Now the just shall live by faith - Ὁ δε δικαιος εκ πιστεως ζησεται· But the just by faith, i.e. he who is justified by faith, shall live - shall be preserved when this overflowing scourge shall come. See this meaning of the phrase vindicated, Romans 1:17. And it is evident, both from this text, and Galatians 3:11, that it is in this sense that the apostle uses it.

But if any man draw back - Και εαν ὑποστειληται· But if he draw back; he, the man who is justified by faith; for it is of him, and none other, that the text speaks. The insertion of the words any man, if done to serve the purpose of a particular creed, is a wicked perversion of the words of God. They were evidently intended to turn away the relative from the antecedent, in order to save the doctrine of final and unconditional perseverance; which doctrine this text destroys.

My soul shall have no pleasure in him - My very heart shall be opposed to him who makes shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. The word ὑποστελλειν signifies, not only to draw back, but to slink away and hide through fear. In this sense it is used by the very best Greek writers, as well as by Josephus and Philo. As dastards and cowards are hated by all men, so those that slink away from Christ and his cause, for fear of persecution or secular loss, God must despise; in them he cannot delight; and his Spirit, grieved with their conduct, must desert their hearts, and lead them to darkness and hardness.

the just.

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

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

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.

but. See on ver.

Hebrews 10:26,27 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins...

Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift...

Psalm 85:8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace to his people, and to his saints...

Ezekiel 3:20 Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die...

Ezekiel 18:24 But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity...

Zephaniah 1:6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.

Matthew 12:43-45 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none...

Matthew 13:21 Yet has he not root in himself, but endures for a while: for when tribulation or persecution rises because of the word...

2 Peter 2:19-22 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome...

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us...

my.

Psalm 5:4 For you are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with you.

Psalm 147:11 The LORD takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit on him...

Malachi 1:10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nothing? neither do you kindle fire on my altar for nothing...

Matthew 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit on him...

1 Thessalonians 2:15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

June the Fourteenth the Law in the Heart
"I will put My laws into their hearts." --HEBREWS x. 16-22. Everything depends on where we carry the law of the Lord. If it only rests in the memory, any vagrant care may snatch it away. The business of the day may wipe it out as a sponge erases a record from a slate. A thought is never secure until it has passed from the mind into the heart, and has become a desire, an aspiration, a passion. When the law of God is taken into the heart, it is no longer something merely remembered: it is something …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Inward Laws
I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.' (Hebrews x. 16, 17.) The beginnings of religion lie in the desire to have our sins forgiven, and to be enabled to avoid doing the wrong things again. It was so with David when, in the fifty-first Psalm, he not only cried, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, and blot out my transgressions', but 'Wash me, cleanse me from my sin'. Sin is a double evil. On the one hand, it creates …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

Like one of Us.
"But a body Thou hast prepared Me."-- Heb. x. 5. The completion of the Old Testament did not finish the work that the Holy Spirit undertook for the whole Church. The Scripture may be the instrument whereby to act upon the consciousness of the sinner and to open his eyes to the beauty of the divine life, but it can not impart that life to the Church. Hence it is followed by another work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the preparation of the body of Christ. The well-known words of Psalm xl. 6, 7: "Sacrifice …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit