Simul Iustus Et Peccator - Saint/Sinner Juxtaposition

Simul Iustus Et Peccator means simultaneously saint and sinner.

Throughout my own daily struggles as well as observing the struggles of others who profess to be Christians, I am realizing to a greater and greater degree how hard the struggle over simul iustus et peccator really is. The Saint/Sinner conflict is very much real. Rightly understanding this juxtaposition is very important to understanding the tension of life as a Christian in a fallen world.

This conflict makes it hard to hear so as to be moved to a better understanding of God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus. It hinders us from hearing the clarity of both the Law and the Gospel applied to us so as to move us into the life of the freedom of God’s grace.

This is a universal problem. This is the struggle that all of us Saint/Sinners encounter continually. St. Paul describes this from his own experience as a war within himself. It is a battle that only God can win for us. In fact, He already has, but His victory has to be applied to us in such a way as to make His victory what we realize in our hearts, spirits, and minds, in our total soul/being.

Acknowledgment of the Saint/Sinner juxtaposition is not an excuse for sin, but rather is an explanation for the ongoing struggle that the saints experience in their lives.

We are sinners from our conception because of the separation that Adam chose for us all. There is no escaping this. As long as humans are born into the world this will continue. But God has intervened by being born as the God/Man, Christ Jesus. He took our sin-death and rose from it so that through Baptism we would be regenerated as members of His holiness, made to be communicants of His very body.

The Gospel is the power through which He accomplishes this for us. When the Gospel enters us and enlivens our heart and soul through faith in His mercy and grace in Christ, we are declared to be saints, God’s holies. We are converted from sinner to saint.

But the Old Adam remains in our flesh. The spirit has been freed, but our sinful nature that has been flushed from our spirit still inheres in our flesh. It will remain until our bodies die, or until they are transformed at Christ’s return. Until then, our sinful nature is still at work in our members (our bodily existence).

The Law stands before us and reminds us of this. The Old Adam loves the Law, so long as he is the one wielding it. Then he can use it as he chooses. He loves to tell others that they need to change their abusive ways. But he does not like it when it comes back to himself.

The saint has no use for the Law, except to see God’s holiness and glory. The saint hears the Law and turns away to Christ, confessing sinfulness and the need for forgiveness and healing.

But the sinful nature does not want forgiveness. The sinful nature wants to pretend that it only needs help rectifying one’s wrongs, as if doing better was the goal.

The devil loves this. Then Satan comes forward and shows the saint his sinful nature and continual failing to live in perfect accord with the Law and says: “Ha. You see! You’re not really a saint after all! You’re really just a God damned sinner!”

And according to one’s own actions, one can only despair. For even one’s own conscience makes the same undeniable accusation. This is why the divine service begins with us confessing this very thing.

Seeking to obey the Law cannot make us righteous and cannot lift the burden from us. When we seek to live by the Law, we place ourselves back under the Law.

But when we walk in spirit, our spirit, having been regenerated by the Holy Spirit in our baptism, turns entirely from the Law to Christ and sees His righteousness poured out through His body in the preaching and through His blood in the Holy Supper. In the Supper we actually partake of His body so that we know that we are united with Him in His body and that in His blood His righteousness is given to us as our sins are forgiven us so that we rise up as saints, purely by His grace.

St. Peter explains that through Baptism we are given the good conscience before God so that we may live in His Holy Communion. This is our answer to the Old Adam and to the accusations of the devil and our flesh.

We cannot find peace through attempts at obeying the Law. Such attempts always bind us again to the requirements of the Law. But walking in spirit our spirit hears the continual calling and urging of the Holy Spirit who speaks to our spirit and even calls out on our behalf, Abba! Pater! (Both Hebrew and Greek words for Father).

In this way the Lord gives us the freedom to live in His love. And yes, we see how the Lord has loved us and continues to love us and we then love one another as He has loved us. But we don’t approach this as a goal. We don’t seek this as something to obey. Rather, this is now our identity. We love as the outflow of God’s love at work in us.

But our sinful nature rebels. Our spirit truly desires to love, but the Old Adam rises up in hatred and vengeance. The Old Adam does not forgive his abusers. He wants them to pay. So he drags out the commandments to show that they are guilty. Then he tries to show himself as one who tries to obey. But the Law never loses its capacity to show sin and so the person is again under the Law.

But the Holy Spirit is faithful. He searches the saint’s heart and speaks to the spirit and turns the person again and again to the Gospel, the promise that in Christ we are declared righteous and free. And so the saint eagerly looks to the next offering of the Lord’s body and blood and receives the renewal in God’s grace with a thankful heart. Then love again prevails and the peace of God guards the heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

This is why understanding the Saint/Sinner juxtaposition is the answer to living in love. For when we preach the Law, we realize that we need to hear it first for ourselves, so that we are eager to hear the Gospel. Then, when we preach the Law to others, the Gospel will be our motive with them, too.

Christ is our obedience. He is our righteousness. He is our Life. He is our Love. In Him we are justified and sanctified and converted.

When we seek to make ourselves or others better through the preaching of obedience to the Law, we turn away from the Gospel. But when we preach the Law to ourselves and others as that which shows us God’s holiness which can be ours only through the Gospel, this changes how we perceive and deal with both ourselves and others. It sets us free to live in God’s love and to love by His love.

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Learning to say “No” Again

A few posts below is yesterday’s post entitled Learning to say “No”. Today I will address the other side of the coin, so to speak. While it most certainly is true that the Lord is able to supply whatever is needed so that one is enabled to help one’s neighbor when the Lord leads one so to do, is there ever a time when the Lord would have a person to say “No”? Another way of asking this is: Is it ever wrong to help one’s neighbor?

While this question may sound peculiar or even absurd, the answer is actually a very powerful YES. There are times when helping one’s neighbor can be contrary to God’s will.

For example, if one’s neighbor is robbing a convenience store. It would be wrong to help the neighbor to commit this crime, even if the neighbor is homeless and without food and shelter and is unable to obtain employment and has been turned away from every shelter and food pantry.

Another example, an example that may not seem quite so obvious, is when helping one’s neighbor causes one to steal from one’s spouse the devotion and commitment that the Lord commands. If I, for example, allow my helping of my neighbor to keep me from doing what my business requires for staying in business and paying the bills, I have robbed my wife, just as much as if I helped my neighbor rob the convenience store of money or goods would be stealing. Moreover, my customers are looking to me to help them, and they have a prior commitment from me. If I help my neighbor to such a degree that I do not fulfill my commitment to help my customers in a timely manner, I have robbed them.

So what do I do? My neighbor needs help. My customers need for me to fulfill my commitments. My wife needs for me to be a devoted husband and faithful provider.

How can I not fail? How can I keep from sinning through omission? How can I keep from neglecting someone?

The sad fact is that I cannot. My wife is very forgiving, as are my very kind customers, but that does not change the fact that I let them down with choices to elevate the needs of a needy neighbor above their needs. And, if I move the other direction and refuse to help a needy neighbor in order to fulfill my previous commitments, I still fail in helping my neighbor.

Either way I am wrong. Either way I sin.

This is the broken condition of the world ever since sin interrupted the Lord’s plan and design for us. This is why we cannot begin to be righteous by our own efforts and works. Moreover and even more importantly, all of our efforts and works are corrupted by our sinfulness. Even when we do good, it still is lacking in proper motive and love. Our sinfulness permeates our entire being as well as all of our thoughts, words, and deeds. This is why our only hope is Jesus. Jesus alone can save us for He alone is perfect. Our works can never make things right. Only His works make things right. Only His works merit salvation.

This is why Luther became so agitated regarding indulgences and other false doctrine regarding mingling one’s own works with the works of Christ in the desire to obtain merit before God, so that he challenged his fellow theologians with his Ninety-five Theses. On October 31, 1517 he nailed his theses to the church door, not realizing what fireworks would ensue. This little action was used by God to bring about a mighty change. Much of what Luther wrote was still terribly lacking, but his questions did open people’s eyes and hearts to realize that the Gospel by which we are saved is not about our works, but the works of God in Christ.

And this is how we are empowered to face each and every day. Knowing full well that none of our works are meritorious in any degree, we rise each morning and look to the Lord as our gracious God and Savior, trusting that He will work good for us and in us and through us despite our sinfulness. And we go forth boldly, knowing that even our best efforts are still corrupt and sinful, and yet reckoned by God as holy for Christ’s sake. And so, moved by God’s own love we help our neighbor knowing that we will sin against wife and customer. And sometimes, we refuse to help our neighbor, because we have obligations that simply must be fulfilled, and so we turn away our needy neighbor, at least for the time being. In every case, we trust God’s forgiveness and seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct us in our conscience and make the best decision that we are able and go forth and “sin boldly.” This does not mean that we willfully sin. It means that knowing that our actions cannot be without sin inhering to even our best efforts, we go forth in God’s grace, loving wife and customer and neighbor and trusting that for Christ’s sake our shortcomings are counted as full and holy and good. And so in the evening we again confess our sinfulness and beseech God’s merciful forgiveness for Christ’s sake and go to sleep in the assurance of the peace that only God can give.

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Let’s Argue!

What kind of a fool sees an argument in progress and imagines that he can enter into it peacefully? What kind of a fool imagines that something productive can come from an argument? What kind of a fool imagines that his opponent in an argument will actually listen?

This is what I am asking regarding myself.

I cannot count the number of arguments in which I have been a participant. Was anything ever accomplished? Was there ever a positive outcome?

What a fool!

What is the purpose of an argument? To WIN! To press one’s position over another person’s position! To show oneself to be right or more right (as if there were such a thing) than another. To show oneself to be smarter. To prove . . . whatever.

Does anyone truly listen in an argument?

Only a fool expects to be heard in an argument.

As soon as true listening or hearing takes place, the argument is over.

Once listening begins, arguing ceases and discussion begins.

But listening requires voluntary subjugation to another. Listening requires counting the other person as more important than self.

Is there any place among saints for arguing?

Removing the Mote and the Beam

In the post below I quote the Lord Jesus saying in Matthew 7:3-5:

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Pondering this saying of the Lord Jesus in connection with this week’s challenge with my own eye, I realized the depth of the problem that the Lord is addressing in this matter.  As many times as I have heard and read and studied this text, somehow the main point seems to have evaded my awareness.  I usually consider the main point of the text to be that the beam in my own eye is to be counted as far larger and important than the mote in my brother’s eye and that I must remove my problem before even thinking of my brother’s problem, which is far less significant to me personally than my own problem.  And this really is the point that the Lord Jesus makes.

However, there is another point that is perhaps even more important.  What could be more important than what is already stated?

The bigger and more important point is the one that I learned again as I tried to remove the wood from my own eye and to evaluate the injury to my own eye.  The fact is that I am not up to the task.  I am not capable of rightly dealing with the beam in my own eye, let alone the mote in my brother’s eye.

This really is the main point of what the Lord Jesus is teaching in this text.  If we are turned from our hypocrisy of trying to remove the mote from our brothers’ eyes so that we attempt to remove the beam from our own eye, then we see how truly helpless sin makes us.  Then we are turned from relying upon our own reason and strength so that we turn to the true physician for our help.  Then we naturally are turned from all of our own corrupt and feeble efforts to the one who is able to heal us completely.  Then we listen before we preach so that what we preach is correct and true and of genuine benefit both to ourselves as well as our brothers and perhaps even to the world.  Then we are converted to be true theologians all and together we are built up into the knowledge of God and His salvation and the Holy Communion to which He calls us.

The Image of God

Included in discussions of Original Sin and the loss of original righteousness is an explanation of the image of God and what was lost to mankind with the loss of the image of God. Growing up with the LC-MS Synodical Catechism, the following explanations were taught to me:

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113. What was the image of God?

The image of God consisted in this —

A. That man knew God and was perfectly happy in such knowledge.
B. That man was perfectly holy and blessed.

114. Does man still bear the image of God?

Man lost the image of God when he fell into sin. In believers, a beginning of its renewal is made. Only in heaven, however, will this image be fully restored.

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A fuller explanation is given in Article II of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession translated in the Concordia Triglotta, pp. 110-11:

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15] Neither have we said anything new. The ancient definition understood aright expresses precisely the same thing when it says: “Original sin is the absence of original righteousness” [a lack of the first purity and righteousness in Paradise]. But what is righteousness? Here the scholastics wrangle about dialectic questions; they do not explain what original righteousness is. 16] Now in the Scriptures, righteousness comprises not only the second table of the Decalog [regarding good works in serving our fellow-man], but the first also, which teaches concerning 17] the fear of God, concerning faith, concerning the love of God. Therefore original righteousness was to embrace not only an even temperament of the bodily qualities [perfect health and, in all respects, pure blood, unimpaired powers of the body, as they contend], but also these gifts, namely, a quite certain knowledge of God, fear of God, confidence in God, or certainly 18] the rectitude and power to yield these affections [but the greatest feature in that noble first creature was a bright light in the heart to know God and His work, etc.]. And Scripture testifies to this, when it says, Gen. 1, 27, that man was fashioned in the image and likeness of God. What else is this than that there were embodied in man such wisdom and righteousness as apprehended God, and in which God was reflected, i.e., to man there were given the gifts of the knowledge of God, the fear of God, confidence in God, and the like? 19] For thus Irenaeus and Ambrose interpret the likeness to God, the latter of whom not only says many things to this effect, but especially declares: That soul is not, therefore, in the image of God, in which God is not at all times. 20] And Paul shows in the Epistles to the Ephesians, 5, 9, and Colossians, 3, 10, that the image of God is the knowledge of God, righteousness, and truth. 21] Nor does Longobard fear to say that original righteousness is the very likeness to God which God implanted in man. 22] We recount the opinions of the ancients, which in no way interfere with Augustine’s interpretation of the image.

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Since Melanchthon, on behalf of all of the Lutheran Confessors, was giving a response to the Papal attacks against them regarding their straightforward confession of the total depravity of man according to the fallen sinful nature, he either did not take the opportunity or did not see the opportunity to explain this in all of its glory. He does, however, quote Ambrose, who says it quite magnificently with these words:

That soul is not, therefore, in the image of God, in which God is not at all times.

This is a very rich and marvelous explanation, stated from the negative in response to the need to explain the sinful condition of man.

Today I wish to expound this same understanding from the positive.

The image of God is Christ. He is what was lost to mankind and is restored again through Baptism. In Baptism, the Word, that is, Christ, is given physically to the one who is baptized. With the gift of Christ, the Holy Spirit also is given. And where Christ and the Holy Spirit are, so is the Father. Thus the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is commanded to be used and given in Baptism.

With the restoration of Christ to the person, the person is restored in the image of God, that is, in Christ. Thus, since Christ is declared in the Scriptures to be the very righteousness of God, the perfect righteousness of God is restored to the baptized person who is regenerated in the Faith worked by the Holy Spirit. Communion with God is restored in Christ, the image of God.

This is the knowledge of God, knowing Christ. Through Baptism, God restores us to His knowledge, knowing Him as our loving God and Father.

Having been restored to God’s Holy Communion through the restoration of the image of God dwelling in the baptized believer, now the person can continue in this restored communion. Now the person can come to the Feast of Christ and eat and drink with God, again receiving Christ, the Word, bodily. Conjoined with Christ in His body, the person eats with the Word laden bread the body of the Holy Communion and drinks with the Word laden wine the blood of forgiveness given in the cup of the New Testament.

This is the restoration of the Image of God to man. This is the life that God causes us to be regenerated to enjoy.

At the Last Day, the Old sinful nature will be separated from us forever so that this restored image may be enjoyed fully. For now we constantly face the juxtaposition of simul iustus et peccator. This will continue for as long as God has reserved for the time of preaching the Gospel for the salvation of lost souls. When no more souls remain who will receive God’s restored image, then the end will come and the separation of the saint from the sinner shall be made complete. The saints will be gathered to the right hand and the sinners to the left. Those in whom Christ has been restored will never again face the juxtaposition. Nor more simul will exist. All that will remain is the unity that is restored in Christ.

Is this not a rich and wonderful message? Is this not cause for rejoicing and coming forward eagerly to partake of the Eucharist, that is, the Thanksgiving of our Lord’s Holy Communion? Is it not right that we sing with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven?

Is this not the perfect image to behold?

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