How can Christ be our advocate and judge at the same time?

What specifically according to the Bible is Christ's role in heaven now after His ascension, and how could he act as our advocate and also our judge?

Because He is 100% honest :-)

Perhaps He is our Advocate now and will be our Judge after probation closes?

I think the only way He can do His job is to be both Advocate and Judge at the same time.

An advocate is one who promotes the interests of another. IOW, the advocate wants the best outcome possible for the one for whom he is advocating.

The Greek word for "advocate" in the Bible is "paraklētos." 80% of the time, that is translated "comforter" and is used for the Holy Spirit. From this angle, an advocate is one who does his best to provide comfort. Or IOW, he does his best to prevent you from experiencing discomfort.

So let's say the one being advocated for by Jesus is a born-again saint. What would be the most comfortable, least uncomfortable, best outcome for him? That's easy: eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

Now let's say the one being advocated for is an unrepentant sinner. What would be the most comfortable, least uncomfortable, best outcome for him? Would it be eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord? No. God's presence would be torture for him. But since God will be all-encompassing and ever-present when everything is made new, there will be no place for him to hide. The most comfortable outcome for the unrepentant sinner would be the respite of death. (Rom 6:23)

As our Advocate, Jesus wants the best outcome for us, whether it is eternal life or eternal death. As our Judge, He has the power to decide which is which, and effect the best outcome.

Rosangela and Arnold,

Where are your texts to support your thoughts?

It is my understanding that Christ is our Advocate now. The Father is the Judge now. Christ, as our Advocate, pleads His blood on our behalf before the Judge. He cannot be pleading to Himself. That would make no sense at all.

It's a bit like trying to say the Holy Spirit is just a form of God's presence and then trying to explain to me why God needs to translate our prayers to Himself before He can understand them. Obviously, we are talking about two separate Beings here. (See Romans 8:26.)

Likewise, Advocate and Judge are two separate roles which require two separate Beings to take those roles.

Christ is both Advocate and Judge in a different sense--or time, as the case may be. He is now our Advocate. After the investigative judgment is finished, He will then be the Judge for the final judgment. He is the only One who is worthy to open the book with the seven seals as requested in Revelation 5:2. It is later proclaimed of Him "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power...." This appears to be His promotion to Judge, and the time for it is upon opening the book of the seven seals. The seven last plagues follow the opening of the seventh seal.

That, at least, is how I would answer the question.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

That's what I said, but I said "perhaps" because the Bible says both that "the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22) and that "And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Rev. 3:5).
But in fact, in ancient Israel there were no prosecutors or defense attorneys; accuser and accused argued their own cases. And, by deciding in its favor, the judge himself was defending the right party.
So I was favorably inclined to Arnold's position, and now I think I've found a passage which seems to confirm its correctness:

Can you, dear youth, look forward with joyful hope and expectation to the time when the Lord, your righteous Judge, shall confess your name before the Father and before the holy angels? {OHC 368.2}

Besides this, there is the classical passage:

And Christ has been made our Judge. The Father is not the Judge. The angels are not. He who took humanity upon Himself, and in this world lived a perfect life, is to judge us. He only can be our Judge. Will you remember this, brethren? Will you remember it, ministers? Will you remember it, fathers and mothers? Christ took humanity that He might be our Judge. CCh, 259

Along with R's quotes...

John 5:22
For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

John 5:26-27
For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.

Romans 14:10
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

2 Timothy 4:1
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

Revelation 19:11
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

Some interesting quotes Rosangela presented. There are other quotes that appear to contradict them. This, then, seems to be the core question of this thread. I go back to my "time" interpretation. BOTH the Father and the Son are judges. When Mrs. White speaks of Jesus judging us, it may be in a different sense--for example, we are judged by His perfect character.



It is interesting that the "Ancient of Days" is declared to be God the Father, and it is He who "is to preside in the Judgment"...the "great tribunal."

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Perhaps the work of "judge" is not as compartmentalized as we tend to think. It may be that they are both judges, but in different aspects - not necessarily with respect to time, but to the object being judged.

If we think of what a judge is supposed to do, notwithstanding our frail human approximation to the ideal, then it wouldn't be so strange that the Judge can also be the Advocate. The American system bears little resemblance to it because it requires some level of deceit from the advocates.

No matter who is the Judge, doesn't both the Father and the Son want us to be with them in Heaven and on the New Earth?

I remember a time when I was about 14 yrs old and I got in trouble with the law and was brought to the police station for questioning. My parents came to get me and that's when I learned about my father being my advocate, which surprised me. Most of the time when I came in late he was my judge and I learned what punishment was

Sure, but every time I discuss the subject of IJ I'm approached with this question and it bothers me not to be able to provide a definitive answer.

Another passage:

He [the Lord] would have them [the people] realize man's accountability and responsibility in view of the future judgment. Then our Redeemer and Advocate will be our Judge. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 6}

Norman, this forum has 1223 registered users, but the great majority of them doesn't participate in the discussions. It's refreshing to see a new member making contributions. I hope you become a regular poster.

Hi Rosangela,

If you look at Samuel, he was a priest and a judge and so were the high priests. If you remember there were 6 cities of refuge set up for people to run to if they killed someone accidentally. The High Priest would here the case and make a ruling. Go back a little and you have Moses as the priest of the Israelites and he was their judge as well. The priest also made a declaration of those who were clean, that is judging.

All these are shadows of what Jesus would do. Just look at Revelation 14: 6 & 7 where you see a judgement going on while the Gospel is still being preached. If it is being preached then there must be a High Priest and Jesus is the One. Revelation 11:19 Tells us where Jesus is; The Most Holy Place. "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."

Jesus can do more than one thing at a time, after all He is God. I believe this verse reveals that Jesus is both Judge and High Priest. Psalm 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Mercy comes from a priest and a judge, Truth comes from a priest and a judge, righteousness comes from a priest and a judge, and peace comes from a priest and a judge.


Norman

I can't say that I will be a regular here because soon I am planning on taking some courses and that will restrict my time. The issue I have is that I tend to post long answers that take time and thought. I tune out and focus on my responses and have a hard time not getting annoyed when I'm interrupted. If I can learn to shorten that process that will help.

Norman

You will only learn if you practice, and you will only practice by participating in the discussions.

Norman,

Christ will be the Judge at the final judgment - not the Father. But who is the Judge at the IJ? The Father or Christ? The EGW quotes seem ambiguous.

Hi Rosangela,

these verses came to mind,

John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.

John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Notice that the reason Jesus does this is because He became one of us, "because He is the Son of man"

Norman

Yes, but take a look at the quote provided in post #152706 above, from GC 479.2.

Unless we understand this in the sense that the Father is the Judge but He chose to delegate the performance of this duty to His Son?

It seems to me from what I've read here that there is a sharing of the rulings/judgments. God was the judge of Christ during His life on earth and at the cross. No one else could do that and Christ certainly couldn't be His own judge in that instance.

They both have to be Judging because Jesus made us a promise...Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Getting back to those who question you about Jesus being a judge, sometimes answering a direct question isn't the best way to communicate the truth. This is especially true if the question is asked on a false premise. For example if someone asks you to explain, "Why did God take my child?"

I wouldn't answer that question because we know that this is not God's doing. Rather I would point them to God's love and explain at the appropriate time that God's will is not being done in earth as it is in heaven and show them the Lord's prayer so they could see it for themselves. They should be able to relate to it because just about everyone has heard it, at least in Canada and USA.

So to answer someone who is questioning you about Christ being a judge I personally wouldn't answer that question but take it from a discussion level to a personal level. Friend, how would it go for you if your name came up in judgment? That's the real issue, who is judging them is not as important to their salvation and you'd be doing them a favor because you would be causing them to evaluate their own lives and relationship with God..


Norman

Norman pointed out that the priests determined who was clean or unclean. This reminded me of the SS lesson on leprosy a couple of weeks ago. The suspected leper went to the priest to be inspected. The priest checked the symptoms and decided the person's fate.

That is pretty close to what I believe Jesus does in the IJ. Every sinner passes before Him and He inspects the symptoms, then He decides their eternal fate. Why Him instead of God? As John 5 says, God "has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." Of the three Eternal Dignitaries, only Jesus is the Son of Man.

So in what sense does God "preside" over the Judgment? Perhaps it is in the sense that the Supreme Court "presides" over the entire U.S. judicial system. Most trials do not have a Supreme Court Justice present, but they are under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

WDYT?

Norman, people who ask me this generally aren't sincere people interested in the truth. They generally are EGW critics interested in pitting her against the Bible.

Good. I liked the explanation.

The quotes with God as Judge are usually in the context of Jesus being judged. The quotes with Jesus as Judge are usually in the context of sinners being judged. Is that significant? Maybe.