In the early 1500’s, a young man named Martin Luther felt a great burden of his sin before a holy God; he knew he was not right with Him. So he went to some of his church leaders for counsel, and they prescribed to him: do the works of the church as a cure, and so he went about doing all the works he could, with a fervor that few could rival:
— he fasted until he was so weak he could hardly move
— he spent hours on the cold floor before the altar at church in prayer
— when he could find no relief through these works of prayer and fasting, his superiors told him: teach theology, thinking that through the good works of studying and teaching, Luther would be relieved — but although he attained a doctorate in religious studies, and taught theology to others, his own sense of sin was still not relieved.
— Finally, Luther rejoiced to take a trip to Rome itself; the capital of the Church, for he was told that by visiting there, seeing the holy sites, and performing all the rituals available there, it would give him release from many sins. So he visited the catacombs, and climbed the marble stairs that supposedly belonged to Pilate, which he was told would grant him a year’s indulgence from purgatory for every step he climbed on his knees.
But even as he climbed those steps, he knew that his guilt was not eased, and these prescribed rituals were not making him right with God. But as he climbed those “holy stairs” in Rome, the words of Romans 1:17, which he had read, began to echo in his mind: “The righteous shall live by his FAITH”. All of the sudden, Luther stood up from those stairs, and he walked back down, for the first time in his life realizing from that scripture that it is FAITH that would make him right with God. At that moment Luther finally had the peace with God he had been looking for all of his life! And he began to teach others this doctrine of Justification by Faith alone, which kicked off what we call today the Protestant Reformation.
So this verse, “The righteous shall live by his faith” takes its place as one of the single most important verses in all history. All the Protestant churches that exist today, came from Luther’s conversion through this verse; all of the churches today that adhere to the Biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith are in the lineage of Martin Luther and owe a debt to this verse in Habakkuk 2:4. Many think of this verse as being in Romans 1:17 in the New Testament, but they don’t realize that Romans quotes it from the book of Habakkuk! One could argue that this verse is the single most important verse in all of history — as it has led to the salvation of multiplied millions over the last several centuries, and all of the missions efforts that have sprung from Protestant churches all over the world!
So Habakkuk 2:4 is a vital verse, not only in history, but also for each of us personally too. How can we be saved? How can we persevere through the most difficult times in life? Habakkuk 2:4 tells us, it is by faith: “The righteous shall live by his faith.” So let’s look briefly at what this verse means, and then look at two primary applications for us today: one on how it teaches that we’re saved by faith, and second, the importance of living by faith in our times of trial.
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shawnethomas 