IDEA: "The just shall live by faith" is one of the dominating ideas in the Bible.

TEXT: "For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul" (Hebrews 10:36-39).

 

PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate the importance of the truth that "the just shall live by faith."

Herman Melville observed, "To produce a mighty book you must choose a mighty theme."

Do you think that the Bible has a "mighty theme"? What is it?

I. One great sub-theme of the Bible is that "the just shall live by faith."

The words come from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk (2:1-5).

The words are cited three times in the New Testament: Romans 1:16-17, Galatians 3:10-11 and Hebrews 10:36-39.

II. The idea that "the just shall live by faith" has the same meaning but a different emphasis in the three different New Testament books which cite it.

In Romans 1:16-17, Paul puts the emphasis on the just--the men and women whom God, because of their faith, declares are righteous before Him. It is the one who is righteous by faith that shall live.

In Galatians 3:10-11, Paul puts the emphasis on faith. We are not saved by works, but "you are all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ."

In Hebrews 10:36-39, the writer puts the emphasis on live. This is followed by Hebrews 11, a recital of men and women in different and difficult circumstances who lived their lives out of faith and in the hope that faith produces.

This "mighty theme" is one of the grand ideas of the Bible and must be one of the grand ideas of our lives.