Rahab

To illustrate what he means by faith and works going together, James points to two Old Testament characters.  The first and perhaps obvious one is Abraham (James 2:21-24). James reminds us of the statement that “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness” from Genesis 15.  He argues that this was particularly fulfilled when God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his one and only, beloved son, Isaac.  Abraham was showing that he trusted God to keep his promise, even if that seemed to mean laying down the promise itself.  We are told elsewhere that he trusted God to raise Isaac from the dead again.

The other example James chooses is a lady called Rahab (James 2:25). She was a prostitute in Jericho when the Israelites conquered Canaan.  Before attacking Jericho, Joshua sent spies to the city and Rahab hid and protected them.  In return, her life was not only spared but she became part of God’s people and even an ancestor of Christ. The ancestry of Jesus with immigrant outsiders and prostitutes included mirrors the way in which God includes the least and the low in Christ because of the Cross.

By using Rahab as an example, James reminds us that justification is not about our moral standing.  This is not what he means when he provocatively says that you are saved by your works.  It’s not that you can do anything to make you good enough for God.  Rather, we see that Rahab’s works are a demonstration of her faith, her trust in God’s promise to her through the spies that she will be saved and brought into God’s people. 

Rahab the prostitute reminds us that there is no-one beyond God’s grace and no sin or failing too shameful that should cause us to hide from that grace.