ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Sunday March 12, 2017

“The Just Shall live by Faith”

“Behold the proud,

His soul is not upright in him;

But the just shall live by his faith. – Habakkuk 2:4

Faith in Christ

A.  ‘Faith’ in Scripture

It may come as a surprise to learn that even in the authorized translation of the Old Testament, the word ‘faith’ is used only twice. In both of these instances, it has been suggested that the translation is inaccurate. In Deuteronomy 32:20, it should have been rendered ‘faithfulness’, and some scholars argue for the same translation in Habakkuk 2:4. But statistics are not normally an adequate base for biblical doctrine. It is clear from the rest of the Old Testament, and from the New Testament’s comments, that faith played a central role in the lives of men of God under the Old Covenant. Hebrews 11, for example, catalogs many of the great heroes of the Old dispensation and emphasizes the quality of their faith as an example for us. Furthermore, the Gospel to which the Law and the Prophets bear witness (Romans 3:21) can be preached from an Old Testament text. In Romans, Paul draws out his whole doctrine of justification by faith from Habakkuk 2:4. So, however infrequently the expression faith is used, the fact of faith is a great reality in the Old as well as the New Testament.

Challenge:

Faith was lived out by Old Testament saints just as we do in our day. Walk and talk by faith everyday as a testimony to the faithfulness of God in our daily lives.

Memory Verse:

He ‘oku fakae‘a ‘i ai ha mā‘oni‘oni mei he ‘Otua, ‘oku kamata mei he tui, pea iku ki he tui; ‘o hangē ko e Folofola, Ko e mā‘oni‘oni te ne mo‘ui mei he tui. – Loma 1:17

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:17

Bible Reading Plan: (52 weeks; 5 days a week)

Week 11 – Numbers 26-29; Luke 2