Text: Joshua 2 + Hebrews 11:30-31
Rahab.
A prostitute.
A pagan.
Not exactly a clean slate.
But today we read a story of how God chose her and used her in big ways.
She is the first recorded Gentile to have a saving faith. [Joshua 2:11]
She is part of the lineage of Christ. [Matthew 1:5]
Rahab was feisty–she was smart. But she probably wouldn’t have been a logical pick, in our human minds, for the role God gave her.
Are you starting to notice a pattern, sister? Saul, the woman at the well, Rahab.
There is no story too messy for God. No mistake too big.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— [Ephesians 2:8, NIV]
It is a gift. All grace.
But there is another important aspect of this story that we can’t ignore.
Action.
Rahab doesn’t just speak a faith in the Most High, but she acts upon it. James 2 challenges us in this way:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. [James 2: 14-18, 25-26, NIV]
Don’t get me wrong, the gift is still a free gift.
And this gift means new life. A fresh start. New beginnings.
And the fruit of the grace poured out on us are the actions–the changes in our life–that we see each day.
Will you be perfect? no. [Romans 7:15]
But you are covered by His grace. Forgiven.
Let your life be an outpouring of all He has poured out on you.
{If you’re unsure about what it means to be saved by grace through faith, here are some additional verses.
John 3:16
Romans 5:8
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
Romans 10:13
Romans 10:9
reading the scriptures, learning from our spiritual mentors, attending church as much as we can, etc., but if we can't "apply" what we have learned (meaning if we don't come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior), then all we are doing is a check-off list. Rahab applied her Faith and she stepped out of the boat
Not just that he used the unlikely…reflecting on previous lessons…He knew these things would come to pass & HE placed her in that position for a purpose. I imagine that she had a talent for deceiving men, she was after all a prostitute. Wouldn’t part of their job description be acting? Making every client feel good, even if she didn’t like them? She had to make the men from Jericho believe her. God used the talents she had to carry out His will.
Thank you Lord, for your mercies & divine plan. Help me to be a ready, willing, & able I instrument in your family. Help me to have the kind of strength & faith that Rahab had. Amen.
Lord, thank you for the example of Rahab. Thank you for taking the messes we are and loving us, and giving us your amazing grace. Let my life be an outpouring of all You have poured into me!
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There is nothing too messy or mistake too big for God. Reminds me of the hymn grace grace God's grace grace that is greater than all my sin. Virtual Mobile Number
There is nothing too messy or mistake too big for God. Reminds me of the hymn grace grace God's grace grace that is greater than all my sin.