Christ Jesus: Our Defender

OUR DEFENDER – by Stephanie M. White

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 1 John 2:1 NIV

The Word was written to us; it’s our weapon against our flesh and the sin our flesh produces. David said that he hid the Word in his heart to keep him from sin (Psalm 119:11). Sin can be avoided through our consistent intake of the Word; unfortunately, sin is never avoided entirely. We’re in a Spiritual battle and we decide which nature controls us based on what we do with the Word. There will be days when we ignore the Word and sin will reign – what happens on those days?

John tells us that when we sin we have a defender. Jesus Christ is speaking in our defense when we sin. Wow! How many of us truly believe that? Many times we believe that we cannot go to God when we yield to our flesh; we believe that He is against us. God’s Word is telling us the opposite, though. When we find ourselves in sin we can come boldly to the throne for the help we need because Jesus is our righteousness; He earned our right to come to God because we never could. Apart from Christ we can do nothing of Spiritual value. We need Him! Our flesh should open our eyes to our need for the Word in our lives; it should lead us into the open arms of Christ! If your flesh is keeping your from God, then it’s being perverted. Your sin should emphasize your need for Christ and lead you to your Defender! We cannot overcome sin without Him!