He Is Our Advocate

The Holy Spirit | The God I Never Knew

Jun 25, 2023

Holy Spirit 2023 Series:

black cross on brown wooden table — Photo by Sandra Dempsey on Unsplash

The Holy Spirit Pleads Our Case

The ministry of the Holy Spirit as our advocate, our attorney or lawyer, can comfort us a great deal. Where does the concept for His ministry as our advocate come from?

John 14:16 (ESV)
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever

The Koinē Greek word “parakletos” means helper, counselor, comforter, a legal advocate. And yes, Jesus is our advocate through His work of redemption on our behalf (see 1 John 2:1). Because Jesus knew He was returning to heaven (in His resurrection body), He asked Father God to give us another “parakletos”, another advocate, who lives inside us.

Why do we, the redeemed, need another advocate?

Romans 8:1-4 (ESV)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Great news, right?

And yet, despite what God’s word says in the verses above, and in other verses throughout the New Testament, we redeemed children of God are still in our human flesh, in our earthly weakness. We need another advocate because we can be our own worst prosecutors in our thoughts. Or, the evil ones will also accuse us because they hate Christ who defeated them once and for all time.

Some examples of accusations from either ourselves or from our spiritual enemies could be:

“You’re such a bad person for saying those mean things to her. You’re the worst.”
“What kind of Christian are you if you’re harboring unforgiveness in your heart?”
“You’re such a weak believer for falling into that temptation…yet again!”
“You’re supposed to love your enemies and pray for them, but you don’t. You hate them.”
“You say that you trust God, but you’re filled with worry and anxiety over your circumstances. What kind of Christian are you?”

In Romans 7:13-25, the chapter that comes before the verses quoted above, Paul talks about the struggles to live according to God’s righteousness that we believers experience, even with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Romans 7:24 (ESV)
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Have you ever felt this way? Have you either been your own worst prosecutor, or have you experienced demonic, evil oppression that accuses you?

I have been, and I have experienced evil oppression.

Who will deliver you and me?

Romans 7:25a (ESV)
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

We need help while we’re in our flesh, and our Lord knows that. The Holy Spirit’s ministry as our advocate includes transforming us to be more like Christ and helping us on this journey of a lifetime. With this in mind, He defends us against our enemy’s accusations, or even our own, through the transforming power of Father God’s truth found in His word.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV)
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Did you notice in the verses from Ezekiel how many times God says “I will”? Four times. Hmm. That reminds me of something: He who began a good work in you will… do…. what? Do you remember? (See Phillippians 1:6)

God has given you a new heart. The indwelling Holy Spirit’s job is to help you live with God’s new heart beating in you, God’s new life in you. As your helper, He also knows your weaknesses. All He needs from you is for you to respond to His encouragement, to His counsel. That’s what it means to obey…respond to God’s truth and walk in it as best as you can.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (ESV)
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

In the court room of your own accusations, or in the court room of the lies of your spiritual enemies, your defense attorney that God the Father has sent to live in you, in response to God the Son’s request, pleads your case against all of the accusations by reminding you of God’s truth.

John 14:26-27 (ESV)
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

That’s His job, His ministry.

Let’s walk in His truth.

Your Turn

Are you listening to the Holy Spirit? Will you surrender the accusations and lies to Him and let Him transform you by pleading your case from God’s word?

You are no longer under God’s condemnation. You are delivered from sin and death. You are free, truly and abundantly set free.

You are loved, deeply cherished by God.

The Holy Spirit, your advocate, wants to minister to you through God’s truth about you and about your Lord.

Who you are and Whose you are.

This is your journey of a lifetime, and He has wonders to reveal to you.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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