“JUSTIFICATION EXPLAINED” Part 2
“SIMUL JUSTUS ET PECCATOR”
This was the rallying
cry, the war cry and the slogan of the Reformation that tore down the
bastions
of Rome’s darkness. Yes, as Christians we are “SINFUL YET RIGHTEOUS
AT THE
SAME TIME”. A saved, just and righteous soul trapped within a
sinful fleshy
body.
Rome and Roman
Catholics cannot imagine, even in their wildest dreams, of a
justification in
which a man remains a sinner. Catholic theology dogmatically,
categorically and
unequivocally states that God must pour his goodness and grace into
a man’s
heart, thereby completely displacing any sin and sinfulness. For
Rome,
either a man is just or he is sinful – he cannot be both. Luther, in
openly
defying Rome’s doctrine, coined the phrase simul justus et
peccator
meaning simultaneously righteous and sinful.
For Paul, and the
baton passed onto Luther, justifying righteousness is something which
always
resides in the person of Christ alone. The imputation
of this alien
(foreign) righteousness is the only means by which a man can be
acceptable to God. As long as the Christian lives, he is guilty and
sinful in
himself but in Christ he is righteous and accounted as
precious.
Luther states
“Although I am a sinner according to the law, nevertheless I do not
despair,
because Christ lives, who is my eternal and heavenly life. In that
righteousness and life I have no sin. I am indeed a sinner according to
the
present life and its righteousness, as a son of Adam where the Law
accuses me,
death reigns and devours me. But above this life, I have another
righteousness, another life, which is Christ, the Son of
God, who
does not know sin or death, but is righteousness and eternal life. As
long as
we are alive, we are supported and nourished at the bosom of divine
mercy and
forbearance, until the body of sin (Rom 6:6) is abolished and we are raised up as beings on the
Day.”
According to St Paul,
and Luther, the Christian’s original sin nature, will not be eradicated
until
the rapture or physical death. Meanwhile, however, the guilt of
man’s inbred corruption is forgiven and not imputed to all who will
believe
Paul’s gospel. This means that even the most holy of Christians can
only
tremble and look to God for mercy since he falls infinitely short
of
God’s glory and Christ’s perfection and sinlessness. Christ offers his
own holy
flesh and spotless obedience to the law in place of man’s defilement.
Rome’s Council of
Trent states that Luther’s simul Justus et peccator to be a
most serious
threat to the traditional teaching of Rome. The Council of Trent was
careful to
safeguard the Catholic understanding of justification in which the
regenerate
man ceases to be a sinner. It defined justification as the renewal
of
the interior man, whereby an unjust man becomes a just man.
As stated by Trent:
“If anyone … asserts
that the whole of that, which has the true and proper nature of sin is not
taken away, but says that it is only not imputed, let him be
anathema.
For in those who are born again, God hates nothing, because they are
made
innocent, immaculate, pure and guiltless.
If anyone shall say
that the one who is justified sins, when he performs good works with a
view to
eternal reward: let him be anathema.
If anyone shall say
that men justified either by the sole imputation of the justice of
Christ, or
by the sole remission of sins … let him be anathema.”
This is why,
countless tens of thousands who refused to eat the mass, Rome’s wafer,
have
been put to death by Rome. Their motto is “You must eat Jesus to be
accepted by
God.”
Today, for the
general public and indeed many Christian churches, attempts to show any
differences between Roman and Pauline Christian doctrine, on the
subject of
justification, generally fall on deaf ears. It seems that this topic is
no
longer vital or fundamental, and is of little importance, as to present
an
obstacle to the two sides coming together in some sort of unity. The
satanic
error which lies at the very foundation of Roman Catholic doctrine, is
meticulously and carefully covered up by Rome and kept out of sight.
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Part 1 of 2
ALSO SEE “IS BELIEVING A
WORK?”
