“The Just Shall Live by His Faith”
Habakkuk 2:4
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Dr. Sidney B. Sperry wrote:
“[Habakkuk 2:4] is one of the great passages of the Old Testament. It means essentially this: There is a moral and spiritual distinction between the Chaldeans and the people of Judah. The Chaldeans, puffed up and arrogant, priding themselves in their wealth and power and deceptive in their dealings with other nations, do not possess the moral and spiritual elements which alone can ensure permanence and stability. The people of the Lord, on the other hand, [should] possess moral integrity, fidelity, and spiritual insight which ensure for them a future. ‘The future belongs to the righteous.’ When the prophet says that ‘the righteous shall live by his faith (more accurately faithfulness)’ he implies permanency.”
(The Voice of Israel’s Prophets [1952], 371–72.)
