Simul 101

by Rev. George Borghardt

Sola gratia. Sola fide. Sola Scriptura.

You know that Latin, don’t you? Every Lutheran does! Jesus saves you by grace alone (sola gratia), received by faith alone (sola fide), and this flows from Scripture alone (sola Scriptura). The solas confess one of the truths that became clear during the Reformation.

That truth—the truth that Jesus saves us by grace alone received by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9)—is confessed another way in the Scriptures: simul justus et peccator. That’s “same time justified and sinner” or “same time saint and sinner.” We call it in this issue of Higher Things Magazine “the Simul.” My job is to give you the basics. Think of this article as “Simul 101.”

You are a saint. That is the Gospel! A saint is a holy one. You are a sinner. That’s the Law! A sinner is someone who is, by definition, “not holy.” A saint stands before God completely and totally forgiven. A sinner can’t stand before God at all.

All sin and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). All are justified freely as a gift by faith in Christ (Romans 3:23). “All” are sinners means that you are a sinner, too. “All” are justified means that you are justified, too. You are at the same time completely and totally a sinner and completely and totally declared forgiven by God.

That doesn’t make sense at all! That’s because the Simul is a paradox. A sinner is the opposite of a saint and a saint isn’t a sinner. Reason tells you that you are either a sinner or a saint; how can you be both? Everyone knows this! How can both be true in the Scriptures?

Welcome to the Gospel! It’s messy and it’s neat. In the Gospel two truths are held together in this life: You are a sinner who is justified by faith alone in Jesus.

Let’s start with the truth of the Law: You are a sinner. God didn’t make you a sinner. You are fallen—born in Adam’s image. You inherited your sin from your dad. “In sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5). That’s original sin!

“Incurvatus in se.” That’s the Latin name for original sin. It means “turned inward upon yourself.” You are inclined to evil. Your compass is off. It doesn’t point toward God, it points toward you. You care more about yourself than others and God. You don’t have to be taught to sin. It comes naturally. You do, think, and plan to do evil things (concupiscence). You commit sins (actual sin). Lady Gaga was right, too, in this respect: You really were really born this way.

That’s bad! But the Law isn’t done yet. It’s far worse: All of you is a sinner. All of me is a sinner. You are completely and totally a sinner. You aren’t partly a sinner and partly something better. You were born a sinner. You are a sinner. You will be a sinner. You will die a sinner (peccator).

At the same time (simul) there is another truth about you: You are justified by faith in Jesus. You are born from above in Jesus. You are holy and without spot or blemish before God in His blood. You are completely forgiven in Christ of all your sins—past, present, and future sins. God the Father has given you, bestowed upon you, everything that Jesus earned in a blessed exchange! You are righteous in Jesus. You are forgiven in Jesus.

Everything that is true of Jesus is true of you: You are a child of God and an heir of heaven itself. All things are yours in Christ—even the right hand of God. Jesus goes to prepare a place for you so that where He is there you may be also.

There’s more good news! You are completely and totally a saint (justus). You aren’t part saint or some percentage a saint in Jesus. By faith in Jesus you are completely and totally forgiven. You are justified, declared righteous, in the death and resurrection of Christ.

It doesn’t depend upon you. It doesn’t rest upon you at all! Did Jesus die for you? Did He rise again from the dead for you? If He did, you are saved. It all rests on Jesus.

So, is this some sort of 50-50 thing? No. Do you increase the amount that you are justified depending on how you get sin out of your life? No. That’s progressive sanctification, which is not taught in the Scriptures. Here is the paradoxical truth of Scripture: Your whole life you are completely a saint and completely a sinner. And when you fall asleep someday, you’ll just be a saint.

Your life in Christ is now a constant daily battle between the two yous. The justified new man (justus) lives by faith alone and can’t sin. The Old Adam (peccator) in you wants to live for himself and fix things with God on his own. The whole of your life is this continual battle between saint and sinner.

So why not just sin since you are completely and totally a sinner anyway? Well, faith doesn’t think that way. You are baptized. Faith desires more Jesus. Your new man wants to compel your old man to live for God and others. That’s the battle! But your Old Adam is so corrupted with original sin that even as you get one sin under control, you see another actual sin, and another, and another. Thus, your whole life is this fight between the two yous so that you live not as you want to live but as Christ wants you to live. Your whole life now is confessing your sins and receiving forgiveness.

Will you get better in this life? How does this look? How does this go down? How is this truth lived out? The rest of this magazine is going to explain and rejoice in this paradoxical truth of the Gospel. But here are the basics: You are simul, which means you are completely a saint and completely a sinner.

Rev. George F. Borghardt is the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Bossier City, Louisiana. He also serves as the president of Higher Things.

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