Living by Faith

FEW phrases of Scripture have had as far-reaching an impact as the Lord’s declaration to Habakkuk that “the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). If you are a Protestant today, this verse is an important part of your spiritual heritage: Martin Luther adopted it as his watchword during the Protestant Reformation of the early 1500s.

However, Habakkuk probably had little idea of the explosive truth contained in God’s statement. It came as part of a prelude to a taunting song that the prophet was instructed to give against Babylon (Habakkuk 2:1-6). The Lord was explaining why the Babylonians would be judged. Fundamentally, they were a “proud” people in the sense that they had no fear of God. By contrast, the “just” person—the individual deserving of God’s approval and blessing—would find favor because of his “faith” in God.

Actually, the Hebrew word used for “faith,” emunah, means “steadfastness” or “faithfulness.” An Israelite who faithfully pursued the covenant by following God’s Law was considered a “just” or righteous person (Psalm 15). The issue was not one’s ethnicity as a Jew, but obedience to God. Thus the problem for the Babylonians was not that they were Gentiles, but that they were committed to a lifestyle of wickedness and idolatry. They arrogantly lived as if their own self-interests were all that mattered. For that reason, the Lord would humble them according to the five “woes” pronounced by Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:6-20).

In the New Testament, Paul picked up on the idea of the just living by faith (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:10-12). Because of the coming of Christ, he was able to deepen the understanding of this phrase. “Living by faith” does not mean outward observance of the Law, as many of the Jewish leaders of his day had come to assume. Rather, it involves a heart commitment to the Lord and a recognition that Christ alone is able to make one righteous before God. This does not take away the need for “faithful,” godly living; if anything, it establishes a proper basis for it.

Courtesy of Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
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