Daily Devotional
Living By Faith
Text: Hebrews 10:38
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Message
“The just shall live by faith” is a phrase that appears in the Bible in Hebrews 10:38 and Habakkuk 2:4. Although I have read both texts on the subject, the reality of the implications dawned on me when I came in contact with the book, “Living by faith,” written by my maternal uncle Nibi Oloniyo.
Now, the phrase, “The just shall live by faith” means that people who have faith in God and obey him will live and endure. In the passage in Habakkuk 2:4, the prophet Habakkuk predicts that the Chaldeans will invade Judah and destroy it. He promises that those who have faith in God will survive the judgment.
Hebrews 10:38 says that God takes pleasure in those who live by faith. It also says that if anyone turns away from faith, God will not be pleased with them. The idea of living by faith is based on the belief that God is faithful and loving, and that people should respond to that faithfulness and love by being faithful themselves.
When we say “the just shall live by faith,” we mean we are guided and directed by our faith. We act in a manner that is consistent with our faith—not out of a sense of thoughtless obedience but out of a confident and sincere love for our God and for the priceless wisdom He has revealed to His children. The root idea of “the just shall live by faith” is belief in, and faithfulness exercised toward God in true whole-hearted obedience. A righteous one permeated by such characteristics shall live, shall endure; and to add the Hebrews idea, shall endure affliction and reproaches with patience and long-suffering, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).
Galatians 3:11, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:), therefore, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
Galatians 2:20-21 shed light on it when Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
It follows that living our life by faith will require that we integrate Christian values into our daily actions and omissions while on earth knowing that we shall one day be called upon to give account.
Your “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” – James 2:17 (NIV). So let the mind of Christ Jesus be in you. Start every day with God, practice gratitude and serve others. Have a community sense of responsibility and be a community builder, and not a destroyer.
Incorporate Scripture in your life meditating on it day and night for you to have good success (Joshua 1:6). Live intentionally and relationally, forgive others and seek forgiveness. Practice extended grace, and as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all manner of men.
Conclusion
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified (Galatians 2:16).
Thank you for this. I pray that God Almighty continues to bless you.
What I just read helped strengthen my wavering faith and renewed my belief in myself and in God’s plan for my life.
Thank you once again.