THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!
One day when the Dark Ages reached the point of utter darkness, God intervened by raising up Martin Luther, through whom the Reformation was carried out. As he received light from the Word, he read that the Just shall live by faith and not by works. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, after taking a strong stand for the Christian faith, Luther was declared a heretic and an outlaw.
In this sermon outline we are looking at the verse in Habakkuk and the three verses in the New Testament that changed the dark ages and is still changing the hearts of men and women today.
Martin Luther once said: God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing.
(Rom 10:9 KJV) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
(Rom 10:10 KJV) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(Rom 10:11 KJV) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
(Rom 10:12 KJV) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
(Rom 10:13 KJV) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Eph 2:8 KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Eph 2:9 KJV) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
I. The just shall live by faith first used in old testament.
Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
A. It is quoted three times by Paul in the New Testament.
1. It is quoted in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews.
a. Each of these parallels the message of each succeeding section Habakkuk’s statement.
b. Let us look at them in order.
II. We see here in Romans 1:17 that we are righteousness.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
A. (2 Cor 5:21 KJV) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
B. We are righteousness because of what Jesus has done.
1. It is not by good works. It is by his grace.
John Calvin said:
2. "Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone"
III. The Law of God was good, but the day it was given to Moses 3,000 men died, but the day the church was born on the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 men were saved.
Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
A. We live in faith, we live in the Word.
B. Faith and works should travel side-by-side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works and then faith again, and then works again-until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other. William Booth
IV. When we truly live by faith, we do not desire to go back into the world.
Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
A. It will be worth it all when we see Christ.
"Faith enables us to understand what God does. Faith enables us to see what others cannot see. As a result, faith enables us to do what others cannot do." Warren Wiersbe
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