THE FAITH THAT SAVES

 

How do we live forever with God's approval?

"Now that no one is justified by law before God is evident, because 'the just person shall live by faith'" (Galatians 3:11).

Paul continues to establish his two-sided theological proposition. The first side of the proposition is that nobody can ever stand before God as just by keeping the law (Gal. 2:16). Paul says this proposition is clear or evident (δῆλον). The passive verb "justified" (δικαιοῦται) means that God must do the justifying, and He does not justify based on our works.

How does God justify imperfect people? 

The flip side of the theological proposition answers the question. The person who is just shall live by faith. The just person (δίκαιος) is not viewed in terms of moral goodness. He has already demonstrated that justification by moral goodness is clearly impossible. Paul is talking about judicial approval or acquittal. The person who is acquitted of their failures is acquitted by faith in God. The future tense verb "shall live" (ζήσεται) refers to eternal life. Life with God, when combined with human justness, points to the approval of God (Burton, Galatians, 166). We cannot live forever without His approval, and we cannot enjoy God's approval without His acquittal. Life forever with God means that God approves us by faith alone.

Paul justifies his statement on justification by quoting Habakkuk 2:4. While the first ὅτι is declarative and translated "that," the second ὅτι, introducing the quote, is causal and should be translated "because" (Meyer, Galatians, 113). The quote contains the proof. We know that Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2:4, but his quote is not exact (Archer & Chirichigno, Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament, 105). The Hebrew Masoretic Text would be translated as "the righteous shall live by his faith/faithfulness," but the pronoun "his" is left undefined except by context. The Jewish rabbis debated the meaning of "his." Is it God or the person? The LXX has two versions. Version A is "the righteous shall live by my (God's) faithfulness." Version B is "my righteous one shall live by faith/faithfulness." Paul omits the pronoun "my" (μου), moving it closer to the Hebrew text (Longenecker, Galatians, 118-119).

Paul demonstrates his careful exegesis of Habakkuk 2:4 in context. The context is Habakkuk 2:3. The prophet awaits God's answer regarding the future. God tells him that God's word will not fail, but the prophet must wait for it to come to pass. In this context, the person whom God counts as righteous is the person who waits by faith for God's promise to come true. The author of Hebrews understands Habakkuk 2:4 in the same way. We must practice endurance so that we will receive what God promises in due time. God does not approve of those who shrink back from faith (Hebrews 10:36-38).  It is very possible that Habakkuk 2:3 was a familiar testimonial verse for the early Christians as they waited for the return of Christ (Bruce, Galatians, 161-162). 

Faith is waiting on God to keep His promises. The prime example is Abraham (Gen. 15:6), who waited on God to keep His promises and that waiting in faith was credited to him as righteousness. Paul makes a similar argument in Galatians 3. We are justified - declared just - by faith that God will keep His word about redemption by grace (Gal. 3:13) and the promise of the Spirit (Gal. 3:14).

The faith that saves trusts God to keep His word.