Simul Justus et Peccator

I want to preface my message this morning with a few things. Over the past couple weeks this subject has come up numerous times. After church last Sunday I thought about this quite a bit and then Monday morning in a daily devotional I receive, the topic was Simul Justus et Peccator. I knew when I saw this, the other message topic I had planned needed to be set aside, and the Lord obviously had other ideas.

PRAY

Simul Justus et Peccator is a principle which Martin Luther developed simply meaning simultaneously righteous and a sinner. That is to mean that a genuine believer in Christ is simultaneously righteous (justus) in the sight of God through faith in Christ, having received His imputed righteousness, and a sinner(peccator) in his own sinful flesh, which remains unchanged even after conversion.

As I was praying through putting this message together I realized that I understood the principle, but so many other men who came before me exposited it so much better than I did. So I will be quoting and using material from numerous sources, including Luther, Macarthur, Spurgeon and others, but the most perfect source is the word of our Lord, the Holy Scriptures. When we need clarity or understanding we only need to turn to the word of God. It is divine, perfect and infallible. When we turn to scripture, it removes the most untrustworthy method of interpreting God’s plan and will. Us. When God speaks through His word, we know it is true. When the scripture says it, our opinion and feelings no longer matter.

JUSTUS

We are righteous in God’s sight, this is our identity in Christ.

Paul says in Romans 3:28 “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

He is emphasizing that justification, being declared righteous by God is a gift from God, through faith in His Son, not earned by good works or odedience to the law. We cannot earn God’s favor by keeping the law, only by faith, salvation being a free gift.

Paul also says in Romans 4:5 “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the wicked, his faith is counted as righteousness,”

Who does He justify? The wicked. And who are the wicked? WE ARE

Through His grace and mercy, God counts faith as righteousness, not works.

Abraham is a perfect example of this. He was a sinner, a liar. He was fearful, choosing his safety over honesty and trust in God. Yet even before the law, God justified him, because of his faith, despite his sin.

Justification is imputed to us through faith alone, its not about a perfect record of our works, or sinless behavior, but about faith in Christ, and His work.

As those who are justified, our salvation is secure. Does anyone doubt that what God started He will bring to fruition?

In Romans 8:1 Paul assures us in this truth when he says “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

NO CONDEMNATION

AS believers we are free from God’s condemnation. FREE

Can we fully grasp the amazing transformative power of Christ’s sacrifice, removing the penalty of sin for us?

Not just a quick wipe, a cursory scrub, REMOVING IT. GONE. DONE.

He set us free from the law of sin and death, and we are no longer subject to its consequences.

Those have put their faith in Him and are united with Him and the Holy Spirit are in Christ. And we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to move away from the flesh, and to a life guided by the Spirit, and is pleasing to God.

PECCATOR

A sinner, in his own sinful flesh, which remains unchanged even after conversion.

WE are sinners, of that there is no doubt. We are wretched sinners in need of a savior.

Again we turn to Paul in Romans 7:18–19 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

Here Paul is addressing the internal struggle between our desire to do good and the reality of sin’s influence. Between our old nature and our new nature.

This passage hammers home our need for God’s grace, and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in us to overcome the power of sin and live a life pleasing to God. This is a lifelong process driven by God’s timing and we can do nothing without the Holy Spirit’s work in us. But He will complete the work He has started. The battle rages on always, as we wrestle with our old nature, always striving for a life pleasing to God.