Even in our dearest of relationships, people will not always extend grace to us and may be angry with us, rightly or wrongly. We have a choice then, in how we respond. We can become defensive and respond by attacking the person in return or we can be slow to anger and slow to self-justification. If you claim to belong to Christ, the secret to avoid becoming like your accuser during conflict is to recognize that you are simul iustus et peccator. This latin phrase, used by Martin Luther, means that a Christian is simultaneously justified and yet a sinner. Understanding this will dramatically impact how you respond to criticism in conflict.
We are justified saints with no need to be defensive.
A Christian’s identity before God is a saint (Eph 1:1, Phil 1:1). To be in Christ is to be righteous before God. Phil 3: 8-9 says it this way: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Indeed, we can count our reputations as rubbish, compared to being found in Christ. He is the one who makes us as white as snow, even though our sins are like scarlet (Isaiah 1:18).
A Christian has no need to fret when maligned. Jesus Christ is a Christian’s defense attorney and He is the best defense attorney there is. People may wrongly assume your motives and malign your character, but Christ knows the hidden intentions of your heart. This goes both ways. He knows when you are innocent when you are attacked and he also knows when you are guilty and he will argue on your behalf that your sins have already been cleansed because of his shed blood on the cross (Hebrews 7:25). In other words, he has paid the penalty for all your wrong doing. If there is an ounce of truth in what someone is saying about you, you can find forgiveness in Christ because he will be faithful to forgive you of your sins.
Day to day, we still sin and there is no need to pretend otherwise!
Martin Luther’s phrase does not mean that being a sinner is part of our identity or how Christ would views us, rather it is a recognition that as a Christian or saint, we still sin.
1 John 1:8-10 states: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” John basically takes it as a given that a Christian will sin against God and others. (See 1 John 2:1.)
If we truly recognize that we still sin, this will impact how we respond to someone who accuses us of wrong doing. Before God, I am responsible for my own sin. I should listen to my accuser and see if there is any truth to what he is saying. I should pray that God would convict me of any indwelling sin and allow me to see my need to repent, even if my accuser is being judgmental and harsh, lacking in grace. It can be infuriating when someone wrongly assumes my motives and says something that I know is not true, but I remember the admonition in James 1:19 to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. While someone may be guilty of the sin of judgmentalism, it doesn’t mean that I have no sin to repent of either! I have found that even if I feel like my sin feels like 1% in comparison to the sin of my offender, repenting of my sin brings true freedom. By listening and hearing someone out, I can understand how I’ve offended or impacted someone, even if my wrong doing was not intentional. At the very least, I can apologize for the impact of my actions, even if my intent was not sinful.
There is great freedom in confessing sin to God. As the song Before the Throne of God states:
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
Thanks for reading saint. May God give you the grace to live as one of his holy ones and come clean when you miss the mark.
