Simul Sanctification: Barth's Hidden Vision for Human Transformation

Why do we see so much fruitful good in unbelievers and so much evil in believers? What could it mean for a believer that the old is “gone,” especially when it doesn’t feel that way? What does it mean for humans who are simul iustus et peccator (simultaneously righteous and sinner) to be transformed in Christ and by his Spirit? We typically think of sanctification as pertaining to humans being conformed to Jesus, but what could it mean when Jesus speaks of himself as being sanctified for our sakes (John 17:19)? Jeff McSwain mines the theology of Karl Barth to engage such questions. In looking “through the simul,” he concludes with Barth that universal human transformation is a reality before it is a possibility, and that, despite our contradictory state, we may live Spirit-filled lives as we participate in Christ’s true humanity that determines ours—a humanity which never gets old.