Advocacy of Christ

Pastor Martin presses deeper into the sacrifice of Christ by considering it under the category of propitiation. He establishes the necessity of the category from Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10, and Romans 3:25, then defines propitiation from Old Testament origin and classical Greek usage, illustrated from Jacob's appeasing Esau in Genesis 32 and Proverbs 16:14. He explains that propitiation presupposes the wrath of God — His aversion to sin, displeasure at the sinner, and will to avenge — and shows how Christ averted that wrath in His blood.

Pastor Martin expounds 1 John 2:1-2 to unfold Christ's heavenly ministry as the Advocate of His people. He shows that the believer's relationship to God is always both personal and legal, that Christ is advocate in God's courtroom pleading our case as the Righteous One who is Himself the propitiation. With illustrations from Amintas of Greece, he shows that the Advocate does not deny His client's guilt but pleads His own wounds, securing the just forgiveness of God. He closes urging believers never to live as if they had no advocate, and warns the unconverted what it means to face judgment without one.