James 2:25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
James knows his Old Testament Scripture and now recalls another example that proves his point. His point in verse 24 is that we are justified by our works. Another way to say this is that our righteous living in obedience to God’s commands shows that we indeed have faith. Rahab was the prostitute in Jericho who protected the Israelite spies in Joshua 2. Hebrews 11:31 also reflects on the faith of this woman. She acted on her faith that God was behind the spies and Israel’s conquest. What little light she had, she acted on it. This is an example of a Gentile who responds to the light of God and trusts in God even though he or she does not have full understanding of God’s revelation. We do not know how much she had heard about Israel, but no doubt in my mind, she had picked up enough news to know something big was going to happen. The curious thing for those systematic theologians who like everything about salvation logically laid out is how Rahab was considered righteous (justified) for her actions. Right action will prove right belief. She had the right belief about the true God. From this belief she acted by protecting the messengers of this God. Her actions proved she had some level of understanding and belief in God. Joshua 2:8 shows her faith: “I know that the Lord has given you the land.” She goes on in the following verses to recount the news that she had heard about how the Lord God had helped Israel escape Egypt. No doubt, others in Jericho had heard the same news, but they had not changed their actions. They rebelled against the opportunity of the spark of faith. Rahab acted on it. The result was her salvation and all those in her family. The lesson is clear: when the message of salvation comes, we must act on it and show that our faith is real, not just intellectual, or worse, we reject it all together and suffer destruction.
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