Faith that Works

When Joshua and the people were preparing to cross the Jordan to the Promised Land, they prepared for their invasion by sending a couple of spies to check out Jericho. Most of you remember the fact that they found a hiding place in the home of Rahab, a prostitute. When the authorities came looking for the spies, Rahab lied to them about their whereabouts and sent them away secretly.

Hebrews 11:31 tells us, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”
James 2:25 explains, “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?”

The story in Joshua and the additional information given to us by the New Testament writers provides us with a lot to think about. What do we know from the story that shows us Rahab’s faith? In what way was she different than her fellow citizens?

In this short story, she explains to the spies that he knows that the Lord has given the Israelites the land. She admits the terror has fallen on them, all the inhabitants are fainthearted and that their hearts melted with lack of courage because of what they had heard God had done to other nations around them. It sounds like Rahab was not the only one who believed the stories they had heard about what had happened. The citizens as a whole were terrified. What made the belief of Rahab different than the rest?

It seems to me that she acted on her belief. She took the risk of hiding the spies instead of turning them in, she helped them escape, and she asked to be rescued. When she was told what it would take to be rescued, she believed what they said and did what they told her to do. I think that’s why James says she was justified by her works. James writes that faith without works is dead. But Rahab demonstrated her faith with her actions and in so doing was rescued when that pagan city was destroyed.Shouldn’t this teach us something about faith in Christ? So many times we hear what God has done, and sometimes there is a certain amount of awe and fear associated with it, but often it isn’t mixed with the actions that true faith produces. May God grant us the kind of faith that produces obedience.