Theological Term of the Week: Simul Justus et Peccator

simul justus et peccator
Latin for “at the same time just and sinner,” a formula Martin Luther used to communicate “the objective  reality of justification by faith alongside the Christian’s continual struggle against sin.”1

• From scripture:

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness .  .  .  . (Romans 4:5 ESV).

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chaper 11:

1. Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.

• From Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung, page 255:

[T]he Reformers insisted that the formal cause of our justification is the righteousness and obedience of Christ imputed to believers by faith alone. An inherent righteousness cannot be the cause of or justification because our best deeds are always imperfect. The Pharisee confessed that he had done his good works by God’s grace, but still he could not be justified by them (Luke 18:9-14). 

… Imputation is essential to the storyline of Scripture. Adam’s disobedience was imputed, our sin was imputed to Christ, and Christ’s obedience is imputed to the elect. Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen.15:6; Rom. 4:23-25; Gal. 3:6). The logic of 2 Corinthians 5:21 teaches the we must become righteous that same way Christ became sin. Righteousness is not the moral quality of the justified soul just like sin was not the moral quality of Christ’s soul. Though without sin, Christ was reckoned to be a sinner. In the same way, though still sinners, we are reckoned to be righteous.

… Righteousness is constituted of us—by imputation—in order for “righteous” to be justly declared of us. God did not set aside that law in judging us. He fulfilled it. Christ bore the curse of the law so that in him we might become the righteousness of God—sinners, but as the same time justified (simul justus et peccator).

Learn more:

1. R. C. Sproul: What Does “Simul Justus et Peccator” Mean?
2. R. C. Sproul: “Simul Justus et Peccator”
3. Monergism.com: Simul Iustus et Peccator
4. Kevin DeYoung: Five Key Concepts in the Reformation Understanding of Justification

Related terms:

• active obedience
• double imputation
• justification

1From Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Faith by Kelly M. Kapic & Wesley Vander Lugt

Filed under Reformed Theology

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Sunday Hymn: Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my vi­sion, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleep­ing, Thy pre­sence my light.

Be Thou my wis­dom, and Thou my true word;
I ev­er with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Fa­ther, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwell­ing, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my bat­tle shield, sword for the fight;, 
Be Thou my dig­ni­ty, Thou my de­light;
Thou my soul’s shel­ter, Thou my high tow­er:
Raise Thou me heav’n­ward, O pow­er of my pow­er.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s emp­ty praise,
Thou mine in­her­it­ance, now and al­ways:
Thou and Thou on­ly, first in my heart,
High King of Heav­en, my trea­sure Thou art.

High King of Heav­en, my vic­to­ry on,
May I reach Heav’n’s joys, O bright Heav­en’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, what­ev­er be­fall,
Still be my vi­sion, O Rul­er of all.

— Attributed to Dal­lán For­gaill, c. 560 – 640

Theological Term of the Week: Redemptive History

redemptive history
God’s plan for history, which is unfolding with the ultimate purpose of uniting all things in Christ; the unified story of the Bible; also called history of salvation.

• From scripture:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27 ESV)

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things….” (Luke 24:44-48 ESV)

• From Overview of the Bible: A Survey of the History of Salvation by Vern Poythress:

The Bible also makes it clear that God has a unified plan for all of history. His ultimate purpose, “a plan for the fullness of time,” is “to unite all things in him [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:10), “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12). God had this plan even from the beginning: “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient  times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isa. 46:9–10). “When the fullness of time had come,” when the moment was appropriate in God’s plan, “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4–5).

The work of Christ on earth, and especially his crucifixion and resurrection, is the climax of history; it is the great turning point at which God actually accomplished the salvation toward which history had been moving throughout the OT. The present era looks back on Christ’s completed work but also looks forward to the consummation of his work when Christ will come again and when there will appear “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13; see Rev. 21:1–22:5).

Learn more:

1. ESV Global Study Bible: Overview of the Bible
2. Vern Poythress: Overview of the Bible: A Survey of the History of Salvation
3. Justin Taylor: Goldsworthy: The Main Chapters of the Biblical Storyline
4. Nick Batzig: The Blessed Repetition of Redemptive History

Related terms:

• biblical hermeneutics
• covenant
• decree(s) of God
• typology

Filed under Reformed Theology

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.