I have to tell you … Let me use myself as an illustration. When I finally understood this incredible doctrine that Jesus is our faithful and true Witness in the heavenly court, in the cosmic court, it changed my life, but not until I understood it. Only Kathy knows how much I was like Peter in my early days of being a Christian. That is to say, every day I was swearing, “This is the last time! This is the last time, God, I’m ever doing that!”
The next week, the next day, the next hour, I was doing it. Over and over and over again, always swearing and swearing until I was very much like Peter. “Absolutely I’m not going to do it. This time for sure.” And I would just do it again and again. When I heard about this great doctrine of Jesus Christ’s High Priesthood, that he’s the Advocate and he stands as a Representative before the Father, it didn’t console me and here’s why.
I figured something like this was happening up there. Jesus was coming before the Father and he says, “Father, it’s about Tim again. He did it again. Yesterday he promised he’d never, ever do it again, and he did it again.” The Father says, “Well, what should we do about it?” And Jesus says, “Would you just please give him one more chance?” That’s what I thought was happening. “Please give him one more chance, please? Be merciful to him just for me?”
And I thought the Father was saying, “Well, all right,” because I actually figured Jesus was up there as my Advocate and what he was doing was begging for mercy. In other words, he was like a defense attorney who has no case. When you have a client and you’re defending him and you have no case at all, all you can do is play on the emotions. All you can do is spin. All you can do is exploit. All you can do is manipulate.
All you can do is wheedle and cajole and just hope somehow you’re going to get some sympathy somewhere. You haven’t got a case and that’s what I thought he was. He was coming before the Father without a case saying, “Please give Tim mercy one more time,” and the Father was saying, “Well, all right.” It didn’t console me because I kept wondering, “How long could he keep that up?”
Then I read a sermon by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones on 1 John 1 and 2, which I just read you.
“We have an Advocate before the Father and therefore, if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” Lloyd-Jones said something to this effect, “Would you please notice Jesus Christ is not before the Father asking for mercy, because it says if we confess our sins when Jesus is our Advocate, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”
It doesn’t say he’s faithful and merciful. It doesn’t say he’s going to forgive us because he’s merciful. He’s going to forgive us because he’s just. Jesus the Advocate is not asking for mercy; he’s asking for justice. You say, “What?” What he’s actually doing is, “Father, it’s Tim again, but I’m not asking for mercy for what he’s done. You see that sin? I’ve paid for it. I paid for it fully. There is my blood. And Father, it would be unjust for you to get two payments for the same sin and therefore, he must never fall out of your family. He must never fall out of your love. He must never fall out of your arms. Father, I am not here asking for mercy for my client,” says Jesus Christ. “I’m asking for justice.”
That is an infallible case. I realized he wasn’t just asking for mercy, for me to have one more chance, but he was clothing me with his righteousness because in the earthly court, he was crushed by justice. So now justice is on our side, not just mercy. This is the reason John Bunyan finally understood this. We’re not just pardoned. We’re not just getting forgiveness for a while so we have one more chance, but now he’s our Representative. We’re clothed in his righteousness.
When God looks at us in Christ, he sees nothing but beauty and justice, the justice of God, which is infallible and the mountains are like dust in the scales next to the justice of God, says Isaiah. That is on our side now. Now there can be no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

"Trials In the Night" Mark 14:53-72 (Aug 7)