Simul Justus et Peccator and Alien Righteousness.
In Lord’s Day 23 Q60, the catechist asks us, “How are you righteous before God?”
Our answer is, “Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them, and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.”
We begin with a reading from Romans 3, where Paul teaches the believers in Rome, and us, that everyone who lives in this world is a sinner, - there is no difference in any of us, yet, he claims, we are all freely justified, by God’s grace, only through the redemption that we have in Jesus. One thing is for sure. When a justified sinner, a Christian, looks at himself or herself, they know for sure that they can boast of nothing, that they are the unworthy recipients of God’s grace, that there is nothing within them to merit their salvation, no works, no inherent goodness, - only Jesus is the justifier of them who believe on him through faith.
We then go on to learn about two important aspects of the doctrine of justification by faith, - firstly, “Simul Justus et Peccator,” that while we are on this earth, we will always be sinners, and at the same time justified saints - and secondly we learn about “Alien Righteousness” - that our right standing before God comes from another - from Christ, not from within us. We apply those two aspects of the doctrine, in practical ways to our lives.
This is an important and practical lesson, for The Christian believer to grasp.
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