The Just Shall Live By Faith

Romans 1:16-17  says: ” For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Quoting Habakkuk 2:4, Paul exhorts believers, who were saved by faith, to keep living by this faith as they continue in their day-to-day Christian life.  This implies that our Christian walk is a series of faith steps that continues throughout our lives.  We don’t just stand still once we are saved as if we stepped onto a moving walkway at the airport to get us to our final destination.  We have to apply our faith to every situation we are faced with, and believe God’s Word first and foremost in our lives.

Faith is trusting and having confidence in something we don’t always see or feel. God has given us promises in His Word, but for them to be a reality in our life, we have to receive them.

“The just shall live by faith.”  If we don’t live by faith, what do we live by?  What are the other options? Perhaps we could say “Believers who don’t believe, walk-in mistrust towards God’s promises in His Word and they never become a reality in their lives.”

To grow in the things of God, living by faith and trusting is foundational to receiving answered prayer:

• Mark 11:24 says “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you received it, and it will be yours.”

• Hebrews 11:1 says “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

By faith, we received our salvation, and by faith, we walk it out, for the just shall live by faith.  If we don’t live by faith, what are we living by?