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Living by Faith

Habakkuk 2:4

If redemption is the thread that links Genesis to Revelation, faith has to be the means to that redemptive end. Standing between Abraham's act of faith (Genesis 15:6) and Paul's identifying it as how we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9), is a statement by God to the prophet Habakkuk: "But the just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4).

Habakkuk's prophecy is unique among the Old Testament prophets because it is the record of a conversation between God and the prophet. As a resident of Judah, Habakkuk was frustrated that God was not acting to judge the sins of the nation: "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear?" (Habakkuk 1:1). Who hasn't wondered why God allows the wicked to prosper and the righteous to suffer?

God's answer to Habakkuk was the same as His answer to Abraham and Paul—and a works-oriented monk named Martin Luther in sixteenth-century Germany: "the just shall live faith." Luther's insight from Romans 1:17 (a quotation of Habakkuk 2:4) sparked the Protestant Reformation. He suddenly realized that faith and faithfulness is the way to live.

God used the king of Babylon as an example of how not to live when replying to Habakkuk. That king lived by pride, God said, "but the just shall live by faith." In other words, Habakkuk, "Trust me. I see the wicked in Judah, and I will act. But until I do, you must trust me." That was the message to Abraham ("You will have a son—trust me."), the message to Paul ("Believe me when I say your works cannot save you."), the message to Martin Luther ("You will only find peace with Me when you substitute faith for your striving.").

And it is the message to all who ask "Why?" or "How long." The answer is always the same: "Trust Me."

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