Names of Jesus: Advocate

We can be confident knowing that Jesus Christ is our advocate, but what does this mean and why is this so important? 1 John 2 tackles some vital truths about Jesus as our advocate, and what this should mean in the lives of every believer. This name of Jesus also helps us to better understand how we can come to know Jesus, and what that means for our lives as well. Jesus as Advocate is an important name for new believers, seasoned believers, and even those asking questions about Christianity. No matter where you are at on your faith journey, understanding what it means for Jesus to be your advocate can change your whole life.

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Jesus is our Advocate

In 1 John, we see Jesus named as our Advocate with the Father. As our advocate, Jesus pleads our case with God. He acts as our intercessor. Jesus steps in on behalf of those who have faith in Him with God and declares them pardoned of their sin debt, proclaiming that He Himself paid the price on our behalf.

1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

1 John 2:1-2 NKJV

• Advocate – G3875 – paraklētos
  • one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor
    • of Christ in his exaltation at God’s right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins

3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 
4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:3-5 ESV

Jesus Christ willingly died on the cross bearing all the sins of the entire world so that those who would have faith and believe in Him would be saved from the penalty of their sins. He took your sins, my sins, and everyone else’s sins entirely upon Himself and when Jesus died on the cross His blood covered every sin so that those who would have faith in Him as their Savior, declaring Jesus as their personal advocate with the Father, would then be pardoned of the sin debt He died to pay for on our behalf.

4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7 NKJV

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How can I know Jesus?

By the grace of God alone, not anything we could possibly do, God sent His Son to be our advocate so that we could enter into a personal relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus, the Son of God, our Advocate. By accepting Jesus as your personal advocate, declaring Him your Lord and Savior through faith through grace, we can begin to know Jesus through a personal relationship with Him.

3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 

4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2:3-4 NKJV

Right after telling us that Jesus is our advocate, John goes on to explain that by keeping His commandments we can come to know Him. Keeping His commandments is evidence of a personal relationship with the Lord, and of Him being our personal advocate with the Father, declaring our sin debt paid.

Here are some of the ways we can begin a relationship with Jesus and come to know Him better.

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Believe and have faith in Jesus

The first step is to believe He is in fact the Son of God, your personal advocate, who died to pay the penalty for your sins past, present, and future to redeem and restore you to God.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

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Confess and repent of our sins

We must also come to confess and repent of our sins, which is to admit our sins to the Lord and agree with Him entirely about our sin, which should lead us to turn away from our sin and towards Jesus. As we humbly submit our sins to the Lord, we accept His power and authority over our lives, agree with Him that because of our sins we deserve death, and accept the grace of God that provides Jesus died for us, on our behalf, so that we wouldn’t have to pay that price and we could receive forgiveness and eternal life from God.

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:8-10 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 CSB

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Pray, rejoice, and be thankful

Confessing our sins to the Lord and seeking His forgiveness is one of the ways we get to communicate with the Lord personally. Through prayer, we get to talk directly with God. The New Testament tells us that Jesus is not only our advocate but also our Great High Priest, by whom we now have a direct line of communication open with God the Father. We get to pray to Him whenever, wherever, however we are. He hears the prayers of those in His family and wants you to talk to Him.

Communication is essential to a growing, healthy personal relationship, and our relationship with Jesus is no exception. Pray to Him, rejoice in Him and in all He does and provides, and give thanks to and for Him. Confess your sins through prayer, and talk to God honestly as you would talk to a friend.

16 Rejoice always, 
17 pray without ceasing, 
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.

James 1:5 CSB

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

James 5:13 ESV

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6 ESV

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Read and obey His Word

Through faith, repentance, and prayer we get to grow in our relationship with Jesus, and through reading His Word we get to understand Him even deeper. The Bible is God’s written Word, living and active, and through His Word we get to learn about who God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are, what they do and have done for you, who you are to the Lord, how you are called to live, and so much more.

By being in the Word, reading and studying the Bible regularly, and making this a priority in your life you can come to know Jesus on a deeper, more personal, and intimate level, and continue to grow in your understanding of and relationship with Him. Scripture is given to us to teach us, train us, and prepare us. It is how Jesus speaks to us and instructs us in His ways and wisdom, and how we learn to live a life worthy of the calling we have received. We all have the same 24 hours every day, and we are all responsible for how we choose to spend that time. Choosing to make time every day to be with the Lord is imperative to knowing Jesus as your personal advocate.

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 
17 that the man of God[a] may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:17 ESV

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Submit to and depend on the Lord

Faith, repentance, prayer, and reading the Bible are all part of beginning your relationship with Jesus but are also all part of an ongoing and growing relationship with Him. None of these are one-and-done steps. All are constantly necessary. By continuing in faith, repenting of our sins and submitting to the Lord, learning to turn away from our flesh desires and toward the life He is teaching us to live, praying constantly, and being in the Word daily we learn to submit to Jesus and depend on Him in all things.

We must continually deny ourselves and strive to become more like Jesus. To do this we must be constantly devoted to growing in our relationship with Him, learning more about Him, and allowing His Spirit to lead us in His ways and will. We need to lean not on our own understanding, but let Jesus teach us His understanding and lean on that. We must also learn how to respond, fight, progress, persevere, and endure in faith with Jesus as the cornerstone of every area of our entire lives.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

    and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,

    and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Ephesians 6:10-13 ESV

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16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: [a]adultery, [b]fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 
21 envy, [c]murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
23 [d]gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:16-26 NKJV

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How do I know if Jesus is my Advocate?

Scripture teaches us that if we abide in the Lord, live as He teaches and calls on us to live, be diligent in prayer, meditate on scripture, and obey it, we will know that we are in Him. It is very clear that true faith is evident in the works produced because of that faith. These works stem as a result of true faith, and will always match up with what scripture teaches.

This is how we will know we have Jesus as our advocate – that our faith produces godliness in our lives, character, nature, actions, and words. True faith changes our heart condition and we begin to naturally desire and display godly things instead of worldly and sinful things. There is a true inward-to-outward transformation that happens when we have Jesus as our advocate.

5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God [a]is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

1 John 2:5-6 NKJV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9 ESV

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:1 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:16-18 ESV

12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[a] by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12 ESV

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