Rahab: Faith in Action and Transformation

Rahab had come to realize just with absolute certainty that this God that the Israelites worshiped, man, that's the one true God. that's the one true God so we could say that the great thing she did was that she hid God's people but far greater than what she did is why she did it you see Rahab didn't protect the Israelites because of who they were she protected them because of whose they were they belonged to what she now knew to be the one true living God and I love how like 1 ,400 years later after this event Rahab's faith is remembered and celebrated by James one of Jesus's half brothers not his cousin brother but but his half brother and then some people say when Jesus had half brothers he had half siblings because Mary and Joseph went on to have more children after Jesus and so James who did not believe that Christ was the Messiah before his crucifixion after his resurrection he became a believer himself and he wrote one of the books of the Bible called James and James says this he says so you see how God accepts someone is right with himself that person must not only believe in God but must also do good things to show that he has faith [00:58:01] (89 seconds)


Even Rahab the prostitute was made right with God by hiding the spies and aiding in their escape. Removing action from faith is like removing breath from a body. All you have left is a corpse. Many of us know that verse as faith without works is dead. But I just love the way that version reads, that translation. [00:59:30] (24 seconds)


And to be made right with God, that might be kind of like, what does that mean? It simply means that we come back into the relationship with our creator that we were made for. It's a relationship that is based on his amazing love for us and then our full and complete trust in him. [01:00:12] (19 seconds)


And James, he reminds us that authentic faith, real trust, it isn't about just believing some things about God, some facts about God. Real faith demonstrates itself in action. So of all the people he could have used as an example, James points back to Rahab the prostitute and how it is that her faith in the living God was shown to be genuine when she courageously hid those spies. [01:00:52] (31 seconds)


But now let's not get things mixed up here, okay? Let's make sure that we're clear. Ephesians and Paul to the people living in Ephesus, he says, for it is by grace you have been saved through what? Through faith, through your faith, through your trust. That's how we're saved. Not by works so that no one can boast. So it's just made so clear for us, good works cannot save us. Good works cannot save us. Only trust. Trust and God can save us. But our trust will always produce good works because trust, it's a dynamic thing. It produces action. It's not static. [01:01:56] (36 seconds)


The great thing that Rahab did was she put her trust in the living God and the evidence of her genuine, authentic faith in the living God was demonstrated in hiding God's trust. In hiding God's people to save their lives. But that's not the end of the story here. I mean, let's look at this one again too. What great thing happened to Rahab. [01:02:16] (23 seconds)


You see, as Rahab escaped a city that was being destroyed, she also escaped a life that was destroying her. And in their kindness, God's people did far more than spare her life. They took her in and they gave her a new home and they gave her a new life. And they saw her not for what she had been, but for what God had created her to be, that person. [01:03:29] (25 seconds)


And this man named Salmon, he chose Rahab, Rahab to be his wife and he cared for her and he protected her and he loved her the way a man is supposed to love a woman. What great thing did Rahab do? She hid God's people. What great thing happened to her? She found herself. She hid God's people and in the process, she found herself. She found her real self, the person that she was always created to be. [01:04:17] (34 seconds)


In his letter to the Colossian believers, the Apostle Paul, he tells us where it is that we can find our real life, just like Rahab did. He said, for you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ and God. Your real life is hidden. Rahab died in the city of Jericho that day when it was destroyed. She died to her old life, and it was no longer her livelihood, it was no longer her label, it was no longer her identity. [01:04:56] (36 seconds)


If you want to discover your real life, you will find it in Christ and only in Christ because he is your creator. He's the one who made you in his own image. In Genesis, the beginning of humanity, it says God made humans in his own image. So finding our real life, it begins the moment when like Rahab, first we make that decision to put our trust in Christ. I don't care what the people around me believe. I don't care how the people around me are living or how they think I should be living. I see the beauty and the absolute trustworthiness of Christ Jesus, the one who gave me life, my creator, and the one who died on a cross to save me, my savior. Nothing else matters. That's it. I'm placing my faith. My trust in you, Lord Jesus. That's where it all begins. [01:05:43] (58 seconds)


Because you see, it's as we now live out faith day by day, trusting and following Jesus day by day that we progressively discover our real life. It's a progress. It's progressive. So let's talk about what that might look like, okay? You see, we find our real life. As we live with Christ. Living with Christ. You know, for we who are Christians here, all of us, we come to church and Christ followers, Christmas means something so different, doesn't it? We kind of really celebrate the power and the message that our God is with us. [01:06:41] (41 seconds)


Jesus explains this vital connection in the gospel of John, when he said, I'm the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in me stays connected in union with me. And I in him, he bears much fruit for otherwise apart from me, that is cut off from vital union with me. You can do nothing. Folks, without a day to day vital union with Christ, we will never ever be able to find our real self and live our real life. Because our real life is with Christ, like a vine to a branch, a vital union. [01:09:37] (43 seconds)