January 26
You Can’t Work That Hard!
Hab 2:4…: but the just shall live by his faith.
The just shall live by his faith? We find that verse in the New Testament in
Romans 1:17, Gal 3:11, and Heb 10:38.
But what is that verse doing in a minor prophet in the Old
Testament? I thought the Old Testament
was under law and the New Testament under grace. So how could Habakkuk be
talking about being justified through faith?
In the 3rd chapter of Galatians Paul answers that
question. After Paul had established
some churches throughout the region of
Galatia (what is now central Turkey) Jewish teachers had convinced the people
in those churches they had to do follow Jewish practices in order to be saved.
The Jewish people looked back to Abraham as their “father” and Paul reminds
them that Abraham lived 430 years before the law was given. How then did Abraham receive justification?
It was by faith.
Ga 3:6 ¶ Even as Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.
The Just shall live by faith
The Bible tells us even Lot, the carnal Christian, was
justified.
2Pe 2:7 ¶ And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked: 2:8 for that righteous man dwelling among them…
The Just shall live by faith
When Martin Luther studied the book of Romans that verse
(Rom 1:17) awakened in him the concept
of faith based belief. As a result he became sensitive to some corrupt
practices of his church and invited a debate on 95 questions which he tacked on
the church door (the bulletin board of the times). The printing press was a recent
invention of that time, and Luthers list
of 95 questions was printed and within a short time had spread across Europe. The
result was the Protestant Reformation.
The Just shall live by faith
Perhaps some readers will wonder why the book of James says “faith
without works is dead”? Doesn’t that say you have to have both faith and works
to be justified?
Jas 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only.
That verse seems to contradict our study of “the just shall
live by faith. But it doesn’t if you read what the verse says. It does not say
a man is justified by works alone. It says it takes both works and faith, not
just faith only. James explains it
clearly in verse 26.
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so
faith without works is dead also.
Yesterday I heard a radio preacher end his broadcast by
saying “Repeat this prayer. God I know I am a sinner. I am sorry for my sins. I
accept Jesus as my savior. Amen” He
then said anyone who repeated that prayer is now a born again Christian!
Was that really true?
Is it that simple? Well not exactly. If the people who repeated that
prayer were truly saved they would be a “new creature” . Their life would be
changed. They would hunger for the Word of God, they would desire fellowship
with other Christians, and they would put off the old man and the works of the
flesh. They would put on newness of life and desire to do good things. But what
if none of those things happened? Would
that simple prayer be the basis for their salvation, even without any evidence
that they were changed (born again).
James says No!
Jas 2:26 ….so faith without works is dead also.
Oh dear reader, good works will not produce faith, but faith
will produce good works. That is what our verse for today is saying.
The Just shall live by faith
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