October 15, 2025 - Habakkuk 2:4 - "The Just Shall Live by His Faith"

Habakkuk 2:4

"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith."

These words stand as a timeless revelation of God’s sovereign grace in Christ. In the midst of impending judgment and national upheaval, the prophet is taught that life and righteousness do not spring from human pride, effort, or merit, but from God-given Faith—the Faith once delivered unto the saints, sanctified and justified by the blood shed unto death of the LORD Jesus.

“I will stand upon my watch,” said the prophet, “and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me” (Habakkuk 2:1). In perplexity and wonder about God’s ways, Habakkuk waited. The LORD graciously answered, saying, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it” (Habakkuk 2:2). Though the vision spoke of judgment and of an appointed time, it revealed something greater — that the LORD is sovereign, acting according to His will and not according to man’s reasoning. “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3). All things are on God’s timetable, ever unfolding in time through His unchanging purpose, and it cannot fail.

Then comes the heart of this chapter, the great contrast that divides all mankind: “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by His faith.” It rests entirely upon the righteousness of Another. This verse, echoed throughout Scripture is brought to full light in the Person of the LORD Jesus, God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). It unveils the divine mystery that the just live, not by works of the law, but by The Faith (faithfulness) of the LORD Jesus Christ, Who alone is the Author and Finisher of the Faith and the Surety of His people’s eternal standing before God. Here, the Spirit reveals the heart of one humbled by the Grace of God in Christ, who lives by that Faith revealed in Him, whose Object is the exclusive work of the LORD Jesus, trusting wholly in the finished work of Christ.

This verse opens before us both the pride of the unregenerate sinner in contrast with the life of the elect child of God. “His soul, which is lifted up,” describes that proud and self-sufficient heart, that nature of sin found in Nebuchadnezzar and in every man apart from the grace of God. Pride exalts itself and says, “I will ascend.” But the soul lifted up is not upright, not righteous, not standing before God in truth. Then, in blessed contrast, “the just shall live by His faith.” This is not speaking of one’s personal strength of belief, but of Him Who is the object of that faith, none other than the LORD Jesus Christ. Even here, in the Old Testament, the Spirit of Christ was revealed in those who were the LORD’s. The justified live because their life is hidden in Christ, the foundation upon which all hope rests.

From the beginning, the promise of that life was given. In Genesis 3:15, God declared that the Seed of the woman would come. Centuries passed, and the vision seemed to tarry, but in the fullness of the time Christ came, “made of a woman,” to crush the serpent’s head (Galatians 4:4). And even now, as 2 Peter 3:4 says, there are mockers who ask, “Where is the promise of His coming?” Yet the Word still stands: “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come.” The same God Who appointed the coming of Christ has appointed His return, and all is moving according to His sovereign will.

“The just shall live by His faith.” This word is echoed throughout the New Testament — in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38 — each time unfolding the same truth: that the righteous live not by works, not by their own will or strength, but by the faith of the LORD Jesus Christ alone. Not their faith in Him, but His Faith (Faithfulness) in having earned and established their righteousness, and then paid for it with His shed blood unto death, whereby God has then justified forever each one for whom He worked out that Righteousness that answers to every demand of God the Father's law and justice. It is His righteousness, His obedience, His blood that makes a sinner just before God. All other ground is sinking sand.

The proud soul trusts in himself; he builds his own refuge, lays his nest on high, and thinks he will be delivered from the power of evil. But woe to that man, for judgment is coming. There is no safety, no salvation apart from Christ the Rock. Every false refuge, every self-made righteousness, every idol of man’s will is nothing more than a dumb stump, for there is no breath at all in the midst of it. It is only when the LORD breathes life into the sinner that he is made alive and turns to Christ, in repentance and faith.

How blessed, then, to rest in Him Who is our Life. The LORD is in His holy temple; He reigns in all wisdom and righteousness. The kingdoms of men rise and fall, but His kingdom is everlasting. Every purpose of God moved toward that appointed day “when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). This promise finds its full accomplishment in the redeeming work of the LORD Jesus at the cross and its ongoing fulfillment through the preaching of the gospel to all nations.

At Calvary, the glory of the LORD was most perfectly revealed—not in wrath or might, but in "grace and truth," where "righteousness and peace kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10). There, the eternal purpose of God was manifested: His justice satisfied, His mercy magnified, and His elect redeemed. The knowledge of that glory—the revelation of who God truly is in His holiness, justice, love, and mercy—is seen nowhere more clearly than in the crucified Christ. As Paul writes, “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Through the preaching of the Gospel, this same glory spreads throughout the earth. The message of Christ crucified and risen is the divine means by which the Spirit makes elected, redeemed sinners see and know the LORD. Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed and believed, the earth is being filled with that “knowledge of the glory of the LORD.” Thus, Habakkuk’s prophecy is not merely a poetic hope, but the sovereign decree of God—fulfilled in Christ’s finished work and advancing irresistibly through His Gospel—until the whole world resounds with the praise of His grace.

Christ is our Refuge, our Righteousness, our Life. The soul lifted up will fall, but the soul resting in Him will live forever.