The just shall live by his faith

Habakkuk 2:4

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

How shall a man live? How shall he find stability? How shall he plant his feet upon any solid foundation? How shall he anchor himself upon something sure, something unmovable, and something abiding and enduring? It is only one way. This is not the chief of all the ways, or merely the best of all ways. This is not simply the most advisable or favorable path which someone should take. This is not just the most propitious and auspicious pathway, tending to the greatest and highest fortunes. This is the one and only way to live. It is the way carved out and paved by God Himself, and trodden by numberless saints and martyrs ahead of us. It is the pathway of faith! The just shall live by his faith! If one’s soul is lifted up, he is not upright. For if one thinks himself to be something, he is nothing! He is not upright. The soul must remain humble, meek, and governed by faith. The just shall only live by his faith.

For faith is the way of Christ. Paul, when speaking to the Romans as well as to the Galatians, repeated this phrase from the prophet Habakkuk—the just shall live by faith. We only have eternal life by placing our faith in the eternal one. We only may live by faith! We cannot live by works or by the law. That is an exercise in futility, for we cannot be justified thereby. We can only live by faith. But, dear Christian, if you have begun by faith, how could you possibly be made perfect by the flesh? Is not every hour and every day and every single moment that we breathe to be lived by faith? Did not the great saints and patriarchs and matriarchs and sages of old all live this same way? Did not Enoch live by faith, and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Samson, and an innumerable host of others? This is the only way to live. All of the just shall live by faith!

My friend, I do not know what it is that you must trust your God for. I am not intimately acquainted with the intricacies of your walk with the Lord. But I may say this, and I may affirm to you, that you will live by your faith. Have faith in God! Do not waver, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Do not seek to live your life by anything other than faith. Many are worried, afraid, and concerned when they ought not to be. They are seeking to effect their own answers to prayer by their own means. Let us stop with such foolishness, and let us just turn to the Lord, waiting on Him! Oh soul, I say to myself, do this now! Wait on the Lord, and live by your faith. This is how the just live. Do not let your soul be lifted up, but let it rather be humbled to place all of its confidence and hope and faith in Christ Jesus, and in Him alone, who is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Live by your faith in the Lord! He shall make all things plain, and the vision shall come to pass in His time. May the Lord help us to live by faith alone.

“Dear Lord, you are the object of our faith. May we never live by anything but faith this day and every day until we see your loving face. And then all our faith shall become sight. But until then, please, Lord, help us to walk by faith and not by sight. Help us never to be prideful enough to think that we can find out the work of God in our own strength, effort, or understanding. But it is all in Thee. And if we are to be upright, we will anchor our faith in you at all times. Help us to do this, we pray. May we live every day and every circumstance and situation by our faith in you. And we ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.”