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speaking of entrance into right judicial standing before God, and he used the words of Hab. 2:4
to say that as far as a righteous person goes, he/she passes from a state of spiritual death to a state
of spiritual life by faith. But in Galatians, Paul states that a believer, one in right standing with
God, progresses in sanctification or spiritual growth by the same faith that saved them in the first
place.
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Thus his use of "life" in Galatians is somewhat closer to Habakkuk's use of life.
Habakkuk learned from YHWH's revelation that a righteous person could face the difficulties of
oppression and warfare through consistent faith. In Galatians, Paul used Habakkuk's words to
state that believers can grow in Christian maturity in spite of suffering various kinds of hardships
through that same response of consistent faith or trust in God and in His word.
We might summarize the preceding discussion in the following way. In Romans, Paul
seems to place an emphasis on the word "consistent faith" when he quotes from Habakkuk. But
in Galatians, he appears to place greater stress on the word "live." He has cited the same passage
from Habakkuk in two of his letters. Both citations are ultimately coherent with the meaning of
Habakkuk's text, but Paul uses the same OT text for two slightly different purposes in the two
letters.
Conclusion
This paper has taken a fresh look at Paul's use of Hab. 2:4b in his letters of Romans and
Galatians. The examination of the OT usage of emunah showed that the principal idea
communicated was consistency in some human activity. Habakkuk used the word in the context
of his book to express the idea of consistent trust or characteristic reliance on God and His word.
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Such an emphasis is also seen in Gal. 2:15 where Paul speaks of not being justified by
observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. The verb form he uses is present, emphasizing
continuous action (dikaioutai).