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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11, 12) The Law could not bring a blessing. It could not justify. For the condition of justification is faith; and the Law has nothing to do with faith. Its standpoint was entirely different—that of works.

(11) In the sight of God.—Standing as a prisoner before His tribunal.

The just shall live by faith.—The stress is on the word “faith.” It is faith (not law) which gives life. In St. Paul’s application of the passage, the word “just” must be taken in what is technically termed a slightly proleptic sense. A man is not just before the exercise of faith, but he becomes just by the exercise of it; and, in another aspect, the state of righteousness upon which he then enters is also a state of life. Strictly speaking, the order is—faith, justification, life. It would be possible to take the Greek in such a way as to bring out this more distinctly: “The just by faith” (i.e., he whose righteousness is based on faith) “shall live.” Some good commentators take the passage thus, but a balance of considerations seems, on the whole, to be in favour of the sense adopted in the Authorised version.

The quotation is from Habakkuk 2:4, where it refers to the preservation of the righteous Israelite amidst the general ruin caused by the Chaldean invasion. Though the wicked and proud shall be destroyed, the righteous man shall live “by his faith.” There is some division of opinion amongst commentators as to whether the word translated “faith” means, in the original, faith in the active sense or faith in the passive sense—“fidelity,” “faithfulness,” or “trust in God.” The sense in which the word is used by St Paul is most nearly related to the latter. It has the full-developed Christian meaning, which begins in belief, includes trust, and passes on to become an active energy of devotion. (Comp. the Note and Excursus on Romans 1:17, where the same quotation is made.)

Benson Commentary

Galatians 3:11-12. That no man is justified by his obedience to the law in the sight of God — Whatever he may be in the sight of man; is further evident — From the words of Habakkuk, who hath said nothing of men’s being justified by works, but hath declared, The just shall live by faith — That is, the man who is accounted just or righteous before God, shall be made and continue such, and consequently shall live a spiritual life here, and receive eternal life hereafter, by faith. This is the way God hath chosen: see on Romans 1:17. And the law — Strictly considered; is not of faith — Doth not allow, or countenance, the seeking of salvation in such a way. In other words, the seeking justification, by keeping the law, whether moral or ceremonial, is quite a different thing from seeking it by faith. For the law saith not, Believe, but, Do, and live; its language is, The man that doeth them — Namely, the things commanded; shall live in, or by them — That is, he who perfectly and constantly conforms himself to these precepts, shall have a right to life and everlasting happiness, in consequence thereof; but he that breaks them must bear the penalty, without any further assistance from a law, which, being in one instance violated, must for ever condemn the transgressor. See on Leviticus 18:5.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:6-14 The apostle proves the doctrine he had blamed the Galatians for rejecting; namely, that of justification by faith without the works of the law. This he does from the example of Abraham, whose faith fastened upon the word and promise of God, and upon his believing he was owned and accepted of God as a righteous man. The Scripture is said to foresee, because the Holy Spirit that indited the Scripture did foresee. Through faith in the promise of God he was blessed; and it is only in the same way that others obtain this privilege. Let us then study the object, nature, and effects of Abraham's faith; for who can in any other way escape the curse of the holy law? The curse is against all sinners, therefore against all men; for all have sinned, and are become guilty before God: and if, as transgressors of the law, we are under its curse, it must be vain to look for justification by it. Those only are just or righteous who are freed from death and wrath, and restored into a state of life in the favour of God; and it is only through faith that persons become righteous. Thus we see that justification by faith is no new doctrine, but was taught in the church of God, long before the times of the gospel. It is, in truth, the only way wherein any sinners ever were, or can be justified. Though deliverance is not to be expected from the law, there is a way open to escape the curse, and regain the favour of God, namely, through faith in Christ. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law; being made sin, or a sin-offering, for us, he was made a curse for us; not separated from God, but laid for a time under the Divine punishment. The heavy sufferings of the Son of God, more loudly warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come, than all the curses of the law; for how can God spare any man who remains under sin, seeing that he spared not his own Son, when our sins were charged upon him? Yet at the same time, Christ, as from the cross, freely invites sinners to take refuge in him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But that no man is justified ... - The argument which Paul has been pursuing he proceeds to confirm by an express declaration of the Bible. The argument is this: "It is impossible that a man should be justified by the Law, because God has appointed another way of justification." But there cannot be two ways of obtaining life, and as he has appointed faith as the condition on which people shall live, he has precluded from them the possibility of obtaining salvation in any other mode.

For, The just shall live by faith - This is quoted from Habakkuk 2:4. This passage is also quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17; see it explained in the note on that verse. The sense here is, that life is promised to man only in connection with faith. It is not by the works of the Law that it is done. The condition of life is faith: and he lives who believes. The meaning is not, I apprehend, that the man who is justified by faith shall live, but that life is promised and exists only in connection with faith, and that the just or righteous man obtains it only in this way. Of course it cannot be obtained by the observance of the Law, but must be by some other scheme.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. by the law—Greek, "IN the law." Both in and by are included. The syllogism in this verse and Ga 3:12, is, according to Scripture, "The just shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, but of doing, or works (that is, does not make faith, but works, the conditional ground of justifying). Therefore "in," or "by the law, no man is justified before God" (whatever the case may be before men, Ro 4:2)—not even if he could, which he cannot, keep the law, because the Scripture element and conditional mean of justification is faith.

The just shall live by faith—(Ro 1:17; Hab 2:4). Not as Bengel and Alford, "He who is just by faith shall live." The Greek supports English Version. Also the contrast is between "live by faith" (namely, as the ground and source of his justification), and "live in them," namely, in his doings or works (Ga 3:12), as the conditional element wherein he is justified.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The apostle, by another argument, proveth that sinners are not justified by works. He grants, they may be justified by their good and blameless living before men, so as that they may have nothing to say against them, but he says they cannot, by such works, be justified in the sight of God. His argument is from the opposition that is between faith and works. He proveth, from Habakkuk 2:4, that we are justified by faith; where the prophet saith, that the just (or righteous man) shall live by faith; fetch his life from faith, live his spiritual life by faith, and obtain eternal life by faith, the life of his righteousness shall be by faith.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But that no man is justified,.... There are some that are justified, as all God's elect are, in his own mind and will from eternity; which will of his to justify them, upon the righteousness of his Son, undertook by him to bring in, is their justification in the court of heaven; and all that believe in Christ are openly and manifestly justified in the court of conscience, under the testimony of the Spirit of God: but no one is justified

by the law; it is in the Greek text, "in the law"; there were many justified before the law was given, as Noah, Job, Abraham, and all the Ante-Mosaic believers; and there were many justified "in", or under the legal dispensation; but none of them were justified by their obedience to the law, but by the righteousness they believed they had in the Lord: especially no man is justified

in the sight of God; who sees the heart, knows the spring of actions, and whose judgment is according to truth; that is, by the law and the deeds of it, however they may before men:

it is evident; it is a clear case, out of all dispute, as appears from Habakkuk 2:4

for the just shall live by faith; which may be read either, "the just by faith, shall live": that is, the man who is just by faith, or justified by faith, not by it as a principle or act, or as the cause or matter of his justification, but by the object of his faith, Christ and his righteousness apprehended by faith, and so not just or justified by works; he shall live a life of justification, through that righteousness his faith receives; he shall live comfortably, with much peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, as the result of his being justified by faith; and shall live eternally, and never die the second death: or the "just shall live by faith"; he that is righteous, not by his own works, but by the obedience of Christ, shall live not upon faith, but by it on Christ, and his righteousness, which is revealed from faith to faith; and this makes it a clear point, that he is not justified by the law, for if he was, he would not live by faith on Christ, but in and by the deeds of the law.

Geneva Study Bible

{12} But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

(12) The second proposition with the conclusion: but no man fulfils the Law. The conclusion therefore is, that no man is justified by the Law, or, that all are accursed who seek righteousness by the works of the Law. And there is added also this manner of proof of the second proposition, that is, righteousness and life are attributed to faith. Therefore no man fulfils the Law.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

f

Galatians 3:11 f. Δέ] carrying on the argument. After Paul in Galatians 3:10 has proved the participation of believers in the blessing of Abraham by the argumentum e contrario, that those who are of the law are under curse, it is his object now—in order to complete the doctrinal explanation begun in Galatians 3:6 on the basis of Scripture—to show, on the same basis, the only way of justification, and that (a) negatively: it is not by the way of the law that man becomes righteous (Galatians 3:11-12), and (b) positively: Christ has made us free from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Observe (in opposition to Wieseler’s objection) that in δικαιοῦται παρὰ τ. Θεῷ, the being justified in spite of the curse, and consequently the becoming free from it, is clearly and necessarily implied by the context preceding (Galatians 3:10) and following (Galatians 3:13).

Galatians 3:11-12 contain a complete syllogism; ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστ. ζήσεται forming the major proposition, Galatians 3:12 the minor, and ἐν νόμῳ οὐδεὶς δικαιοῦται παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ the conclusion. The subtle objections of Hofmann are refuted not only by the combination ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως, but also by the necessary inner correlation of δικαιοσύνη and ζωή, which are put as reciprocal.

The first ὅτι is declaratory, and the second causal: “but that through the law no one …, is evident, because,” etc. Homberg and Flatt take them conversely: “But because through the law no one …, it is evident that,” etc. The circumstance that δῆλον ὅτι must mean it is evident, that (Flatt), comp. 1 Corinthians 15:27, is not to be adduced as favouring the latter view; for in our interpretation also it has this meaning, only ὅτι is made to precede (see Kühner, II. p. 626). Against it, on the other hand, we may urge, that Galatians 3:12 would be quite superfluous and irrelevant to the argument, and also that ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται, as a well-known aphorism, of Scripture, is far more fitly employed to prove than to be itself proved. Far better is the view of Bengel, who likewise is not inclined to separate δῆλον ὅτι: “Quod attinet ad id (the former ὅτι thus being equivalent to εἰς ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι, 2 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 11:10; John 2:18; John 9:17), quod in lege nemo justificetur coram Deo, id sane certum est,” etc. The usual view is, however, more natural[125] and more emphatic. Hofmann, in loc. and Schriftbew. I. p. 615 f., wishes to take Galatians 3:11-12 as protasis to Galatians 3:13-14; according to his view, ὅτι specifies the cause, and δῆλον (or δηλονότι) only introduces the illustration of this cause. But we thus get a long parenthetically involved period, differing from the whole context, in which Paul expresses himself only in short sentences without periodic complication; moreover, the well-known use of δηλονότι as namely (see especially Buttmann, ad Plat. Crit. p. 106; Bast, Palaeogr. p. 804) does not occur elsewhere in the N.T., although the opportunities for its use were very frequent (1 Corinthians 15:27, 1 Timothy 6:7, are wrongly adduced); further, it is à priori very improbable that the two important quotations in Galatians 3:11-12 should be destined merely for incidental illustration (comp. Romans 1:17); and lastly, there would result an awkward thought, as if, namely, Christ had been moved to His work of redemption, in the death on the cross, by the reflection contained in Galatians 3:11-12 (comp., on the contrary, Galatians 4:3-5; Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

ἐν νόμῳ] not: by observance of the law, which would be ἐξ ἔργων νόμου (Erasmus, Koppe, Rosenmüller, and others), but: through the law, in so far, namely, as the law is an institution which does not cancel the curse so pronounced and procure justification; for otherwise faith must have been its principle, which is not the case (see the sequel). The law is consequently, in principle, not the means by the use of which a man can attain to justification. On this ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου (Romans 8:3), comp. Lipsius, Rechtfertigungsl. p. 68; Neander, II. p. 658 ff.; Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 286 f. Χριστός in Galatians 3:13 corresponds to the emphatically prefixed ἐν νόμῳ (what by the law is not done, Christ has effected); therefore ἐν is not to be understood (with Rückert, de Wette, and others) as: in, in the condition of Judaism, or in the sense of the rule (Wieseler), but as: through, by means of.

παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ] judice Deo, opposed to the judgment of men. Comp. Romans 2:13; Winer, p. 369 [E. T. 492],

ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται] an aphorism of Scripture well known to the readers, which therefore did not need any formula of quotation (D* E F G, Syr. Erp. It., have γέγραπται γάρ before ὅτι, F G also omitting δῆλον). Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:27; Romans 9:7; and van Hengel in loc. The passage is from Habakkuk 2:4, according to the LXX. (ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστ. μου ζήσεται, or, according to A.: ὁ δὲ δίκ. μου ἐκ π. μ. ζ.), where it is said: The righteous (צַדִּיק) shall through his fidelity (towards God) become partaker of (theocratic) life-blessedness. The apostle, glancing back from the Messianic fulfilment of this saying—which he had everywhere in view, and experienced most deeply in his own consciousness—to the Messianic destination of it, recognises as its prophetic sense: “He who is righteous through faith (in Christ) shall obtain (Messianic) life.” Comp. on Romans 1:17. In so doing Paul, following the LXX., which very often renders אמונה by πίστις, had the more reason for retaining this word, because the faithful self-surrender to God (to His promise and grace) is the fundamental essence of faith in Christ; and he might join ἐκ πίστεως to ὁ δίκαιος, because the life ἘΚ ΠΊΣΤΕΩς presupposes no other righteousness than that ἐκ πίστεως. Here also, as in Rom. l.c. (otherwise in Hebrews 10:38), the words Ὁ ΔΊΚΑΙΟς ἘΚ ΠΊΣΤΕΩς are to be connected (Chrysostom, Cajetanus, Pareus, Bengel, Baumgarten, Zachariae, Michaelis, Semler, Morus, Griesbach, Knapp, Rückert, Winer, Gramm. p. 129 [E. T. 170], Hilgenfeld, Reithmayr, Hoelemann, and others), and not ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται (so most of the older expositors, following Jerome and Augustine; also Borger, Winer, Matthies, Schott, de Wette, Wieseler, Ewald, Holsten, Hofmann, Matthias): for Paul desires to point out the cause of the righteousness, and not that of the life of the righteous, although this has the same cause; and in Galatians 3:12, Ὁ ΠΟΙΉΣΑς ΑὐΤΆ stands in contrast not to Ὁ ΔΊΚΑΙΟς merely, but to Ὁ ΔΊΚΑΙΟς ἘΚ ΠΊΣΤΕΩς. Compare, besides, Hoelemann, l.c. p. 41 f. Paul, however, did not write ὁ ἐκ πίστεως δίκαιος or δίκαιος ὁ ἐκ πίστεως, because this important saying was well known and sanctioned by usage in the order of the words given by the LXX.; so that he involuntarily abstained from the freedom of dealing elsewhere manifested by him in quoting from Scripture. The grammatical correctness of the junction of ἘΚ ΠΊΣΤ. to ΔΊΚΑΙΟς is evident from the fact that the phrase ΔΙΚΑΙΟῦΣΘΑΙ ἘΚ ΠΊΣΤ. is used; comp. Galatians 3:8.

[125] For if we take Bengel’s explanation, the δῆλον will not suit well the following words, because they form an utterance of Scripture. We should expect possibly γέγραπται, so that then the first ὅτι would have to be understood as: ἵνα εἰδῆτε, ὅτι (Fritzsche, Quaest. Luc. p. 59 ff.; Schaef. ad Dem. II. p. 71).

Expositor's Greek Testament

Galatians 3:11-12. The failure of the Law to justify is further established by a comparison of Habakkuk 2:4 with Leviticus 18:5 : the latter embodies the spirit of the Law: for it demands obedience as a necessary condition antecedent to the gift of life from God (cf. Romans 10:5). The prophet on the contrary makes life dependent upon faith. By thus substituting faith for obedience he virtually supersedes the existing Law, and establishes a new criterion, which takes account of the state of heart instead of the outward life (cf. Romans 1:17). The same passage is adduced in Hebrews 10:38 in proof of the vital importance of faith. All three writers agree in basing true religion upon heartfelt trust in God: but whereas the Epistle to the Hebrews regards faith from the same standpoint as the Hebrew prophet, and identifies it with the steadfast loyalty to an unseen God which supports the believer under manifold trials, Paul here limits his view to the faith which prompts the convert to embrace Christ. Regarding it therefore from a purely Christian standpoint, he embodies in his conception the new revelation of the Father’s character made in Christ. The faith which he has in mind is justifying faith, the faith in God’s pitying love which assures a repentant sinner of forgiveness and merciful acceptance in spite of a guilty past.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. in the sight of God] Better, before God, i.e. at His bar. This forensic use of the preposition is common in Classical Greek. Comp. 2 Thessalonians 1:6; James 1:27; 1 Peter 2:20.

The just shall live by faith] The quotation from Habakkuk 2:4, is also found, Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:27. The literal rendering of the Hebrew, as given by Bp. Lightfoot, is, ‘Behold the proud man, his soul is not upright; but the just man shall live by his faith’. In the LXX. the verse runs, ‘If one draw back, my soul hath no pleasure in him; but the just shall live by faith in me (or, my faith)’. There is also a reading, ‘My just one shall live by faith’. Although the Hebrew word, which is rendered ‘faith’, elsewhere means ‘steadfastness’, there is really no violence done to the original by St Paul’s manner of quotation. The Greek versions support his rendering. And the expression ‘faith in me’, is equivalent to ‘steadfast confidence in me’: or if we adopt the other rendering ‘my faith = steadfastness’, we have that attribute of God ‘who cannot lie’, which is at once the correlative and ground of man’s trust in God. Comp. Isaiah 7:9, ‘If ye hold not fast, verily ye shall not stand fast’. Dr Cheyne.

11, 12. St Paul by reference to two other familiar passages of the O.T. confirms his assertion that justification cannot be by the Law. He has proved from Scripture that no man can be justified by a Law which pronounces a curse on all who fail to render a perfect obedience to its commands. He now from another Scripture shews that there is a way, opened by God Himself, in which sinners have found, and may find pardon and acceptance, yea, a perfect righteousness and the true life. The prophet Habakkuk declares, “The just shall live by faith”. This cannot apply to those who seek life in the Law; for its condition is, ‘Do this, and thou shalt live’. Entirely contrary and antagonistic is the condition of the Gospel, ‘Believe and live’. It is not a difference on which St Paul insists. It is opposition between faith and works, grace and merit, the Gospel and the Law. When God justifies a sinner through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no place left for human merit. If Christ’s merit, appropriated by faith, is not sufficient to justify us, we are lost. If it is sufficient, our imperfect, faltering, sin-stained obedience can add nothing to that sufficiency.

Bengel's Gnomen

Galatians 3:11. Ἐν νόμῳ, in the law) Paul somewhat eagerly urges this matter, lest any one should say, I acknowledge that righteousness is not by the works of the law, but yet it is by the law itself. Many depended on the law, although they did not keep it, Romans 2:17; Romans 2:23. He answers, it is of no advantage to them that do it not, Galatians 3:12.—παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, before God) whatever it may be before men, Romans 4:2.—δῆλον, ὅτι, it is evident, because [or that]) The phrase refers to what follows: 1 Timothy 6:7; 1 Corinthians 15:27. Δηλονότι is used by the Greeks as one word, corresponding to the Latin id est. As concerns the fact, that no one is justified in [by] the law before God, it is beyond all doubt true, that the just shall live by faith. The former is alleged [referred to] as if still open to doubt, but the latter is τὸ δῆλον, a thing quite manifest, by which even the former ought to be placed beyond a doubt.—ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως, the just by faith [he who stands just by faith]) See Romans 1:17.—ζἠσεται, shall live) The same word is in the following verse.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - But that no man is justified by the Law in the sight of God, it is evident (ὅτι δὲ ἐν νόμῳ οὐδεὶς δικαιοῦται παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ); but that in the Law no man is justified with God, is evident. To "be justified" means to be brought out of a state of guiltiness and cursedness into a state of acceptance. The apostle, assuming that every one is guilty and under a curse, now shows that the Law offers no means of justification. "But." The apostle is meeting the notion that, though one who is of works of the Law is evermore threatened with a curse ready to light down upon him, and though the curse has been, as it cannot but have been, actually incurred, yet, by setting himself afresh to the endeavour and thenceforward continuing steadfast in all things written in the Law, he may thus win pardon and righteousness with God. To obviate this conception, without stopping to insist upon the fact that through indwelling sin no man possibly can continue in all the things written in the Law, he puts the notion aside by stating that this is not the method of justification which Scripture recognizes. This he shows by adducing that cardinal aphorism of Habakkuk, by which, as it should seem, the apostle was wont to substantiate the doctrine of justification by faith (comp. Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:38). The way in which the passage is here introduced, almost as an obiter dictum, and as if not needing a formal indication of its coming out of Scripture, suggests the feeling that the passage, as taken in the sense in which the apostle reads it, was one already familiar to his readers, no doubt through his own former teaching. When in the Acts (Acts 13:39-41) we read that in the synagogue at the Pisidian Antioch, in close connection with the statement that through believing in Christ a man is justified, he cited another passage of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:5), denouncing unbelieving despisers, we cannot doubt that he had made good his statement about justification by alleging this same probative text. "In the Law;" that is, as being it. the sphere and domain of the Law. Compare the use of the same preposition: Romans 2:12, "As many as have sinned under [Greek, 'in'] the Law;" 3:19, "It saith to them that are under [Greek, 'in'] the Law." An exactly parallel construction is found in Acts 13:39, "From all things from which ye could not by [Greek, 'in'] the Law be justified." They could not as being in the Law find therein any means of gaining acceptance. "Is justified with God;" comes to be accounted righteous with him. "With God;" not merely outwardly, Levitically, in the judgment of a Levitical priest - but inwardly and in reality, in God's estimation. The preposition "with" (παρά) is used similarly in Romans 2:13, "For not the hearers of the Law are righteous with God;" 1 Corinthians 3:19, "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." It is God himself that justifies the sinner (Romans 3:30; Romans 4:5); but the apostle does not write "is justified by God," because he is confronting the notion so natural to man, and above all, to the Judaizing legalist, that a man is to make himself righteous by doings - ceremonial or moral - of his own. For, The just shall live by faith (ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται); the righteous by faith shall live. The apostle is not weaving the prophet's words into his own sentence simply as aptly expressing his own thought, but is citing them probatively as words of Scripture; as if he had said, "As Scripture saith, The righteous," etc. The same is the case with the words introduced in the next verse out of Leviticus; so Romans 9:7. In Romans 15:3 and 1 Corinthians 2:9 the apostle inserts, "according as it is written," as in parenthesis, before adding the words of Scripture in such a way as to form a continuation of his own sentence. "The righteous by faith shall live;" that is, the righteous man shall draw his life from his faith. It is generally agreed upon by Hebrew scholars that in the original passage (Habakkuk 2:4) the words, "by his faith" (or possibly, adopting another reading of the Hebrew text, "by my faith," that is, by faith in me) belong to "shall live," rather than to "the righteous" (see on this point Delitzsch on Hebrews 10:38, and Canon Cook on Habakkuk 2:4, in 'Speaker's Commentary'). And that St. Paul so understood it is made probable by the contrasted citation of" shall live in them "in the next verse. With this conjunction of the words, the passage suits the apostle's purpose perfect]y; for if it is by or from his faith that the righteous man lives, then it is by or from his faith that he gets to be accepted by God as righteous. The "faith" spoken of is shown by the context in Habakkuk to mean such reliance upon God as is of a steadfast character, and not a mere fleeting or occasional acceptance of God's promises as true. This is plainly the view of the passage which is taken by the Pauline writer of the Hebrews in Hebrews 10:38. Galatians 3:11

Vincent's Word Studies

But (δὲ)

Better, now. The δὲ continues the argument, adding the scripture testimony.

By the law (ἐν νόμῳ)

Rather, in the sphere of the law; thus corresponding with continueth in, Galatians 3:10.

The just shall live by faith (ὁ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται)

Better, the righteous. Quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, and appears in Romans 1:17, and Hebrews 10:28. The lxx has μοῦ my, either after δίκαιος, "my righteous one shall live, etc.," or after πίστεως, "by my faith or faithfulness."