The Righteous Live by Faith

See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4

Habakkuk wrote down the words from God on a tablet, which included this brilliant statement: “The righteous will live by his faith.” This means that those who want to be righteous and live righteous lives must believe in God’s promise. This truth can’t be changed.

As a result, ungodly people will die in their unbelief. So we must believe the writing on the tablet if we want to live now and forever. We must believe that Christ will come with his kingdom. But when things appear otherwise, when we are troubled in this world, we must not lose our way. God’s Word holds things before us that are beyond our senses and higher than our understanding. We feel troubled because we look at our current condition. By faith, we need to get beyond these feelings. Even when surrounded by trouble, we must be confident that the kingdom will come and be established in a glorious way.

In this passage we see a clear example of how the prophets in the Old Testament preached and emphasized faith in Christ, just as much as we do in the New Testament. We see that Habakkuk was so bold that he condemned all other works. He attributed life exclusively to faith. Habakkuk states very plainly that unbelievers won’t succeed on their own. Let them pray and work themselves to death. Their efforts are already judged. Their works won’t be worth anything, won’t achieve anything, and won’t help them at all. Meanwhile, believers will live by faith.

Luther, Martin; Galvin, James C. (2009-05-26). Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional (p. 311). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.