“But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” James 2:20-24.
While this post will be concerned only with James 2:25-26 the above has been added for context, it was covered in “Faith without Works, James 2:14-24”, posted on 10-14-20.
“Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:25-26.
If you go over the faith chapter, Hebrews eleven, you will find too many great men of the faith to mention here; so why a woman, why a heathen prostitute?
Why place the dregs of society next to one of the greatest men of faith, one who is called, “…the friend of God” in II Chronicles 20:7 and in Isaiah 41:8?
“[King Jehoshaphat praying] O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?” II Chronicles 20:6-7.
Let King Jehoshaphat’s prayer be America’s cry during these times of crisis.
“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.” Isaiah 41:8.
“…was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works…” many have tried to clean this up by saying that Rahab was an innkeeper or a hostess, not a harlot.
But she was what she was and this should be an encouragement to all of us; just as the thief on the cross reached out to Jesus next to him, so she came empty-handed and without any merit to the God of Israel.
“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” Luke 23:39-43.
Some fourteen hundred years earlier, Rahab the harlot spoke to the two spies, telling them of the dread that had come upon the occupants of the land which Israel was about to take.
“And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” Joshua 2:11-13.
It took a great deal of courage for this woman to take her stand with these men and risk her life and perhaps the lives of her family, but it took a real faith in the God who is, “God in heaven above and on earth beneath”, to take that risk.
In this she is in agreement with Paul when he says.
“For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” II Timothy 1:12.
Rahab was the first heathen to accept the God of the children of Israel upon their arrival in the land.
Abraham knew and served God all his life, Rahab came out of a pagan background. Abraham became the father of many nations and was in the lineage of Christ.
Rahab came from the basest of lifestyles, yet her faith not only saved her life and soul, she too became part of the lineage of Christ. Both are mentioned in the lineage given in Matthew 1:1-6.
As an aside I would like to bring up something that has caused me some confusion in the past; Rahab the harlot is not the only time the name Rahab occurs in Scripture.
That name is also used as another name for Egypt. Though the two names are spelled the same and are even capitalized; the woman’s name Rahab means, broad, or wide; while Rahab, a code name for Egypt means, insolence, pride, or violence.
Both names are spelled differently in the Hebrew script, and the woman Rahab’s name is transliterated as Rachab, while the other Rahab is transliterated as Rahab. Here is an example of the second usage of the name.
“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the serpent? Are you not the One who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over?” Isaiah 51:9-10.
You may also find it interesting that Rahab in medieval Jewish folklore is the name of a mythological chaos monster.
Though this is not in the Bible and is fictitious the Bible does speak of dragons under different names, among them are behemoth and leviathan, see Job 40:15-24 and 41:1-34.
These are dinosaurs not crocodiles or a hippopotamus as some allege!
I hope I have not confused the narrative by adding these asides, if so, my apologies.
Rahab and the thief on the cross are examples for us all because they came to God just as they were, sinful men and women, they did not try to clean up their act or try to bargain with God for their salvation, they just threw themselves at His feet and called upon His mercy.
It is never too late in this life to repent of your sins and call out to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” John 6:37.
“Just as I am, without one plea But that thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd’st me to come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come! Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot, To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come! I come! Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!” “Just as I am”, by Charlotte Elliott.
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26.
When the spirit leaves the body it is dead and incapable of doing anything… it is a dead body. So are those who are dead spiritually.
Folks who are dead spiritually have no real interest in God or His Son Jesus Christ they are engrossed in this life only with no consideration for their own mortality.
And they would remain that way if it were not for God in His mercy teaching them about Himself, and those who hear Him and become curious God sends them to His Son.
“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me [Jesus].” John 6:45.
However, those who reject the Father’s merciful message remain dead in their sin. These people can be totally corrupted in their sin or they can be nice folks, but lost.
They may show love, compassion, or kindness as you see many do, but this is because we are created in the image of God. Sin has marred that image but not eradicated it in most people.
“Truly, this only I have found; that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” Ecclesiastes 7:29.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:26-27
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We were given everything when God created our parents Adam and Eve. Study the list above, nothing is left out right down to salamanders and bugs!
I might add that the dinosaurs did not rule the earth, ever, but they roamed it at that time and ate foliage.
Quite a bonanza yes; what happened?
Adam and Eve had an encounter with Satan in the Garden of Eden who spoke to them through the mouth of a serpent and seduced them into sinning against God by eating fruit from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Satan began a dialogue with Eve by questioning God, “Has God indeed said…”? It is a common practice of his, in fact you may have heard a small voice in your heart saying the same things, I have.
Doubt is not a bad thing for the honest heart because it forces them to seek answers from God’s word. The honest heart does not seek what agrees with their preconceptions they seek what through prayer and study comes from God’s heart.
Unfortunately for Adam and Eve they did not seek God’s counsel on the matter, rather they took the word of a stranger.
“And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Genesis 3:2-5.
We will only concern ourselves with the first sentence of Satan’s lie here, however, please go back and consider carefully verses 4 and 5 above, the Devil’s entire lie.
Satan told Eve.
“You will not surely die.” Genesis 3:4b.
Did Adam and Eve die; nope. In fact Adam lived to be 930 years old. So, yes technically it was a satanic lie. Our immortal parents became mortal and lost dominion over everything to Satan.
However, they lost something even more important, they died spiritually to God, and all their descendants are born dead spiritually to God – all of us.
This was the real lie, Adam and Eve died spiritually immediately separating them and consequently us from God eternally.
God reinstated them by making them tunics of skin, indicating that blood was shed to atone for their sin.
“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21.
The need for this atonement is indicated in Hebrews 9.
“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22.
It was the faith of Adam and Eve that God could save them from eternal damnation that gave the sacrifice of blood meaning.
Unfortunately that sacrifice only covered their sin; every one of their children including all of us would have to choose between God or separation from Him by accepting or rejecting His provision for our sins.
In our case it is the shed blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son that pays for our sins.
“Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…” Romans 5:12.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Ephesians 2:1-3.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” Romans 5:1.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins…” Ephesians 2:1.
Faith without Works, James 2:25-26 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 8-24-11 updated on 10-19-20.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.