“This I write to you.” That is, the Apostle refers to what he set forth above in the first chapter of this Epistle concerning walking in the light, communion with God, and the cleansing of sins by the blood of Christ. “I write” in order to instill in you not indulgence toward sin, but aversion to it, so that you may not sin. Whoever says that he does not sin deceives himself (1 Jn 2:8) and God (1 Jn 2:10). Yet you must not sin, in the sense of not indulging sin.
To sin became an inborn property of human nature after man’s fall. Yet one must not yield to sin with the desire to sin. Weakness of nature is one thing, and striving to sin, the desire for sin, is another. You must not sin with the desire to sin, and I write to you so that you may not sin.
“But if anyone sins, we have an Advocate,” and so forth. One must strive to be pure from sin, but it is impossible not to sin at all. Even those who strive not to sin fall into sin through the weakness of nature. Through such a fall, faintheartedness can sometimes occur, so that one may even fall into despair.
The Apostle says that if someone, despite every effort not to sin, falls into sin through the weakness of nature, he must not fall in spirit within the very fall. He must not think that salvation has now become impossible or hopeless for him, and that he has perished. No. The goodness of God is so great, or better, boundless, that He has given the sinner full possibility to wipe away the sin, or sins, he has committed, through the Advocate before God, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
“The Apostle, knowing that our nature is unstable and sinful, that we always carry within ourselves an inclination toward evil, and that the envious devil hinders our salvation by his snares, now teaches that even if we fall after the forgiveness of our sins, we must not despair. For if we turn back, we can again receive salvation through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. By interceding for us before the Father, He makes propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (Theophylact).
“We have an Advocate before God.” An advocate means a defender or intercessor in court. Before the righteousness of God, the whole world is sinful and subject to judgment and punishment. The Only-begotten Son of God, by the good pleasure of the Father, took human flesh upon Himself. In our nature He offered a propitiatory sacrifice to the righteousness of God for the sins of all mankind. That is, He redeemed the whole human race from sin, curse, and death, and reunited it with God. By death He trampled down death, and by the blood poured out on the Cross He cleansed human nature from the defilement of sin.
As Redeemer from the sin of all humanity, He thereby also became the Advocate, or Defender, of redeemed man before the judgment of divine righteousness. Through His intercession, sin is removed from man, and man appears before God’s judgment justified and pure from sin, both inborn and voluntary. In this sense He is called the Advocate of all, or for all, before God, the Mediator of God and men (1 Tim 2:5).
“The Apostle calls Jesus Christ the Advocate for us, beseeching or persuading the Father. This is said in human fashion and with a special purpose, like the following words: ‘The Son can do nothing of Himself’ (Jn 5:19). The latter was said so that He would not be thought opposed to God. But that the Son also has authority to forgive sins, He showed in the case of the paralytic (Mt 9:6). Likewise, when He gave the disciples authority to forgive sins, He clearly showed that He gives this right by His own authority. Yet the Apostle, as we have said, speaks this way now with a special purpose: to show that the Son has one nature and one power with the Father, and that the actions of one of the three all-holy Persons are common also to the other Persons” (Theophylact).
By the word “Advocate,” applied here to Jesus Christ, John translates the same word that in his Gospel is rendered “Comforter,” by which the Lord Himself named the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity (Jn 14:16, 26; Jn 15:26; Jn 16:7; see the notes). Thus both Christ and the Holy Spirit, in John’s Gospel and First Epistle, are called by one and the same name, Comforter or Advocate.
In a similar way, St. Paul presents both the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as interceding before the Father for men (Rom 8:26-27, 34). Christ is the Advocate for men as the One Who offered to God the Father the propitiatory sacrifice for them. The Holy Spirit is Advocate as the One Who applies to men the sacrifice offered by Christ through their prayers.
Christ is the Comforter, comforting the believing people redeemed by Him through His intercession before the judgment of divine righteousness. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, comforting by prayer those who weep and grieve over sins. Both are advocates, intercessors, defenders, and comforters of men. Therefore Christ Himself calls both Himself and the Holy Spirit by this word (Jn 14:16), and St. Paul names the One and the Other in a similar sense (Rom 8:26-27, 34).
“The Righteous.” This means the perfectly righteous and uniquely righteous God-man. Only the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, could accomplish the redemption of the whole human race from sin, since He alone is sinless and righteous. For only from the sinless One could a sacrifice be accepted for the sins of man and of all humanity. As the sinless Righteous One, the Lord Jesus, in the capacity of High Priest, offered a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of men once for all and for everyone. By this He became the Advocate, or Comforter, of all and forever. St. Paul explained this powerfully and definitely, especially in the Epistle to the Hebrews (see especially Heb 7:24-27).
THEOSIS