But my just man liveth by faith: but if he withdraw himself, he shall not please my soul.
ο δε δικαιος εκ πιστεως ζησεται και εαν υποστειληται ουκ ευδοκει η ψυχη μου εν αυτω
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse · 9 commentaries
"The righteous shall live by faith": see Heb 11:1. "But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." The exhortation is powerful when someone proves that those who have accomplished everything can lose everything through a small weakness.
Therefore one must believe, even if we are righteous. If the righteous man draws back, that is, falls into some doubt or perplexity, or draws back, meaning becomes despondent under temptations, then "My soul has no pleasure in him." That is, it does not rejoice in him. Whose soul? God's, according to the distinctive manner of expression in Scripture, as in the passage, "My soul hates your feasts" (Isa 1:14). Or it means the soul of Christ.
There is faith in us, working through love (Gal 5:6) toward righteousness, and not so much from fear of punishment as from love of righteousness.
And yet the soul does not become righteous without the participation of One better, who justly judges the ungodly. For what does it have that it did not receive? (1 Cor 4:7).
It is not fitting to boast, ascribing to oneself what belongs to God, as though one had not received it from Him. Of this it is said, “Do not be proud, but fear” (Rom 11:20).
This fear is known also to those who, by faith, are living heirs of the New Covenant and stand in faith for the salvation of the soul.
Therefore no one living shall be justified before God (Ps 143:2), but “the righteous shall live by faith.” The saints also were clothed in righteousness (Job 29:14), one more and another less.
No one lives here without sin, one more and another less. The better man is the one who has least of all.
Not to Thee, O Lord, but before Thee I speak to my family, the family of mankind, however small the number may be of those into whose hands this book comes.
And why? Surely so that I, and everyone who reads, may consider from what abyss one must cry to Thee.
And what is nearer to Thy ears than the heart that confesses to Thee and lives by Thy faith?
And will there be found any of us who dares to say, “I am righteous”? I think that the words “I am righteous” also mean “I am not a sinner.”
If you dare to say this, John hastens to meet you: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8).
What then? Do we have no righteousness in us at all? Let us ask ourselves: do we have something, or do we have nothing?
What we have grows, and what we do not yet possess will be fulfilled. Here with us are baptized people. All their transgressions have been washed away, and they have been justified from sins.
Yet we cannot deny that the struggle with the flesh remains. The struggle with the world remains. The struggle with the devil also remains, and he too fights.
At times he strikes, and at times he receives blows. Sometimes he conquers, and sometimes he is left with nothing.
Then the important moment comes, and the man leaves the arena. And indeed, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8).
Likewise, if we say that we have no righteousness, we deceive ourselves against the gift of God. For if we have no righteousness, then we also have no faith.
If we have no faith, then we are no longer Christians. But if we have faith, then we already have some righteousness.
Do you wish to know how much this “some” is? “The righteous shall live by faith.” I repeat to you: the righteous shall live by faith, because he believes what he does not see.
This righteousness is given by the grace of the New Covenant. Its righteous ones are faithful to it, since they live by faith.
They do so until, when righteousness is completed, they are brought to the state of perfect contemplation of God, together with the immortality of the body after salvation has been accomplished.
Therefore in another place the Apostle says, “Therefore we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were exhorting through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).
And he adds, “For Him who knew no sin He made to be sin,” which means a sacrifice for sins. In the law, sacrifices for sins were also called sin.
He did this “so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). This means in His body, which is the Church, whose head is God, that we may become righteous before God.
For the righteous man, says the Lord in the prophet Habakkuk, is alive when faith and patience are found in him. But if someone wavers and is tormented by doubt because the Rewarder has not come, he will not be pleasing to My soul on that day (cf. Hab 2:3-4).
"But the righteous shall live by faith" (Hab 2:4). Through the mouths of the prophets, he says, God said this. Therefore, even when the Law still had force, the remedy of faith served for salvation. "And if he draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." Here "drawing back" means doubt.
"But the righteous shall live by faith." By the power of faith in the things to come, he will live the blessed life. For to believe in what is to come is no small contest. "And if he draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." This too was said by Habakkuk (Hab 2:4) in the person of God. If he falls away, He says, if he turns aside from his duty, that is, from faith, My soul has no pleasure in him. He is not pleasing to Me. By "drawing back" some understand double-mindedness in the confession of faith.
faith which receives the saving power of the Mysteries, and in special cases is marked by wonderworking gifts. Yet even this kind of faith, even wonderworking faith, can sometimes be incomplete, unjustifying, and unsaving. The truly fearful saying of Christ does not allow us to doubt this: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many mighty works?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness'" (Mt 7:22-23).
Therefore the necessary completion of faith, so that it may be justifying and saving, must be faithfulness. The Apostle points to this completion of faith when he says: "The righteous shall live by faith; and if he draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we, brethren, are not of drawing back to destruction, but of faith to the preservation of the soul" (Heb 10:38-39).
Faith opposed to destructive drawing back, wavering, retreat, inconstancy, and betrayal is faithfulness. It is faithfulness to God and Christ in the unchanging confession of the Orthodox faith. It is faithfulness in relation to God's commandments, consisting in diligent fulfillment of them. It is faithfulness in relation to the Mysteries, gifts, and ministries, by careful use of them according to God's intention, to the glory of God.
Yet even this kind of faith, even wonderworking faith, can sometimes be incomplete, unjustifying, and unsaving. The truly fearful saying of Christ does not allow us to doubt this: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many mighty works?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness'" (Mt 7:22-23).
Therefore the necessary completion of faith, so that it may be justifying and saving, must be faithfulness. The Apostle points to this completion of faith when he says: "The righteous shall live by faith; and if he draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we, brethren, are not of drawing back to destruction, but of faith to the preservation of the soul" (Heb 10:38-39).
Faith opposed to destructive drawing back, wavering, retreat, inconstancy, and betrayal is faithfulness. It is faithfulness to God and Christ in the unchanging confession of the Orthodox faith. It is faithfulness in relation to God's commandments, consisting in diligent fulfillment of them. It is faithfulness in relation to the Mysteries, gifts, and ministries, by careful use of them according to God's intention, to the glory of God.
Christian courage and patience are very useful to have at the present time, because the day of Christ's coming and of recompense to each according to his works is already not far off.
The prophet Habakkuk also said that the righteous shall live by faith, and that if he does not stand firm in the struggle, God will have no pleasure in him. Nevertheless, the Apostle comforts his readers: we do not belong to such unstable people, but believe firmly, so that we may hope for the salvation of our soul.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 17 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS