Since these Scripture passages clearly show that propitiation is
necessary for sins both before and after conversion, they support the Catholic
concept of progressive justification as opposed to the Protestant concept of a
one-time forensic event. Christ the propitiator propitiates both past and
future sins. This process implies that the sinner must continually seek to have
his sins propitiated in order to receive the continuing mercy of the Father. To
promote a purely forensic notion of the propitiation, some Protestants have
seized upon the word “Advocate,” claiming that it portrays a legal
representative pleading a case before a judge (e.g., Michael Horton in: “What
Still Divides Us: A Protestant and Roman Catholic Debate,” Produced by:
Christians United For Reformation, March, 1995, audio tape series). The problem
with this view is twofold. First, as we have already noted, John is addressing
people who are already Christians — Christians who may fall into sin from time
to time. From the Protestant perspective, this would encompass the area of
sanctification, not justification. The Protestant claim that only justification
is forensic, and not sanctification, leaves no room to include forensic
categories in 1Jn 2:1-2. Second, the word “Advocate” is from the Greek παραλκητος,
and appears elsewhere in the New Testament only in reference to the
ministry of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). Since in
Protestant theology the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not forensic, it must be
conceded that “Advocate” is not necessarily a forensic term. Third, the context
of John’s epistle, identical to that of the verse in question, portrays God as “Father,”
not as legal magistrate (e.g., 1Jn 1:2, 3; 2:13, 15, 16, 23; 3:1). In an
effort to support the forensic view, Lutheran commentator Lenski points to the
usage in 1Jn 1:9 of the Greek noun δικαιος (“just”) to
describe the Father as “just,” that is, judicially disposed to forgive our sins
(Commentary on the First Epistle of John, p. 398). We must insist,
however, that the usage of “just” refers in the first place to the character of
God, not merely the model through which he relates to us. Similar usages of “just”
to describe God’s character appear in Hb 6:10, “For God is not unjust to forget
your work,” and in 1Pt 1:17, “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s
work impartially.” God is just to his children, as a father should be, treating
them fairly as they respond to his mercy. (Robert A. Sungenis, Not By Faith
Alone: The Biblical Evidence for the Catholic Doctrine of Justification [2d
ed.; State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International Publishing Inc., 2009]
378 n. 463)
