Rahab is not only an example of faith, but also of works. “Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?” (James 2:25). Works must follow faith. There is such a thing as dead works which are not the product of faith, and there is a dead faith which does not produce works, but Rahab’s works can only be the fruit of faith. An Abraham to offer up his son as a burnt offering, a Rahab to betray her country, or a Mary to break a costly box of alabaster to waste her all, an odor of great price — all these human wisdom condemns. The authors of such deeds are blamed or punished by the world, but what renders them approved of God is the faith which is the motive spring — faith which sacrifices all for God and which surrenders all for His people.
Rahab finds her recompense: A place of honor is reserved for her with those who, among God’s earthly people, form the lineage of the Messiah (Matt. 1:5).
Food for the Flock, Vol. 9