Advocate

Advocate renders the Greek parakletos — literally one called alongside — a term used in John's writings for both the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. In John 14:16, Jesus promises to ask the Father to send another Paraclete (implying that Jesus himself is the first), who will be with the disciples forever as the Spirit of truth. The Spirit as Advocate comes to teach, remind, convict, and guide into all truth (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7–15). The word encompassed in Greek usage the roles of counselor, intercessor, helper, and legal advocate.

In 1 John 2:1, the term is applied directly to the risen Christ: if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Here the forensic dimension is primary — Christ as the one who pleads the cause of sinners before the Father on the basis of his atoning sacrifice. The theological distinction between the Spirit's ongoing ministry of advocacy within the believer and Christ's heavenly intercession before the Father frames the New Testament's account of the triune God's work on behalf of those who believe.