The language of “at the same time righteous and sinner” has become an often-repeated axiom in American Lutheran Theology, and for good reason. It answers the demand from many protestant churches that a Christian be able to prove his Christian status to himself and others by steadily increasing holiness and works. A person’s ‘back-sliding’ evidences the insincerity of his previous commitments to Christ. Perhaps his conversation wasn’t genuine. A grieved conscience could wonder if he didn’t possess the Holy Spirit as he previously assumed. So, according to the holiness protestants,* either a person has begun in righteousness and is ever improving and increasing in holiness or a person’s sins betray unescaped captivity to the devil.
Recently I had the opportunity to attend the annual Rocky Mountain District Pastors Conference in Denver where Dr. Masaki of the Fort Wayne Seminary convincingly argued that the axiom “simul iustus et peccator” is a central element of Luther’s theological writings and how it continues to benefit the church today.
Recently I had the opportunity to attend the annual Rocky Mountain District Pastors Conference in Denver where Dr. Masaki of the Fort Wayne Seminary convincingly argued that the axiom “simul iustus et peccator” is a central element of Luther’s theological writings and how it continues to benefit the church today.
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