We are simul iustus et peccator, both saints and sinners. In Christ we have been made perfect, sinless, free and liberated from all the powers of this world, and yet the old man, Adam, continues in our flesh. The old man and the new war with one another in us, as the Apostle says in his epistle to the Romans,
"What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that the good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good that I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this death-ridden body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin. Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has freed you from the law of sin and death. For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." - Romans 7:15 - 8:4
It is only in Christ that I am free of sin, but in my flesh, in my mortal state, I am a sinner, a slave to sin who needs forgiveness, who needs grace. I need the Gospel every hour of every day to proclaim to me the salvation I so desperately need which is found only in Jesus Christ.
As Martin Luther wrote to his friend Philip Melancthon,
"If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner." AD 1521
We must also remember the words of St. John who reminds us:
"If we say we are without sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." - 1 John 1:8
This is not to make excuse for sinning, but to understand the reality of our current estate. We are sinners, mighty bold sinners, in need of the grace that comes from our Father above through His one and only Son, our Lord Jesus, who for our sake became flesh, dwelt among us, was crucified, buried and rose again. Because in Him only is there eternal life and victory, which by His good mercy He gives to us out of His great love for us, making us partakers in God's life, God's mercy, God's grace and God's immortality: and yet we continue to sin. We will continue to sin, continue to fail, continue to be faithless right up until the day we expire or come the Parousia.
That's the reality, and for that account we must have our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. In Christ only are we alive and free, and yet in our flesh we are dead--and this until the Day of the Lord Jesus when the body shall rise and the restoration of all things is accomplished by our God. What St. Paul calls the redemption of our mortal bodies.
-CryptoLutheran
