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The Just Live By Faith
The Just Live By Faith
Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:38)
As a child of God there is no greater obligation on our part than to live in the flesh with a faith that is rooted and firmly grounded in the love of God. Our faith must be such that we can confidently say, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Every waking moment we walk in harm’s way (1 Peter 5:7, 2 Corinthians 11:14). We must be diligently guarding our heart lest we fall prey to the evil one. Living by faith we have an attitude of commitment to love and serve our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We need to purpose in our heart to always serve and glorify God not defiling ourselves with the pollutions of this world (Matthew 15:17-20, Mark 7:20-23, Hebrews 12:28, 1 Cor. 6:20, Rev. 1:6). We must dare to live above the crowd, not letting them dictate to us the kind of life we are going to live (1 Peter 4:1-6).
In the 6th chapter of Hebrews, the writer tells us that we have an anchor for our soul, one that is sure and steadfast. He then tells us that hope is that anchor. I pray that we understand that the strength of that anchor lies entirely in the strength of our faith in God. Is our trust and confidence in him such that our anchor will hold fast under any and all circumstances we encounter on this pilgrimage?
My friends, living by faith is not just a matter of what our faith is when we gather together at a worship service surrounded by Christian men and women of like faith. What is our faith like when we are out in the midst of an exceedingly wicked world where sin, error, wickedness and immorality abound? Is it then that our faith shines like a great beacon light influencing those who see and know us to glorify God (Matthew 5:16). To me, it simply comes down to this: is our faith proven to be true in that others see it by what we not only say but also by what we do, not just at a Sunday worship assembly but the other six days of the week as well?
One final thought from this passage concerning the just one. He or she can with calmness, quietness and peacefulness of soul lie down to sleep each night knowing that the Lord will keep them safe (Psalm 4:8) and should they die before morning breaks, all will be well with their soul (2 Corinthians 5:1-9). By the same token, if when morning breaks, they awake to greet another sunrise, they can with the greatest trust and confidence in God, rise up and with joy in their heart take the first step into another day even though they have no idea what the day will bring forth. To God be the glory!
Charles Hicks, Gallatin Tennessee
