Standing & State

I believe it's important to distinguish between standing and state when reading scripture.

 Probably a lot of Christians don't know what I'm talking about, but there is a difference between your standing in relationship to God and your state with reference to your experience. 

Being justified and turning from sin are two different things. We are justified by the blood of Christ through faith in him, but we are saved from the wrath of God through turning from sin. The farmer has to do with our standing, but the latter has to do with our state. The latter being our state is affected by the former our standing. 

Standing and state can be distinguished between that which is eternal, and that which is temporal. Eternally you can be released from the penalty of your sins, but temporarily you can suffer the consequences of sin. 

You can stand justified before God by faith alone, but there are consequences for committing sin in this life and a loss of reward in the next life because of sin. 

One can be right with God eternally and yet because of sin suffer consequences in this life just like Moses was right with God eternally and yet, because of his sin, he experienced a premature death and did not enter into the promised land. 

Interestingly, you can see standing and state with reference to the nation of Israel and the new covenant because of the forgiveness of sins through the new covenant. God will turn Israel away from their iniquities. The one has to do with their standing the other their state. 

We read this in Romans, chapter 11:26-27, where it says "the Deliverer will come out of Zion and He will turn ungodliness from Jacob; and this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." We see this also in the book of Acts where Peter talks about Israel, being blessed by the coming of Jesus, "in turning every one of you away from your iniquities," Acts 3:26. This was the intended state for Israel, but they rejected Jesus, and did not receive the righteousness of God through faith. 

We see standing and state in Titus 2:11 that says "for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly less we should live sober, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope, and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." By the grace of God, we are saved, and that salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present age, as we look for the blessed Hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 

To fail to distinguish standing and state will result in confusing justification, our standing, with sanctification, our state; It will confuse the terms of our standing with the terms of our state.

This is why some people think we are not saved by faith alone because they confused the two. We are justified by faith alone, but sanctification has to do with our conduct. 

Though the book of James addresses the issue of standing with God, a lot of it is about one's state. James says that God brought us forth by the word of truth, and that speaks of our standing; it speaks of our being born of God, but most of the book is about how we should live, how we should be doers of the word and not hearers only; it's about the state of the believer: how he lives his life.

Standing is who we are, while state is about our behavior.  The one does not guarantee the other, but our standing makes our state potential.