Do not sin! But if you do, do this...
The purpose of the Word of God is to give us new life and power for living victoriously every day. Jesus gave His life to make this possible for us. We should expect to live in victory everyday, this is the meaning of John's statement, "These things I write to you, so that you may not sin." We do not focus on trying not to sin. We focus on doing the things written in the Word of God.
John also speaks to the reality of living when he writes: "If anyone sins, we have an Advocate…" The reality is that we sometimes "miss the mark," which is the best definition of sin. An advocate is one who represents you, like a lawyer. Basically John is saying, "Do not sin. But if you do, don't run away, run to Jesus!"
"Jesus Christ the Righteous" is always there for you.
