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Simul justus et peccator – Was ist das? What is this?
Simul justus et peccator is a Latin phrase translated: “Simultaneously just and sinful.” It describes how we are “simultaneously saint (holy) and sinner.” This Latin phrase was used by Luther and other Reformers to describe who we as Christians are at the same time justified (righteous) in God’s eyes because of Jesus, and yet we struggle with sin our entire life until we go to heaven.
This spiritual battle and struggle with sin is present and evident in all of God’s chosen servants throughout the entire Bible. God uses sinful, imperfect human beings for His perfect purposes and plans. For example, Peter is a prime case study in what it means to be a “saint and a sinner” at the same time. Peter was chosen by Jesus to follow him as a Disciple (Matthew 4:18-19). At Caesarea Philippi surrounded by pagan temples, Peter was empowered by God’s Spirit to confess Jesus as “the Christ,” the Chosen One of God sent to save sinful humanity. Immediately after Peter’s bold confession, Jesus predicted His coming suffering and death in Jerusalem. Peter reacted by attempting to convince Jesus to avoid His mission and path of suffering. Jesus bluntly responded to Peter: “Get behind me Satan! For you are not setting your heart on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Mark 8:27-33).
Later after Jesus was arrested, Peter also denied he even knew Jesus (Mark 14:66-72). When Peter heard the rooster crow, he was devastated and repented for failing and abandoning Jesus. Peter was later restored and forgiven by His risen Lord and Savior (see John 21:1-19). Yes, Peter was simultaneously a saint and a sinner—like us!
Luther points out in 1531 during his lectures on Galatians there are many examples in Scripture of chosen, forgiven, saved servants of God—those made holy by the blood of Jesus and called saints--who still struggle with sin. Luther wrote:
Luke testifies (Acts 15:39) that a dissension so sharp arose between Paul and Barnabas…that one left the other. Here either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must have been a violent disagreement to separate these associates who were so closely united. Indeed, the text indicates as much.
Such examples are written for our consolation; for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also sin. Of this comfort those would deprive us who say that saints do not sin. Samson, David, and many other celebrated servants full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth (Job 3:3 ff; Jer. 20:14); Elijah and Jonah are weary of life and desire death (I Kings 19:4; Jonah 4:8).
No human has ever fallen so grievously but that he might have risen again. Conversely, no man stands so firmly but that he may fall. If Peter fell, I, too, may fall; if he rose again, I, too, may rise again (Matt. 26:70). (What Luther Says, p.1249-50 #3985)
Paul describes the internal spiritual struggle with sin that every Christian faces in Romans 7:
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 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. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
It may sound like a paradox, but it is true: We are all saints and sinners at the same time. As people of God who are simultaneously saints and sinners, we daily repent of our sin(s), and we receive Christ’s forgiveness.
As saints and sinners, we are reminded of our struggle with sin as we recall the story of King David. He was a saint chosen and made holy by God to defeat the giant Goliath and the Philistines and lead the people of Israel. Nevertheless, saint David was a sinner. He had an affair with Bathsheba and arranged to have her husband killed. God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about his horrible sins (see 2 Samuel 12), and David was devastated and repented. In the same way, our Holy God Who abhors sin is also our merciful, gracious, loving God Who forgave David and also forgives sinners like us.
We cry out with our fellow saint and sinner David using the words God inspired him to write in Psalm 51:
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Amen.
Source(s) of Quotes and Notes:
NOTE: An excellent website that provides a convenient and easy way to look up Bible passages is: www.Bibilegateway.com
What Luther Says. Compiled by Ewald M. Plass. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis: 1959; Eighth printing 1986. It is an impressive collection of over 5,000 Luther quotes translated from the authoritative Weimar and St. Louis editions of Luther’s writings.
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations used in this Faith Focus are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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