He Took Away Our Sins: 1 John 2.1-6

Our Payment

We live in a world of credit and debt. For most of us its inevitable. Whether its a house, college, a car, credit cards or some other item we end up owing money to various different places. The hope is of course that you don't owe more money than you have coming in and that you can pay down those debts until one day you are free from their burden. Debt may be inevitable for various things, but we always long for the day when debt no longer weighs us down and we are free to do other more rewarding things with our time and money.  

There is another debt which we all owe. It's nothing we bought, nor is it from any loan we received, rather it is a spiritual debt inherited from our parents. Scripture testifies that because of sin, there is a deep separation between God and man. There is a debt so great that no human is able to pay, that is, the debt against us not only for the wrongs which we committed, but our state of being which stands in rebellion against God. Without proper payment, that debt will be judged unpaid and the sentence over that non-payment declared. Only God is worthy of being this judge, so what hope do we have for payment? Thankfully, only God is worthy of making payment on our behalf as well. 

Our Promise 

If our debt is so massive, in fact beyond calculation, who could possibly pay such a payment? John tells us; Jesus Christ the righteous. Chapter 2 of 1 John begins with a promise: Jesus Christ is our advocate and our payment for sin. He alone is qualified. John tells us this, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world"
(1 John 2:2 ESV). The word he uses is propitiation, a word you don't use in everyday conversation I'm betting! But what a beautiful word!  Propitiation refers to a necessary payment, and we see it explicitly in the Old Testament revolving around the Day of Atonement.  We see in Exodus 30 a provision for God's people that the High Priest would come into God's presence and offer a sacrifice for the removal of the people's sins. This was to be a yearly occurrence, when all the people's sins would be forgiven. They would be given a promise of forgiveness and be reminded of God's goodness.   

John is telling us here that Jesus himself is our means of forgiveness, that which was necessary to make payment for our sin. And this is not a yearly event, but a once and for all event which echoes through the ages and is applied to all who come to Christ through faith. He also stands before God on our behalf constantly pleading our case. Not that God needs to be reminded of who belongs to him, but the picture John paints should cause us to rejoice. Christ is doing the work on our behalf! John is not saying that it's Christ plus something we do; he's saying it's Christ alone! We are the ones in need of this propitiation and advocacy yet due to the size of the debt, we couldn't possibly repay it. The person of Jesus Christ, God in flesh, is himself the sacrifice necessary to make atonement for people's sins before God and to pay that debt. What God demands, God delivers! We can't possibly pay that price, and this is what John is reminding readers of here, Christ alone is our payment and promise and we are to follow that through love and obedience. 

Our Practice 

What is someone's response when a debt has been paid? I know my response is sheer joy! "Finally, I can move on to something else! I can use my time, energy and resources towards another goal!" When someone is released from a debt, the natural reaction is joy and a sense of freedom. Perhaps if the debt was due to selfish spending, we might learn from that debt and seek to spend our money more wisely. There is much perspective that can be gained after coming out from under such a burden. The same should be said for believers in Christ who have had their burden of sin removed. This debt was something which only God himself was capable of removing, so like we would with someone who might pay off an earthly debt, we turn our gratitude to the one who has paid that debt. Because of the infinite nature of our once heavy spiritual burden, our response should be infinite gratitude. John relates this to love and obedience.

Those covered by the blood of Christ are recognized by love and obedience. This is an emphasis which John places later on in his epistle, but we see him beginning to make that emphasis here in the first few verses of chapter 2. He says, "And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments" (1 John 2:3 ESV). In the Old Testament, God's forgiveness was intended to drive people to love and obedience. The same goes for the people of God in this age. Obedience to God is infinitely more rewarding than obedience to sin, and John relates those who have been forgiven to obedience towards what God commands. The one who has relieved our debt does not dangle it over our heads taunting us, but rather we are reminded of his infinite grace which was shown to us and our response is obedience to him. As John tells us, "but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected" (1 John 2:5 ESV). The desire of God's people is to love and obey him because he loved us. 

So What?

When a debt has been paid, we rejoice. The same should be said for our spiritual debt, and the rejoicing even more great! The burden of sin is removed and we are now free. John tells us that Christ himself is that payment, and that our love and obedience to him is naturally due. No longer is a once-a-year sacrifice required as in the Old, but Christ is the ultimate atonement that is good for all eternity for all who come to him. God's people do no grow sour at the commands of God, but rather they come alive when they obey and realize how infinitely greater God's loving commands are towards his people. May we rejoice for our propitiation who is Christ and may we seek to live in a manner worthy of the gospel this week!