I John 2:1-2

I John 2:1: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

I keep hammering away at this issue because in this day and age it is desperately needed. There is only one “propitiation for our sins”, and that is Jesus Christ. There is no other way to be saved apart from His sinless life, His death, and His resurrection. There is no other way. He died in our place, taking on Himself the punishment for our sins. We take on His righteousness. This is why our good deeds cannot save us: we had nothing to do with our salvation. Our good deeds count for nothing. We are dressed in His righteousness, not our own.

These days this idea that “Jesus saves” is viewed as controversial and extremist. Yet that is exactly what the Bible teaches, and is what it has always taught. There is no other way to be saved. In order to be saved your sins must be paid for, and the only way that can happen is if someone else steps in and takes your punishment. The only person who can do that is someone who has never sinned and therefore has no sins of their own to suffer for. Jesus is the only person who meets this criteria.

I read today that 25% of people who call themselves Christians do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead. This means that they are not Christians at all, because in order to be saved you must believe in the resurrection:

Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

There you have it.

Now, does I John 2:2 mean that everyone is saved, since Jesus was offered “for the sins of the whole world”? No, it does not. Jesus Himself said that few people will be saved, and most will go on to destruction:

Matthew 7:13: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:”

Over and over again Jesus urges people to repent, believe, and be saved. If His death automatically saved everyone then that would not be necessary. He was offered for the sins of the world, but few will believe in Him and therefore few will be saved.

Jesus is our advocate with the Father; He is the one who grants forgiveness for our sins – not some Catholic priest. Nor are our sins wiped away by doing some good deeds. Forgiveness can only come through Jesus. There is no other way to God, and there is no other way to be saved. Period.