Every believer has a standing and a state. Your standing is your position as a believer whilst your state is your present condition before God. Your standing is the result of the work of Christ and is perfect and entire from the very moment that Christ is received by faith. This is best illustrated in the example of a prince. A prince, while he is a child, is as wilful and ignorant as other children. Sometimes he may be very obedient and teachable and affectionate, whilst at other times he may be unruly, self-willed and disobedient. But he is just as much a prince on the one day as on the other.
It may be hoped that, as time goes on, the little prince will learn to bring himself into willing and affectionate subjection to every right way, and then he will be more princely, but not really more of a prince because he was born a prince to start with. In the case of every true son of God, the growth to maturity and adoption is assured. In the end, standing and state, character and position, will be equal. The position is not the reward of the perfected character, but the character is developed from the position.