Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any {one} draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto PERDITION; but of them that BELIEVE TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL.

“God is Love” is a favorite sermon in the United States. The sermon is largely preached by Evangelists and Pastors that are more concerned about numbers and noses than they are your eternal soul. As long as the churches are packed and the coffers overflowing, these churches prosper materially while being terribly spiritually deficient.

“God is LOVE” is Biblical (1 John 4:8). But God is not just love.

“God is HOLY” (Psalm 99:9; 1 Corinthians 3:17). God is not just love and holy, but “God is JUST”, that is, He is righteous (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 45:21). Further, God is the AVENGER. “Vengeance is MINE, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). What else? “God is JUDGE” (Psalm 50:6; 75:7). And further, “God is TO BE FEARED” (Psalm 89:7; 111:10).

God is LOVE
God is HOLY
God is the JUST
God is the AVENGER
God is THE JUDGE
and God is to BE FEARED

The Bible tells us to “work out YOUR OWN SALVATION with FEAR and TREMBLING” (Philippians 2:12). Ensure that you are saved. Are you what our text today calls “The JUST”. Let’s get into the text:

Who Are “The Just”?

This phrase “the just shall live by faith” is one of the most important teachings in the Bible. It is not just in the New Testament under the New Covenant, but is found as a principle of salvation throughout the entire Bible.

Who are “THE JUST”? One of the things we just learned about God is that “God is JUST” (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 45:21). Man is a sinner. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). I have told you many times that because Adam sinned, he brought sin into the world on us all (Romans 5:12). All are natural born sinners. It is in our hearts to do the wrong thing, to be contrary to the Just and Holy God Who loves us. Can we fix ourselves? The Bible tells us that, no, we cannot. The Prophet said:

Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

We can’t. This is why we need the salvation of God. God is not only JUST, but God is the SAVIOR:

Isaiah 45:21 … there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me.

God says “Yes, I am JUST, I am HOLY and RIGHTEOUS, and you are all fallen far from Me and My standard. But because I LOVE YOU I MADE A WAY for you to be JUST as I am JUST. That way is Christ.

“THE JUST” is a reference to someone who is right in the eyes of our Holy God. “THE JUST” is the person who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and has received Him as Savior. “THE JUST” once saved walks in the light of God, not in the darkness of this world. “THE JUST” fears God, and loves God, and obeys God.

The Bible says “the WICKED plots against the JUST” (Psalm 37:12). It says “the PATH OF THE JUST is as a SHINING LIGHT” (Proverbs 4:18). Why? Because “GOD IS LIGHT, and in Him THERE IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL” (1 John 1:5). The person who is saved, “THE JUST” walks not in the darkness but in the power of the Spirit of God (1 John 1:7). “THE JUST” person knows that “the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them” (Hosea 14:9).

In short, “THE JUST” is every person who has called upon the name of the Lord to be saved, and obediently SURRENDERED their lives to Him. “THE JUST” are not so because they have kept the Law of God perfectly, but because they have surrendered to Jesus and have become God’s possession.

The Prophet wrote:

Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: BUT the just shall live by his faith.

The lost person’s SOUL is not upright, not looking god-ward. The lost person’s soul is LIFTED UP in pride and arrogance. “God made me this way” is their justification for the evil they do – yet they do not believe in God. If they believed in God, they would believe in His Word. The lost make excuses, and blame God, or try to elevate themselves to the position of God. But the Prophet said,

BUT the JUST shall live BY HIS FAITH

The righteous person is not saved by their own efforts, but by trusting in God. They LIVE BY THEIR FAITH. Faith is not a set of socks or stockings that they put on and take off, but it is a way of life. People have NEVER been saved by their denomination, nor any man-made institution, or any written law. The Apostle wrote:

Galatians 3:10-12 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 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. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

The Law said you had to be circumcised. The Law said you had to keep the feasts. The Law gave Israel dietary restrictions. The Law gave Israel animal sacrifices. These ceremonial things could not bring salvation. This is what we’ve discovered as we’ve studied the Old and New Covenants. The Bible says:

Galatians 3:13-14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

No one was EVER saved by the Law. The Law showed us to be sinners in need of the Savior. Listen Beloved, anything an unbeliever can do can not save you.

The Pharisees – who kept the Law perfectly – rejected Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus told them “If you CONTINUE IN MY WORD, YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES. And you will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall set you free” (John 8:31-32). Jesus then went on to tell the Pharisees that they were children of the devil, not of God or Abraham (John 8:37-45).

An unbeliever can sacrifice animals.
An unbeliever can be circumcised.
An unbeliever can join a Church.
An unbeliever can be baptized.
An unbeliever can keep feasts.
An unbeliever can follow s special diet.

What is the ONE THING the unbeliever cannot do? They can not – will not BELIEVE IN JESUS.

Anything an unbeliever can do is not that which saves. What is the ONE thing the unbeliever cannot do. They cannot believe in God nor His Word. They cannot exercise saving faith. “The JUST shall live by faith”. This has always been true. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

“THE JUST” is the one who heard the Grace of God, and received it by faith.

“The JUST” Do Not Draw Back

The JUST are saved by and live by their faith. The JUST are saved BY GOD and spiritually BORN AGAIN. Are you born again?

Read with me:

Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: BUT if any man DRAW BACK, my SOUL shall have NO PLEASURE in him.

Word Study: Let’s break this out. God says “if you DRAW BACK, My SOUL finds NO PLEASURE in you”. The word translated “SOUL” is the Greek psychḗ, (pronounced psoo-khay’), which is a reference to the life essence of God, His eternality. God says to those who DRAW BACKfrom faith that in His innermost being GOD IS NOT PLEASED.

Word Study: The phrase translated “DRAW BACK” is the Greek hupŏstĕllō, {pronounced hoop-os-tel’-lo}, which means “to cower or shrink away from, to withdraw or shun, to be unwilling to utter from fear, to shrink from declaring, to conceal, dissemble”. To DRAW BACK is to compromise your faith, to hide it or be unwilling to share it out of fear of others, to put your fear of man ABOVE the fear of God. We’re told in the next verse:

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Word Study: What is “PERDITION”? The Greek apṓleia, {pronounced ap-o’-li-a}, the word means “damnation, destruction, eternal ruin or loss”. The word is used frequently by Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus said,

Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the {narrow} gate {that’s Jesus}: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to DESTRUCTION (apṓleia) and many there be which go in there at:

The NARROW GATE that leads to eternal life is to believe on and receive Jesus Christ. The WISE GATE that leads to eternal punishment – PERDITION – is to ignore Him and do it your way. Our Lord Jesus called Judas Iscariot “The SON OF PERDITION (apṓleia)” (John 17:12), a child of hell, because he rejected the way of the Master. The Apostle spoke of those who rejected faith in Christ in order to please themselves, saying:

Philippians 3:19 Whose end is DESTRUCTION, (apṓleia) whose god is their BELLY {the flesh}, and whose glory is in their shame {let’s have a PRIDE month}, who mind EARTHLY {Greek epígeios, that which is of this world, worldly} things.

The unbeliever is enamored with anything that pleases their flesh. They are not seeking to glorify God, but to glorify self, to make themselves gods and goddesses. They may assume the guise of the believer for a while, like a worker at Disneyland puts on a Mickey Mouse suit. But when something extreme happens this false believer “draw(s) back unto perdition”.

Here is the proof of your salvation: when tried, do you move TOWARD Jesus or AWAY from Jesus?

As believers in Christ go through the trials of life, the trials do not draw them away from God, but draw them closer to God. No trial the believer faces:

The death of parents,
The death of child,
A diagnosis of a fatal disease,
The loss of all that property

There is NOTHING that can make the believer in Christ, renounce the Savior and Lord. I am reminded of the Prophet Job who, having everything, but lost everything in such a short time. Did he DRAW BACK on his faith? No. The Bible says:

Job 1:20-21 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped {God}, 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

And even in the midst of terrible suffering, The Bible says that Job declared to his shrewish wife:

Job 2:10 … What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?

Here is the problem that I perceive with the Prosperity Gospel, the Social Gospel, the Liberation Gospel, and all the other fake gospels being spewed out as truth in America today. These fake gospels teach that God wants to save you so that He can heal you and give you large bank accounts, or that He might bring a utopia on earth. These false gospels have deceived many, and do not save a person. In time every person on the face of this planet will be touched by the hand of suffering and injustice. Bad things happen to everyone, not just one or another groups. When the bad thing comes, you who have believed the Gospel of Salvation, who have received Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior, will not shrink away or hide or “deconstruct” your faith. No, the saved always overcome. Always. Look at the Book of Revelation, as God speaks to the Churches. What does He say?

Revelation 2:7 … To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life…

Revelation 2:11 … He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life …

Why do the JUST always OVERCOME? Why is it that the JUST do not DRAW BACK TO DAMNATION? It is because God’s Spirit indwells the believer.

1 John 4:4 “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”

You do not draw back, dear Christian, because God keeps His own:

Psalm 37:23-24 If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; {24} though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. {21} Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, {22} set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy– {25} to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Those whom God saves, He keeps on saving. He Who is in us is greater than anything we might encounter on this earth. God has promised to keep us close, and He promises never to leave or forsake us. If a person can DRAW BACK from Christ, that person was never saved in the first place!

God Now Gives Us Examples Of Saving Faith

The last verse in chapter 10 is:

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

What are some examples of those who “BELIEVED TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL”? We need only turn to the next chapter of Scripture:

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

The very first murder ever committed in humanity was when Cain killed his brother Abel. God told Abel what type of sacrifice He wanted him to do, and without question Abel complied. But Cain told God what type of sacrifice HE was willing to give. When God wouldn’t budge, and demanded that Cain give an acceptable sacrifice, Cain murdered Abel. Abel stood his ground, and would not compromise with what God said though Cain threatened him — and paid with his life.

Abel would not draw back.

I know pastors who have drawn back from Bible truth because they had a son or a daughter “come out of the closet”. Beloved, God’s Word is not negotiable. Again I say, God’s Word is not negotiable. Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 10:35-38 (NKJV) For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; [36] “and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his [own] household.’ [37] “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. [38] “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

You cannot change Bible truth because your family members are offended. What Jesus has said, He has said. Jesus declared that faith in Him would bring division between you and your lost relatives. I will not DRAW BACK regardless as to what my family says.

Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

We know very little about Enoch in the Bible. We are told in

Genesis 5:21-24 (ESV) When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

For 365 years Enoch (ḥănôḵ, pronounced khan-oke’ which means “dedicated”) “WALKED WITH GOD”. God was not an afterthought, but Enoch’s Father and Friend. Every day he sought to “PLEASE GOD”. Then one day God told Enoch, “Friend, just walk on into Heaven with Me”. I will live to honor my Heavenly Father, else I am DRAWING BACK.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith NOAH, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

In Genesis 6:13 God comes to Noah (nōaḥ, pronounced no’-akh, meaning “he who rests”) and told him that the world was going to be destroyed – and he needed to build a boat. Noah did not question God, though Noah had never seen a flood. Noah went against the cultural demands of his day, and began to build as God directed fearing God, until the project was finished.

Noah did not DRAW BACK. He stayed the course, and finished the race. Why? Because, saved by Grace, he was a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Noah was not perfect – we none are. But Beloved, if you are saved then you WILL NOT DRAW BACK UNTO DAMNATION …

BUT BELIEVE TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL.

If you are not truly born again, I pray that today – without hesitation – that you will give your life to the Lord Jesus. “The JUST are SAVED BY FAITH”. I can’t get you to Heaven. You can’t get you to Heaven. There is but one way to have a faith that saves your soul.

Total surrender to Jesus. May God touch your heart with His Word!