---
title: Hebrews 10:38
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/hebrews-10-38/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/hebrews-10-38.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Hebrews 10:38
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Hebrews 10:38

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

## JW Usage

"My righteous one will live by reason of faith" (NWT 2013) is read by the Watchtower as a statement about the anointed remnant who live by ongoing faithful service — with "faith" understood as demonstrated loyalty to Jehovah's organisation, endurance in the preaching work, and perseverance to Armageddon.

## Protestant Usage

Hebrews 10:38 quotes Habakkuk 2:4 — "the righteous will live by faith" — the same verse Paul anchors his justification theology on in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11. The verse is one of the most cited Old Testament proof-texts for faith alone in the New Testament. Living by faith is not a programme of demonstrated compliance; it is continuing trust in what Christ has already done, against the evidence of suffering and delay. The immediate context of Hebrews 10:38 is verse 39: "we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have FAITH and preserve their souls." The antithesis is faith versus shrinking back, not faith versus disloyalty to an organisation. Pair with Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Habakkuk 2:4 for the three-time NT quotation pattern — "the righteous will live by faith" is the single Old Testament charter for the apostolic gospel.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Eternal Salvation to All Who Obey Him](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/hebrews5-9-obey-salvation.md) — Hebrews 5:9 and the obedience of faith [Salvation]