The Fruit of Repentance

This morning I am reading from the letter of James.  As is often the case I saw something that caught my attention and started doing some research and thinking about what was written.  James was speaking about the importance of our actions being aligned with our beliefs, and specifically how belief without action is actually not worthwhile to the Lord.  Here are the verses in particular - James 2:24-26 NIV:

[24] "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone."

[25] "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? [26] As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

I find it quite interesting that James uses Rahab as an example of righteousness, right after he was speaking about Abraham. The author of the letter to the Hebrews also lists Rahab as one of the great examples of faith in the list of those that were examples of faith in their history (See Heb 11: 31).  What I gather from this is that her "actions", which were the result of her understanding what God was apparently doing and deciding to be on His side, qualified her as someone who was considered righteous, despite her previous occupation that would seem the opposite.  Her "actions" which were based on her unqualified and uneducated faith, were key to the Israelites stepping into their inheritance in the promised land.  Her and her family were the only people spared in Jericho, and they were added to the people of Israel, and apparently very highly thought of by the people.  In fact when you read the lineage of Jesus in Matthew, chapter 1, you find that Rahab was the great-great grandmother of King David.

So I wanted to know exactly what she did and went back to the account in the Book of Joshua.  Here is the account - Joshua 2:1, 8-13 NIV:

[1] "Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho. ” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

- The king sent people looking for the spies but Rahab hid them on her roof...

[8] Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof [9] and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. [10] We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [11] When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

[12] “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign [13] that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them---and that you will save us from death.”

So basically Her actions were to save the spies from the king's search, and her confession that the fear of the Lord had fallen on all of them, and that God was the one true God.  The spies took their report back to Joshua and said that clearly the Lord had delivered this land into their hands, because of what Rahab had said and done.  She actually is a great example of repentance.  She observed what the Lord was doing, changed her mind about what she thought of God, for prior to that she was evidently not a believing individual, and then she changed her actions to line up with her new beliefs.

God apparently wasn't worried about her previous state or sins, He honored her for her repentance which culminated in her helping the spies.  In addition, she and her family were added to the Hebrew people, and evidentially married into the tribe of Judah.  This no small point, for the Lord had specifically forbidden the Israelites from marrying foreign women (Deut 7:1-4) or adding any of the people from the people they conquer to their families.  So, God allowed her to be joined to Israel and enjoy the blessing of God upon them!  He forgave her previous sins and godlessness and welcomed her into His promises because of her faith and actions.

In summary, this is a pretty encouraging word, in spite of her previous life, God saw her heart and recognized her repentance, and acted as if her whole previous life didn't matter.  He honored her repentance, and rewarded her and her family with blessing and honor, because she trusted Him and believed. I love how her whole family was impacted by her repentance!  I think it is good to know that no small feat of belief and action will go unnoticed by the Lord, and He will reward it with His favor.  So regardless of our own pasts, our own mistakes, there is always an opportunity to repent, to change the way we think and act and receive righteousness in return, through our Savior Jesus Christ.