Simul... What?

There is a phrase that you may or may not be familiar with: Simul iustus et peccator. It's a Latin phrase meaning that Christians are simultaneously righteous and sinners.

Righteous because it is not our own righteousness, but Christ's. Sinner because of our flesh.

In today's share, Tim Challies shares about a sermon he heard from John MacArthur. He speaks about this phrase, and more to the point, he confronts the idea of sinless perfectionism.

Can we really become totally sinless in this life? I don't believe so, and I don't believe the Scriptures point to that.

The bottom line to me, however, is that we are justified before God because of Christ's finished work. On top of that, we can know that we will one day be without sin. And that is good news.