Paul: His Life and His Teachings The Just Shall Live By Faith
watch
No.14 Paul: His Life and Teachings - The Just Shall Live By Faith (Part 1)
No.15 Paul: His Life and Teachings - The Just Shall Live By Faith (Part 2)
listen
overview
As LHCM celebrates its 22nd Anniversary, let us look into the subject of Living by Faith. First recorded in Habakkuk 2:4, the phrase, “the just shall live by faith” is used 4 times in the Bible. This doesn’t mean that the righteous just started living by faith in Habakkuk. We already know that the patriarchs lived by faith. The Hebrew word for “faith” in Habakkuk is emuwnah which in context pertains to “faith in the promise of divine deliverance.” This points to a belief that God will deliver because God is faithful to His promise. Although we do not know what the actual vision of Habakkuk is, we know that it is about the future (v. 3). Therefore, God is saying that He is going to carry on His Word or His promise to His people. It is from this passage that Paul, later on, quoted the phrase to state how he lived and we must live. Habakkuk is a personal testament of one’s struggle and agony to live with God or by faith in a world that is fallen and in rebellion against God.
The “just” refers to the “righteous ones” who are part of the believing remnant who believes in the vision given by God and is waiting on God to deliver them from the wicked ones. This word refers to belief in the faithfulness of the One who made the promise. So, the just lives by faith and is satisfied. Now, you will know what Paul meant when he talked about being content in all things or being satisfied. It is living by faith or in total dependence to the faithfulness of God (cf. Phi.4:11). Now, to fully appreciate the verse, we need to remember that Israel was living in exile judgment. They were proud and arrogant. They thought they can escape the judgment by their own wits. They were wrong. The phrase “to live” finds this contextual meaning which is, “to revive or to return to life.” The just shall be revived or return to life by faith or by believing in the faithfulness of the One who made the promise. This becomes more meaningful as we take the context in 1:13- 17 where the righteous are being slain.
“Faith” pertains to faithfulness or trustworthiness, integrity or honesty, and reliability or truthfulness. The oldest Greek translation found translates the passage to, “…but the righteous from my faith will live.” That is, what is being discussed is the faith of the speaker, which in this case is God. Therefore, “faith” refers to God’s faithfulness. The guarantee of life for the righteous is grounded in the reliability of God.
The fulfillment of the prophecy to Israel comes from the reliability of God, He never lies! The word “live” means that the righteous have a part. He needs to be obedient. Anytime obedience is found in the Scriptures, faith is assumed. Unbelief and disobedience are often paired in the Scriptures. Therefore, a righteous man will live out his faith by faithful activities. As James said, faith without works is dead. Because the just shall live by the faithfulness of God, he has to live in faithfulness also. This relying on Him for the breath one draws, for the direction one takes, for the decisions one makes, for the goals one set, and for the outcome of one’s living.
Faithfulness, therefore, is life by God’s power rather than by one’s own (cf. 1Cor. 1:30-31); it is truly life because it draws its vitality from the living God who is the source of life. It is living in a trusting relationship with the Faithful God (cf.Psa.118:8). Faith is believing, trusting and having confidence in the unseen God. Even if we don’t know or see what He is doing, He demonstrated Himself to be always faithful! Knowing God’s faithfulness all throughout the Scriptures and from generation to generation, we need to choose to respond to God in faith. This should be our lifelong journey. This is called growing in faith. This makes our journey meaningful and exciting. This is responding to whatever God is revealing. Living by faith is not just a personal decision. It is a command and it is communal. We live in a faith community – family, church, and all of the believers.