In the Worship Anew service for All Saints' Day, Rev. Dr. Ahlersmeyer mentioned the Latin phrase "simul iustus et peccator" (simultaneously righteous and sinner). I'd heard this phrase before, but after I heard it during the All Saints' Day service, I realized that the specific parts of speech of iustus and peccator may have significance.
Iustus is a simple adjective, but peccator is a noun derived from the fourth principle part of the verb peccare (to sin). (In the same way, factor is derived from facere, monitor from monēre, et cetera.) To my mind, then, peccator has a greater sense of action than an adjective like iustus, and this fits with how our righteousness (or justification, to use a word that's more closely related etymologically) comes not from us, but as a gift from God. We play no active role in it.
