jesus teaches us how to break down negative thoughts and build up positive thoughts, so our lives can move in a positive direction. Jesus helps us become more like him through this process. 1 Corinthians 2:12,16 explains: “ Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. … we have the mind of Christ.”
Why it Is So Powerful to Have the Lord as Our Advocate
Having Jesus as our advocate gives us access to unlimited power to help us manage all situations well, and emerge from them transformed in positive ways. After our earthly lives are over, we can enjoy eternity with God because the Lord’s advocacy work has made our salvation possible. When we have Jesus as our advocate, we have the greatest power in the universe on our side. Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…” Hebrews 1:3 declares. There is no one more powerful than Jesus to have as an advocate – now and forever!
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