Habakkuk 2:4. “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
The book of Habakkuk is an intense dialogue between the prophet and God. It involves a lot of yelling. It might even sound like an argument that you or I have had with God.
Chapter 1 begins Habakkuk’s complaint. Why are you silent, God? Why are you letting evil reign? Why do you ignore my cry for help?
Habakkuk 1:2-3. 2O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
In chapter 2 Habakkuk goes up into his watchtower to wait for a response from God.
Habakkuk 2:1. I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Then, in Habakkuk 2:4, God’s long-awaited response comes – The righteous shall live by faith. These three little words in Hebrew will change everything. They will actually launch the Protestant Reformation (but that’s another story). In Habakkuk’s time of distress God is calling him to simple faith. I’m not letting evil win. I AM doing something, Habakkuk. I’ve got this. A day is coming when all will be made right, not only in Judah, but in the whole world.
Unfortunately, when we read a verse in the Bible telling us to be righteous all we can see is God holding a standard over our heads. Every religion on earth tells us that we must achieve our own righteousness. Reach the goal. Climb the ladder. Obey the law. Find the way. Ten Commandments. Five Pillars. Eight Fold Path. Why would the God of the Bible be any different?
But the Apostle Paul understood this phrase from Habakkuk quite differently. He made it the very center of his theology of salvation by grace alone through faith alone – the gospel.
Galatians 3:11. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
For Paul, God wasn’t telling Habakkuk (or anyone) to achieve his own righteousness. God was pointing Habakkuk, and all of us, to Christ’s imputed righteousness. His freely given righteousness credited to us by grace through our faith in his propitiating work on the cross.
Romans 4:5. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
What is the object of our faith when we are trapped in the miseries of this world? Where do we look when it seems as though God is doing nothing? Where do we turn our gaze from our watchtowers of doubt? Where is our salvation? Where is grace? What is faith?
Habakkuk 3:17-18. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Faith is complete and total reliance on God, trusting him even when nothing makes sense about trusting him. Even when there are no figs, or fruit, or flocks. It is betting on God rather than betting on yourself. It’s to live is Christ – living each moment by faith in the God of our salvation.
You: Are you living by faith?
You in Christ: You are righteous in Christ. How does this bring rest to your soul today?
Christ in you: Christ’s righteousness is in you. How does this motivate you to love and serve today?
To Live is Christ 