The Just Shall Live by Faith | The Institute for Creation Research

The Just Shall Live by Faith

"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4).

Few refrains are more often repeated in disparate texts then this grand pronouncement of eternal life available by faith. Paul, like a prosecuting attorney, foreshadows the broad strokes of his argument to the Romans "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).

From the very first family to inhabit this earth we can see two fundamentally different approaches to God. Cain disobediently brought of the fruit of his working the ground, as an offering to the Lord. But Abel, in faith, brought a lamb. "And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect" (Genesis 4:4-5). So we note that approaching God by works done in the earth is unacceptable, but the offering of a substitute, appropriated by faith, is accepted.

The Old Testament law was given to point men to Christ and highlight our inability to keep all God's commands: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). But some fell prey to the temptation of seeking eternal life through the keeping of the law. Paul condemned this: "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith" (Galatians 3:11-12).

Justification by faith was the rallying cry of the Reformation. But still today, men have devised various systems of religion to gain them respectability on earth and acceptance with God. Against this error, the refrain echoes again: "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him" (Hebrews 10:38). DW

The Latest
NEWS
55-Million-Year-Old Tree Frog…Is Still a Tree Frog
In the 1990s, Australian paleontologists discovered fossil frog bones during a dig in Murgon, Queensland.1 This new species of frog—Litoria...

NEWS
Pastor and Longtime ICR Supporter Dr. John MacArthur Now with...
Faithful ICR supporter and pastor Dr. John MacArthur went home to be with the Lord on Monday, July 14, 2025, completing his 86-year pilgrimage.1...

CREATION PODCAST
Setting Sights on Scopes: The Truth Behind the Infamous Monkey...
The Scopes Trial is one of the most famous court cases in American history, and this year marks its one hundredth anniversary. Often,...

NEWS
Did Earthworms Rewrite Their DNA to Survive on Land?
An earthworm news story was recently posted that openly questions Darwin’s gradual and slow evolutionary progress in the living world.1...

NEWS
Mysterious Erosion Confirms High Flood Boundary
Two separate research reports arrived at a similar conclusion.1,2 Both found an episode of mysterious erosion had occurred near the end of...

NEWS
A Uniquely Designed Air-Filled Sac Within Birds’ Lungs
Soaring birds are a majestic sight to behold, especially when they undergo such climbing and endless spiraling so effortlessly. Not surprisingly, evolutionists...

NEWS
Liberty and the Word of God
“And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts” (Psalm 119:45). July 4th is called Independence Day here in our country because on...

NEWS
July 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome...

NEWS
Valued Longtime ICR Employee Mary Smith Retires
Mary Morris Smith, an employee of the Institute for Creation Research for many years, has retired. The second daughter of ICR founder Dr. Henry M. Morris...

NEWS
Man of Science, Man of God: George Washington Carver
Who:  George Washington Carver What: Father of Modern Agriculture When: 1864 or 1865 – January 5, 1943 Where: Diamond Grove,...