"The Righteous Shall Live by Faith" - What Does It Mean, and How To Live by Faith?

Published on 04/28/24 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

"Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4, WEB)

In this profound verse, Yahweh God spoke of two kinds of people who are the opposite in character:
a) The proud person. Such a person is not upright. They magnify themselves rather than God. They esteem themselves highly and look down upon others. This attitude is an attitude of unrighteousness.

b) The righteous person. Unlike the proud person who looks up to themselves, a righteous person lives by their faith in God. They look up to God rather than inward to themselves. Because their faith is rooted in God instead of in themselves, they shall live. It's their faith that enables them to live, to persist in life despite life's hardships. It's their faith that makes them right in the sight of God. Let us look at these principles or words more closely:

"Righteousness" is both a judicial condition of a person and the quality of a person. "Righteousness" means a right standing with God. When a person actively expresses faith in God, their faith makes them have a right standing with God. This is called justification through faith. Genesis 15:6 is first to illustrate this principle; it speaks of Abraham being reckoned as righteous due to his faith in God. Once a person is justified, they should continue to live out their faith by doing works of righteousness. Obedience to God proves whether one's faith is genuine.

Faith is active trust. It is trusting in God for your needs. It is believing that God will fulfill His promises. It is trusting in God to make everything work out according to His good purpose. It is trusting Him to do what is right and just. Trust relies on Yahweh's track record. Since He was trustworthy in the past and since He never changes, then it means that He will always be trustworthy. Therefore, faith is about trusting Yahweh at all times. Trust does not require us to know the "why" and "how" of God's ways or plans. So long as we know that Yahweh is entirely trustworthy, we don't need to know the "how" or "why" in order to trust in Him.

Faith is expressed by our obedience to God's precepts and principles. It takes trust to obey God. When Yahweh ordered Abraham to sacrifice his long-awaited son, Isaac, Abraham was about to do so unhesitatingly, because he trusted in God's promises. God promised him that his chosen seed would come from Isaac, so Abraham believed that God would still somehow be able to fulfill His promise to him even when he sacrificed Isaac as a burnt offering to God, perhaps by raising Isaac from the dead. When Abraham was about to kill Isaac, Yahweh stopped him. Abraham had passed the test of faith. By his obedience, Abraham had demonstrated his trust in God. His obedience proved that his faith was genuine. This confirmed his right standing with God. As the apostle James said, we're justified by both our faith and works, for faith without works is dead (James 2:19).

The above account of Abraham shows that he lived by his faith. His life was ruled by faith, not by sight. If he lived by sight, then he would have hesitated to sacrifice Isaac and would have thought, "How could I sacrifice Isaac if God promised me that my descendents will come from Isaac?" But since he walked by faith, Yahweh blessed him and his seed after him. Hence, when a righteous person lives by their faith, it doesn't just mean that they're living like any ordinary person who doesn't know God. One who doesn't know God is no better than a brute animal. Rather, it means that the righteous person is living a meaningful life, a blessed life, a life that's lived in the presence of God in fellowship with Him. This is true life. This is the life that Yahweh desires all of us to live.

Yes, "the righteous will live by their faith" is so rich in meaning and application! It's the central theme in the whole of Scriptures. It is a most important truth by which we should all live. It is a principle that the prophet Habakkuk (to whom Yahweh spoke) had to learn from Yahweh and apply to his life.

You see, Habakkuk had a troubled heart and it was due to a faith in God that wasn't strong enough. Certainly, he had faith in God. He was a righteous person. He enjoyed an open, heartfelt communication with God. But he could enjoy so much more. His heart could have felt less uneasy. The only way he could have a less troubled heart was to have an increased faith in Yahweh.

At first, Habakkuk was troubled by the violent acts he was witnessing in the land of Judah. He was especially troubled when God seemed to be ignoring the wickedness. While he knew that God is good, he apparently didn't live by this fact. He let the sight that he was seeing distract him from his faith. He wrongly believed for a moment that the good God wasn't doing anything good to remedy the situation and thus felt despair.

But when Yahweh told Habakkuk that He was indeed going to do something about the wickedness of Judah--by using the Chaldeans to punish Judah--Habakkuk's trouble didn't go away. Now, he had new concerns. Why would the righteous God use the wicked to punish those who were less wicked? He didn't understand God's plans, and this lack of understanding caused him to question God.

Now, was Habakkuk's troubled heart due to his lack of knowledge? No. Instead, his troubled heart was caused by a somewhat weak faith. He didn't trust God enough for doing what is right in the world. He didn't trust that God's plans were the best plans. Due to his weak faith, he was seeing God through his fleshly eyes and finite mind and didn't like what he was seeing.

Thus, Yahweh answered the prophet's complaints with a profound statement: the righteous shall live by their faith. Habakkuk needed to live by faith. Only living by faith would wash away all his troubling thoughts. His faith would enable him to live purposefully, no longer consumed by his uneasiness. Habakkuk didn't need to know the "why" of God's plans; all he needed was faith. Hence, Yahweh didn't give Habakkuk an explanation of His ways. The prophet didn't need to know that. Yahweh told him what he truly needed: faith in Him, trusting in Him to do what is absolutely right.

Today, ever since the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah of God, "the righteous shall live by their faith" holds even more significance. It is speaking of the fact that our righteousness (both judicial and quality) will give us eternal life. Anyone who trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and repent of their sins will be forgiven of all their sins and receive eternal life!

Let today be the day of your salvation! Put faith in the Messiah and experience true and eternal life that starts today!