Our Advocate, Jesus Christ - by Gideon Rossouw

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The author holds to Reformed/Calvinism, so his presentation is colored by his doctrinal perspective. Because of this he makes numerous unreferenced assertions about doctrine as if they were routine matters. 

First, he views the interaction of God with man as a legal process. He wants it to be a courtroom scene, with a judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney. So he presumes that Satan is accusing, Jesus is defending, and the Father is the judge hearing the evidence.

This scene is not found in the Bible. We discuss this in detail here.

Second, in violation of any accepted standard of justice, the author thinks Jesus took our place as the accused so that we could set free in view of Him being punished in our stead. 

This also is not found in the Bible. We discuss this in detail here.

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Some nights, our conscience needs no help assembling its case. Words we cannot take back, sins we thought were buried, and promises to change that we have broken return with unwelcome clarity. We lie awake rehearsing explanations that sound less convincing each time, until we scarcely know whether we are defending ourselves or adding to the charges.

At such moments, we need more than reassurance that things are not as bad as they seem. We need an Advocate who knows the whole story, including the parts we would rather forget, and whose willingness to stand for us rests on something firmer than our innocence.

An Advocate for the Guilty 

(Is it correct to call a sinning Christian guilty?)

John writes, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). (The author bases his whole presentation on a misunderstanding of the word "advocate." This Greek word paraklétos, which simply means helper or comforter. The author wants to make this into a legal proceeding, but Jesus' death was a sacrificial transaction, not a legal one.)

Notice when we need this Advocate: not after proving our innocence, but when we have sinned. John has just urged his readers not to sin; he does not want us to make peace with our disobedience. Yet he knows that believers still stumble. And so, before we can despair over our failure, he directs our eyes to Christ.

What comfort there is in those little words, “we have an advocate.” Not merely that an Advocate exists, or that we might persuade him to take our case, but that he is already ours. Even when we have sinned, we are not left to face our guilt alone. (Is it correct to call a sinning Christian guilty?)

John immediately identifies this Advocate as “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2), showing that His advocacy rests on a sacrifice that satisfies divine justice. (The author seems to think that Jesus is an attorney in a courtroom, defending us against the Father's wrath. But there is no courtroom, no jury, no presumption of innocence, no prosecutor, and frankly, no defense attorney. This is simply not a Biblical concept.

Again, Jesus' death was sacrificial, not legal.)

Scripture gives us a striking picture of this in Zechariah’s vision of Joshua the high priest. Joshua stands clothed in filthy garments, with Satan at his right hand to accuse him (Zechariah 3:1–5). His garments speak for themselves. He has no righteousness of his own to offer. Yet the Lord rebukes the accuser and commands that his filthy garments be removed. Joshua does not talk himself clean; grace cleanses him. (Sigh... Joshua, a real high priest, was one of those who came out of Babylon. Here he represents Israel, and God's purpose is to cleanse His people. Further, Zechariah names Joshua to be where the Branch arises from. Jesus the savior will arise out of Israel and cleanse its sin from it.

Further, notice that the filthy clothes were removed. They weren't covered over. The filth was removed, not obscured. Joshua was truly cleansed and God's intercession is completed.

Lastly, once again we assert that this is not a courtroom scene. In fact, Satan as the accuser performs no legal role, and he no longer has access to heaven, for he has been cast down [Isaiah 14:12].)

Jesus pleads his own satisfaction and obedience on our behalf, (Where does the Bible say this?)

the very ground on which à Brakel (Who?)

explains that condemnation cannot stand (The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 1:550–51). (Previously the author wrote in terms of a Christian who sins is guilty. Now he uses the word condemned. Where in the Bible do we find this idea?)

Our hope, then, is not that the Judge will overlook the evidence, but that our Advocate has answered it. (There is no courtroom scene, sir.)

Nor must we imagine a reluctant Father being persuaded by a merciful Son. It is the Father himself who has given us this Advocate. The One before whom Christ stands is the very One who loved us and sent Him.

More Than a Sympathetic Friend

Wilhelmus à Brakel (So now we get his full name. He was a Dutch Reformationist minster living in the mid 1600s. We don't know who he is or why he's important. Nor do we care. 

In our humble opinion, he seems to get this whole thing quite wrong.)

calls Christ our Surety because he takes responsibility for the sinner’s obligation: “He bears the punishment due upon sin, and fulfills the law” (The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 1:483). (Jesus did not get punished by the Father. He did not take responsibility for our obligation. This is known as "imputation," which is the idea that our sin was assigned to Jesus for punishment while His righteousness was assigned to us in return. 

However, Jesus is not our "surety" (i.e, a legal contract that transfers obligation). Imputation is not found in the Bible. We discuss this in detail here.)

He is not merely a lawyer arguing our case. (He never has been a lawyer defending our case.)

He has himself met the demands that stood against us. (What demands are those? Let's assist the author: 

Col. 2:13-14 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

In actual fact, Jesus cancelled the demands that stood against us, He didn't meet them. That demand was the condemnation that comes from the Law [Rom. 7:9]. He carried that condemnation to the cross and nailed it there. The work of the cross removed our condemnation:

Rom. 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

The author makes these reasonable-sounding statements that actually lead us astray.)

This is what makes Christ unlike every earthly advocate. He does not simply speak on behalf of the guilty. (He doesn't do this.)

He has stood in their place. (He didn't do this.)

He has borne their judgment. (He didn't do this.)

The righteousness he pleads is his own, (He didn't do this.)

and it is counted as ours through faith. (He didn't do this.)

And His priestly ministry did not end when he rose from the dead. Hebrews declares that he saves “to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). (The author does not come out and say it, but implies that Jesus is continually acting on our behalf before the Father, who seems anxious to snuff us out even though we're saved.)

À Brakel therefore joins Christ’s sacrifice and intercession. The One who offered himself for his people now appears before the Father as their Surety. His intercession is not another sacrifice, nor an attempt to repair an inadequate cross. Rather, it rests upon his once-for-all offering, whose saving efficacy never diminishes. (Hmm. The author seems to have briefly swerved into the truth, that the cross is Jesus' intercession, and its continuing and sufficient effects is the true nature of His intercession.)

The hands that were pierced have not abandoned our cause. We do not have a dead benefactor whose kindness we remember, but a living High Priest upon whom we may depend.

And because he lives forever, his care for us does not falter. We may grow weary of our struggles against sin. We may wonder how we could have fallen yet again. But our hope rests not on the strength of our grip upon Christ, but on the unchanging faithfulness of the Christ who holds us fast.

When the Accusation Follows Us Home

Satan cannot overturn God’s justifying verdict; Revelation celebrates the accuser’s defeat through the blood of the Lamb. (Where in Revelation? Is it a secret? Let's quote: 

Rev. 19:1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God...

This is actually the celebration of the judgment of the great prostitute.

Rev. 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Here we see no celebration, only statements of fact. We were unable to find the celebration the author says is there.)

 

Yet an accusation that cannot condemn us before God may still terrify our conscience. Here is the danger: we begin to treat our sins as reasons to avoid the very Savior who answers for them.-

The accusations can sound painfully familiar:

“You have done it again. After all your promises to change, after all those prayers for help. Surely you cannot go to him now. He is too holy to understand someone like you. Wait until you have something better to bring.”

Perhaps you know something of this struggle. You have confessed the same sin before, and now you are ashamed to confess it again. You believe that Christ forgives sinners but struggle to believe that he will welcome you in your present condition. So, you withdraw. You pray less. You open your Bible with reluctance. You tell yourself that you will return when you have made some progress.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne (Who?)

recognized that temptation in himself:

“I feel, when I have sinned, an immediate reluctance to go to Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel as if it would do no good to go, as if it were making Christ a minister of sin, to go straight from the swine-trough to the best robe, and a thousand other excuses; but I am persuaded they are all lies, direct from hell.” (Memoir and Remains, 151)

Such reluctance can dress itself as reverence. We imagine that staying away honors Christ’s holiness, when it actually questions the sufficiency of his mercy.

Of course, there is a sorrow over sin that we ought to feel. The Christian should never become comfortable with what grieves the Lord. But genuine repentance draws us towards Christ, not away from him. The answer to our sin is neither to excuse it nor to hide it, but to bring it into the light of his mercy.

And what sort of Savior will we find when we come? Not one who is impatient with the weak, nor one who has forgotten what it is to suffer and be tempted. He has been tempted as we are, yet without sin, and therefore summons us to approach the throne of grace. (Sigh... Is there some compelling reason to paraphrase a Bible verse instead of quoting it? 

Heb. 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 

The author is essentially hiding the location of the verse [or even, concealing the fact that it is a Bible verse], which is very odd behavior for a Bible teacher.)

À Brakel assures the fearful that “the Lord Jesus is as compassionate now as He was then.” (Actually, David assured us: 

Ps. 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

For some reason the author really likes this À Brakel fellow, preferring to quote him over the Bible.) 

Heaven has not made him indifferent to those he came to save. Think of the tenderness of Christ in the Gospels. He welcomed those whom others despised. He touched the unclean. He received the tears of the brokenhearted. And à Brakel wants us to understand that his exaltation has not diminished that compassion. (We really don't care what this à Brakel fellow wants us to understand. The Bible tells us: 

Rom. 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  

Rev. 1:5 ...Jesus Christ... [t]o him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood...

Why doesn't the author teach these things from the Bible?)

The Jesus who now reigns in glory is the same Jesus who showed such tenderness to sinners on earth.

À Brakel even anticipates the objection that Jesus cannot sympathize with grief over sin because he never sinned himself. (Actually, the writer of Hebrews anticipates this. We have already quoted Heb. 4:15-16.)

 

His answer distinguishes committing sin from bearing its consequences: Christ “tasted, however, all the bitter fruits of sin in such a manner as if He Himself had committed them.” (!!! This is quite a claim! Where do we find this in the Bible? Well, we don't.)

He knows the weight of what he came to remove.

We cannot say to Christ, “You do not know what sin has cost.” He knows its bitterness more deeply than we ever will, for he bore its judgment at Calvary. (He was not judged for sin.)

And having borne it, he does not turn away the believer who comes grieving over sin.

What tenderness there is in this truth! The Savior who knows our worst sins is the very Savior who invites us to draw near. We need not conceal our guilt from him. He already knows it and has made provision for it in his blood.

Make Use of Your High Priest

À Brakel’s practical direction is wonderfully plain: “One must first of all make use of Christ as High Priest in reference to both His sacrifice and His intercession." (This is an obtuse sentence, not wonderfully plain. The author quotes this dude repeatedly, but now it's bordering on adoration.)

Do not merely admire the doctrine. (What doctrine? Jesus as advocate or Jesus as High Priest? He hasn't mentioned "advocate" for quite some time.)

Come confessing the sin you are tempted to conceal, asking for pardon (Does a Christian need to seek pardon for sin, or is he truly washed clean and forgiven? Is the author really talking about repentance instead?)

and strength to forsake it. Perhaps the hardest thing is to believe that you may come immediately. That you need not spend several days in misery before you are permitted to pray again. That your tears, however fitting, do not purchase your forgiveness. That your renewed resolutions, however necessary, are not the ground of your acceptance. Christ himself is.

You do not honor your Advocate by attempting to represent yourself. (Another obtuse sentence. Who sins and then thinks to "represent" themselves?)

You do not honor his sacrifice by waiting until you feel worthy of it.

So come to him with the sin you cannot excuse and the weakness you are ashamed to admit. Come not to make peace with your sin, but to find mercy and grace to fight it. Come through Christ to the Father who loves you. (Did Jesus wash us clean or not? Can we not approach the Father with confidence? 

Heb. 10:19-22 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience...

It seems to us that the author thinks that we are still sullied by our sin and cannot approach the Father.)

When you sin, run to him who is your Satisfaction, your Surety, your Advocate.