Jesus Christ, as our Advocate, does two things: He pleads with the Father for us and He applies the word to us. The former work maintains our cause before the Father, if we sin. The application of the word to our souls elevates our practical state to match our standing, always maintained as sinless by the Advocate, who has made the propitiation. The failure in our practical state comes from the fact of our having two natures in one person. "With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Rom. 7:2525I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:25). And though by faith, and in spirit, we are no longer in the flesh, yet actually it is in us (though by faith we reckon it dead), hence the failure. There is no excuse, but the fact is, we fail. Our standing as children ever remains the same, even though we sin, owing to the righteous Advocate who has made propitiation.
“If any man sin, we have an advocate." But we have failed in our practical state—we are defiled. Our bodies are washed with pure water, that is true (Heb. 10:2222Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)); we have had once the washing [of resurrection] (Titus 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5)); we are born again (John 3:33Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)); we do not need, then, to be bathed all over again. John 13:1010Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. (John 13:10) reads in its literal translation, "He that is put into the bath needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.”
But we have sinned; we have had our feet defiled, as it were, in passing through this sin-defiled world. This will not do for the Father's presence. What does the Advocate do? He applies the word to us, washes our feet, and leads us to confession and self-judgment. The remembrance of our Advocate, who made propitiation, leads us back on our knees to our Father, who forgives us, and cleanses us from all our unrighteousness. We are cleansed according to what He is as the righteous One in the Father's presence. This is cleansing by the water of the word, not by blood, which is never repeated. It is the application of the death of Christ, through the word, to moral defilement, from the root of sin. Thus the blessed work of the Advocate is, on the one hand, to plead for the children before the Father if they sin; on the other hand, the work of the Advocate is to wash their feet with the word, to bring their practical walk and state up to their standing before Him.
How happy for us to be associated with the blessed Advocate! On the one hand we can plead for our brethren if they sin; on the other hand we can carry the word to them and wash their feet. May the Lord grant increasingly this grace, so that the saints may see their blessed privilege of love to cover sins (Prov. 10:1212Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. (Proverbs 10:12)), plead for their brethren if they sin, and act in faithfulness to them, in carrying the word to them, washing their feet, so that they may be cleansed from the defilement. We have as our model the blessed Lord Jesus Himself. He answered the devil when tempting Him to sin, by, "It is written." So should we. If we sin, thank God we can always answer Him by the blood of the Lamb, which is the balm for every wound.
The blood of the Lamb and the word, the sword of the Spirit, are our instruments against the devil down here, while the Advocate maintains our cause before the Father up in heaven. Thus in every case we are maintained, and are overcomers, "more than conquerors through Him that loved us." A.P. Cecil