What Does It Mean to Live by Faith? Galatians 2:20 Explained
Short answer
To live by faith means relying daily on Jesus Christ rather than on your own moral record or visible circumstances. Rooted in Galatians 2:20, this life recognizes that the believer was crucified with Christ and now shares his risen life. It directs daily choices through steady trust in God, even when the future remains unseen.
To live by faith means ordering your daily conduct around trust in God rather than relying on your own strength or visible outcomes. At Find A Prayer, we wrote this guide for believers who struggle to connect theological creeds to their everyday anxieties. Many people understand the doctrine of justification on paper, yet they feel completely lost when an unexpected hardship turns their routine upside down. Scripture anchors this walk in the person of Jesus Christ.
In Galatians 2:20, the Apostle Paul describes his entire existence as a life shared with the Son of God. Paul does not point to his moral resume, his ancestry, or his personal willpower. Instead, he points directly to the Savior who loved him and gave himself for him. Understanding what it means to live by faith requires examining both the grace that establishes your relationship with God and the steady trust that governs your everyday choices.
It is neither passive daydreaming nor naive optimism. It is a deliberate, day-by-day commitment to trust God in every situation.
Relying on Christ Instead of Human Effort
Living by faith begins when you stop trusting your own moral performance to justify you before God. In the second chapter of Galatians, Paul confronted a serious dispute over the requirements of Christian community. Paul argues in Galatians 2 that a person is justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Jewish law. Paul rejected that view completely.
In Galatians 2:16, he insisted that a person is justified by faith in Jesus Christ and not by the works of the law. Relying on ritual rules or personal achievements cannot remove human guilt. Right standing before God comes exclusively as a gift through Christ. Self-reliance fails.
When you build your identity on your good deeds, you swing between pride when things go well and despair when you fall short. Living by faith shifts your security away from your flawed efforts and rests entirely on what Jesus finished on the cross.
The Meaning of Galatians 2:20 Phrase by Phrase
Galatians 2:20 explains the Christian life as an exchange where Christ lives his life within the believer. Paul opens with a startling statement about his identity: "I am crucified with Christ." Through spiritual union with Jesus, the old self dominated by sin and legalism was put to death. The believer no longer belongs to that former master. Yet physical life continues.
Paul explains: "nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." The Christian does not face life alone. The risen Lord dwells within believers, supplying the love, patience, and direction that human nature cannot produce on its own. Translations vary on the phrase that follows. Paul writes that the life he now lives in the flesh, he lives "by the faith of the Son of God." Some English versions translate this phrase as "faith in the Son of God," focusing on our ongoing personal trust in Jesus.
Other scholars translate it as "the faithfulness of the Son of God," highlighting the steadfast loyalty of Christ as the true foundation of our security. Both readings teach that Jesus remains the source of our strength.
The Just Shall Live by Faith Across Scripture
The phrase the just shall live by faith forms a continuous golden thread from the Old Testament through the New Testament epistles. The statement first appears in Habakkuk 2:4, and Habakkuk 2:4 reads that the soul lifted up is not upright, but the just shall live by his faith. Centuries later, Paul seized upon that exact line to explain the gospel.
In Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, Paul quotes Habakkuk to prove that salvation has always rested on faith rather than ceremonial law. Paul reads this line as the pattern for how a person stands before God. God remains true.
This phrase describes both an initial legal verdict and a daily posture. Traditions describe how that righteousness is received differently, and all agree the life of faith is one of trust in God through every trial.
Walking by Faith Rather Than Visible Sight
Walking by faith means making decisions based on the character of God rather than your immediate visible circumstances. Second Corinthians 5:7 states this rule in eight plain words: "For we walk by faith, not by sight." Human sight is limited to what can be measured, touched, and predicted right now. Hebrews 11:1 provides the biblical definition of this reality: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is not wishful thinking or imagination. It treats the promises of God as solid reality long before physical eyes can confirm the outcome.
Sight is limited. If you only move forward when the path is entirely clear and risk-free, you are walking by sight. Living by faith means taking the next obedient step because God told you to move, even when the fog has not yet lifted from the road.
Balancing Faith and Good Works Across Traditions
Christian traditions agree that authentic faith produces a transformed life, though they explain the precise relationship between faith and good works differently. Protestant theology emphasizes justification by faith alone, drawing from Ephesians 2:8, which teaches that we are saved by grace through faith as a gift of God. In this view, good works are not the cause of salvation, but the necessary fruit that inevitably grows from true saving faith. Catholic theology emphasizes that faith must be formed by love to be complete.
Drawing from Galatians 5:6, which speaks of "faith which worketh by love," Catholic teaching views works of charity as an active cooperation with grace that truly pleases God. Good deeds are not mere external demonstrations, but the living expression of faith in action. Love acts. This context clarifies James 2:17, which warns that faith without works is dead.
Paul opposes legalistic works done to earn salvation, while James opposes dead intellectual agreement that never produces love for others. Both writers agree that real faith changes how a person treats their neighbor.
How to Live by Faith in Daily Circumstances
Living by faith takes concrete form in the ordinary decisions and routines of daily life. It does not require heroic feats or dramatic public moments. It shows up when you face an uncertain decision and choose to trust God with the outcome, even when you cannot predict how things will resolve.
It appears when you honor your commitments on days when you feel no emotional reward. Faith keeps a marriage vow, stays diligent at an unglamorous job, and tells the truth when a lie would offer quick protection. It also guides you to pray before a tense conversation instead of resorting to manipulation or harsh anger.
Trust takes action. Start today by handing your most pressing problem over to the Lord in prayer, and take the next small step of obedience that his word commands.
Key Bible verses
- I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. — Galatians 2:20
- Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. — Habakkuk 2:4
- For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. — Romans 1:17
- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. — Hebrews 11:1
- Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. — James 2:17
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to live by faith?
To live by faith means relying continuously on God's character and promises rather than on your own visible resources or moral efforts. It shapes your daily choices, ethics, and peace of mind around trust in Jesus Christ.
What does Galatians 2:20 mean?
Galatians 2:20 means that a believer's old, self-centered life died with Christ on the cross, and a new life empowered by Christ now takes its place. The Christian lives within a human body by leaning completely on the Son of God who gave himself out of love.
What does "the just shall live by faith" mean?
The phrase means that those who are declared righteous by God receive their spiritual life through faith, and they continue to navigate daily hardships by relying on God rather than their own pride or self-sufficiency.
Is living by faith the same as blind faith?
No, biblical faith is not blind or irrational. It is reasonable trust anchored in the proven character, resurrection, and historical promises of God, choosing to trust what he has revealed even when future circumstances are unseen.
How do faith and works fit together?
Faith and works belong together as root and fruit. While salvation is an unearned gift of grace through faith in Christ, true faith naturally expresses itself through loving actions, moral integrity, and practical obedience to God.