A Picture of Transformation

I vividly remember teaching a Sunday School class from the book of Joshua-Chapter 2, specifically. It stands out to me because this chapter features the life of Rahab and gives us a picture of transforming faith. I want to share the exciting truths of how God changes a person like Rahab – and you and me – from the inside out.

Does God Save Sinners?

Yes. God can save even the worst of sinners. Have you ever been guilty of thinking that someone you know is beyond God’s help? Maybe you believed they were too far gone to be reached by the gospel. Rahab could have been seen in this light. Yet she, and many other sinners, were never out of the reach of God’s salvation.

Pick your favorite “despicable sinner” and pray for their salvation. Don’t give up on those who seem hopeless. God can change anyone! He didn’t give up on Rahab, and He didn’t give up on you.

Does Faith in God Change Our Lives?

Yes. Faith in God absolutely transforms lives. Rahab heard how God parted the Red Sea and destroyed the nations who stood in the way of Israel’s path. In her heart, she believed in the power of Israel’s God. By faith she chose to stand with Israel, even against her own people. Her transformation was a total transformation, and God honored her faith.

If you're a believer, the work of transformation is already at work and will be complete when you meet Jesus face to face. Paul said it this way, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Until then, are you helping or hindering God’s process? Ask Him to show you any areas in your life where you are resisting His work of transformation. Rahab submitted herself totally to God. Can you say the same?

Will Other People Know That I've Changed?

Absolutely. Faith in God produces fruit. Living faith will grow. Rahab’s faith was acknowledged when she declared to the spies, “The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (Joshua 2:9,11). With her resolution came immediate fruit as she chose to hide the spies and turn her back on her own heathen people.

In James 2:25, in the New Testament, James uses Rahab to illustrate this point of faith producing fruit when he said, “Was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?” James brought this truth home when he also said, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:17). Be your own personal fruit inspector. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). If you have saving faith, you will produce fruit.

Will My Heart Change Towards Others?

It most certainly will. Faith in God prompts concern for the lost. When she confronted the spies, Rahab’s first concern was for her family. “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, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” (Joshua 2:12-13). As God transformed her heart, Rahab developed a concern for the salvation of her family and extracted a promise not only for her salvation, but also for theirs.

To learn more about Rahab and other biblical characters, see The Remarkable Women of the Bible.

RESPOND:

Lord, thank You for leading me to the center of Your will. Help me to see Your hand in everything that comes my way as I follow You today. May I represent You well in all I do by performing my assigned tasks without complaint and with excellence and joy—“for I serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:24). Amen.

RENEWING RESOURCES:

Conveying the assurance of God's love, The Remarkable Women of the Bible provides nourishment from a woman's point of view and connects today's woman with the source of fulfillment that sustained her sisters in Bible times--a relationship with God.

REFLECT:

Do you share Rahab’s heart of concern for the salvation of others?

REMEMBER:

Don’t forget what your life was like before God saved you. Ask Him to prompt your heart to be more concerned for the lost, starting with your family and friends.