Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 to support his claim that justification is by faith and not by obedience to the law.1 Quoting from one of the old covenant prophets, he shows that this was the case (justification by faith) also in the time of the old covenant. It was always God’s plan.
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”