The Just shall live by Faith

This Biblical phrase: "The just shall live by faith" (NKJV) or "The righteous shall live by faith" (NIV) appears four times in the Bible - once in the Old Testament and three times in the New Testament. It tells us a lot about the need of living by faith as believers in Christ. Here are the Books in the Bible where we can find this brief phrase:


Habakkuk - the Lord said to Habakkuk, the prophet: "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4, NKJV, emphasis added).

Habakkuk was confused and frustrated by the continuance of evil and injustice within Judah or the evil nations around him. He was frustrated by God's apparent slowness in dealing with this issue. But later on, after questioning the Lord twice, he decided to give up questioning Him and let Him has His way. The Lord's answer to Habakkuk's complaint is in Habakkuk 2:4, admonishing him "to live by his faith".

Romans - Paul said: "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith'" (Romans 1:17, emphasis added).

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul deals with the great truths of salvation, showing how God has accomplished the task of justifying sinners and making them appear as if they had never sinned. The emphasis in Romans is therefore on the word "just" - "The just shall live by faith".

Galatians - Paul said: "But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for 'the just shall live by faith'" (Gal. 3:11, emphasis added).

Galations is the epistle of freedom. Here Paul proclaims the truth that in Christ, the Christian is set free from every yoke of bondage which can be placed upon the human soul. There were those in the Galatians Church who felt that Christ alone is not enough. They wanted "Christ plus something" because to them without Christ and something (for example, circumcision) their salvation was not complete.

Hebrews - The writer of Hebrews said: "Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him" (Hebrews 10:38, emphasis added).

Hebrews is eminently an epistle of faith, and it reveals how, living by this principle, enable us to triumph over all kinds of difficulties and problems. Unquestionably the purpose of the writer was to establish and strengthen the early Hebrew Christians who felt that they had lost so much, having turned from the grand ritual ceremony of the Hebrew religion to the simpler but more effective things of Christ.

The life that a just or righteous person shall live is a life of faith. Every Christian is made righteous by the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:19) and therefore every Christian is to live by faith. Notice that in the context on Romans 1:17 - "the righteous shall live by faith", the word 'live' means more than to have a normal, physical life. We know that even the wicked and the ungodly have that kind of life. But Scripture reveals that there is another kind of life - a life of righteousness - that has its source in God alone. The only way that anyone can receive this kind of life is by faith in Jesus Christ. Someone had said, "We live by faith or we do not live at all"!

Living by faith in Jesus Christ

The apostle John said, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but he wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36, NKJV).

John also said: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:11 - 13, NKJV).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. John uses the present tense throughout.


2. The essence of the gospel message is - There is a divine, eternal life which has its source in God alone. God has made this life available to us in Jesus Christ. As we receive Jesus by faith in our hearths and yield our lives to Him in full obedience, we receive in Him the life of God Himself. This life is not something reserved for us in heaven. It is something that we can experience here and now and into eternity. Eternal life is ours to enjoy from the very moment that we truly put our faith in Jesus Christ.


Commonplace activities included in "living"


Let us focus on the word "live" in the phrase, "The righteous shall live by faith". From practical viewpoint, the verb "to live" is one of the most all-inclusive words we can use. Everything we do at any time is included in "living" - eating, drinking, sleeping, working and innumerable other activities necessary to life. Through faith, every one of these commonplace activities can become a way to express the life of God that we have received within us.


Let us examine how we can work out our faith in daily living in two of the most down-to-earth areas - food and finance:


Eating from faith


Paul said, "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. Eating from faith means that we acknowledge our dependence upon God for our food. We receive it as a gift from Him, and if He did not supply it, we would go hungry. As a logical consequence we thank God for our food.


2. Whatever is not from faith, including eating, is sin.


The benefit of thanking God for our food


Paul said, "For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. 4:4, 5).


As we receive our food from God with a prayer of thanksgiving, it is "sanctified"; it actually becomes something holy, designed by God to do us good. Even if there were originally impure or harmful ingredients in our food, their effect is nullified by our faith, expressed in our prayer of thanksgiving.


Our daily meals have the nature of a sacrament


"Eating from faith" has implications that go beyond the meal table. Our food is the source of our natural strength, and God is the source of our food. Therefore our strength is itself a gift from God. We are not free to use it in selfish or sinful ways, but we are under an obligation to devote it to God's service and God's glory.


Paul said, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).


Through faith, even our daily meals take on the nature of a sacrament, of which we partake of God's glory. After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the meals of the early Christians became spiritual feasts of worship and praise to God:


"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:46, 47).


By the way they ate their meals these early Christians won many of their unconverted neighbors to the Lord.


The consequences of failing to eat from faith


If the consequences of "eating from faith" are so far-reaching, what about the consequences of failing to eat in this way?


Solomon gives a vivid picture of a man who, through unbelief, lives his life without the grace and the knowledge of God. In Ecclesiastes he pictures such a man at his meal table:


"All his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger" (Eccl. 5:17).


The Amplified Bible puts it more vividly: "All his days also he eats in darkness (cheerlessly, with no sweetness and light in them), and much sorrow and sickness and wrath are his" (Eccl. 5:17).


Anyone who is in the habit of not eating from faith is eating in darkness. His life will be full of strife, anger, wrath and sorrow. He lives with bad health and much sickness and infirmities.


Faith for financial and material provision


The entire Bible abounds with both assurance and examples of God's ability to provide for His people's needs - even in situations where there is no human or natural source of supply.


Paul said, "And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need, be self-sufficient - possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation" ( 2 Cor. 9:8, The Amplified Bible, emphasis added).


Notice that the level of God's provision for His people not merely sufficiency; it is abundance.


There are three levels of provision on which people may live - insufficiency; sufficiency; and abundance. When you do not have enough money to spend in everyday living, then you are living in insufficiency. If you have just enough money for your everyday needs, then you are living in sufficiency. If you have more than enough money to meet all your needs then you are living in abundance.


But the word "abundance" used by Paul does not necessarily depend on money or material possessions. Abundance means simply that God supplies all that we need - with something to spare for others. The perfect example of abundance is provided by Jesus Himself. He had no fixed dwelling, no material possession and no large sum of money. Yet Jesus never lacked for Himself or for those who were with Him.


The feeding of 5000 men (excluding women and children) with 5 loaves and 2 fishes from a boy after giving thanks to His Father, is a good example of abundance (John 6:5 - 13). It is also a startling demonstration of the supernatural effects of thanking God in faith for our food!


When Jesus sent His 12 disciples out to begin preaching the Kingdom of God, He forbid them to take any extra supplies with them (Luke 9:1 - 3). He did the same thing when He sent out 70 others also (Luke 10:1 - 4). At the end of His ministry, He reminded them of this and asked them whether they had lacked anything. They said, "Nothing" (Luke 22:35). That is abundance! The key to abundance is not money or material possessions. It is faith!


Some believers might be tempted to say that none of us could be given the same measure of faith as Jesus. But Jesus said: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also" (John 14:12).


Likewise the apostle John, who was an eyewitness of all that Jesus did, tells us: "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked" (1 John 2:6).


Therefore, Jesus set the pattern for the walk of faith and we are invited to follow.


Principles that govern the operation of grace


The basis of our provision is not our own wisdom or ability, but God's grace. Therefore, in order to avail ourselves of it, we need to understand the two key principles that govern the operation of grace:


1. The channel of grace


Grace has only one channel - Jesus Christ. It is not received through observance of any legal or religious system, but solely and invariably through Christ.


"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).


2. Grace cannot be achieved or earned by our own ability


Paul said: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, less anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).


The only means by which we can appropriate grace is faith. As long as we limit ourselves merely to what we deserve or what we can earn, we are failing to exercis faith and therefore we do not enjoy God's grace to the full.


Financial irresponsibility


Solomon said: "He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich" (Proverbs 10:4).


Paul said: "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need" (Eph. 4:28).


Paul said more emphatically: "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thess. 3:10).


God never blesses dishonesty, laziness, or financial irresponsibility. God expects us, according to our ability, to engage in honest work, not merely to earn enough for ourselves, but also to have something to share with him who has need.