Have you ever experienced the value of an advocate? I don’t mean a lawyer that gets a speeding ticket reversed, what I mean is when a person really goes to bat for you to help you advance or to “sell” you or your case to someone else in power. In many ways, it can be such an enormous asset to our life, our career, our positioning; to have a friend or an advocate making the case for us.
The value of advocate goes far beyond just making a case for us. It allows us to let someone else brag on us, speak of our strengths, almost create a mystique of credibility and value. An advocate can propel a career or even a relationship. Ever have a friend go to work to get your that first date?
I’ve been on all sides of the advocate concept and it’s likely you have too. I’ve had people lobby for me and it is amazing how much it has done for me in many situations. I’ve advocated for others and that too, is an amazing experience and it feels good to help. And, I’ve had to advocate for myself before. Let me tell you, that is when you fully realize the value of an advocate and miss what someone in your corner can do for you. It is a lonely feeling to advocate for yourself, it’s awkward, it is so hard to balance the emotions of the moment and then wonder “am I overselling, underselling, ahhhh, I don’t know.”
Well, here’s where we land the plane and you might guess where I’m going. Thank God we don’t have to advocate for ourselves in God’s economy. The Bible says in 1 John 2 that Christ is our advocate. Many Bible teachers have likened this advocate phrasing to a defense attorney. But, I think that doesn’t do the context of Paul’s and John’s writings justice. Why? We can see all through Pauline and Johannine writings that Christ not only justifies why we, as gospel believers, are free from sin’s ultimate punishment, but ALSO that we are made righteous. See, it’s not ONLY that we are not guilty in the courtroom of God, but also that we are made righteous and considered co-heirs with Christ.
This is huge, it is so important to get and it’s why again I say, doctrine is not just some heady non-sense that really doesn’t matter. It matters, because in this case, it points back to the very double-imputation of Christ (found in Romans 4), where not only did Christ pay for our sins at the cross of Calvary, but he also imputed his Righteousness on to us as believers. So, our sins are paid for and we receive the credit for Christ’s sinless life. Now that’s amazing!
So, the next time someone advocates for you, or you hear a sermon on Christ being our advocate…stop and think about all that means. It not only means he advocates for our freedom from sin, but he is also our advocate in righteousness. It goes far beyond a defense attorney, it’s more like a brother, best-friend, mentor, someone who loves us that advocates that we are made righteous and deserving of co-heirship with him. Wow! What a beautiful doctrine of God’s revealed Scripture!