Exalting Jesus In James by David Platt & Daniel L. Akin & Tony Merida

Author:David Platt & Daniel L. Akin & Tony Merida
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion/Biblical Commentary/New Testament
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2014-09-01T13:55:26+00:00

Faith Risks

James 2:25-26

Main Idea: As an example of faith and a recipient of scandalous grace, Rahab feared the sovereign God and risked everything for the spread of His glory.

I. Radical Rahab (2:25-26)

A. She was a recipient of scandalous grace.

B. She feared and revered the sovereign God.

C. She risked it all for the spread of His glory.

Excursus: Radical Action

II. Summation of Justification

A. Three realities

1. Christ is the basis of our justification.

2. Faith is the means of our justification.

3. Works are the evidence of our justification.

B. Two reminders

1. These realities are only possible by the grace of God.

2. These realities are ultimately involved in judgment before God.

The theme of the second half of James 2 is captured in several verses:

Faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself. (v. 17)

Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? (v. 20)

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (v. 26)

We’ve seen Abraham used as an example of genuine faith that produces works. In verses 21-23 James tells us that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son because he had faith. Now in verse 25 James says, “And in the same way,” which means he is not introducing a new truth. Rather, he is giving us another example of saving faith, and the example he uses is Rahab.

And in the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (James 2:25-26)

Radical Rahab

James 2:25-26

The story of Abraham in Genesis 22 is familiar to most people, but this may not be the case with Rahab, so we need to consider the context of Joshua 2 for the setup to what James is saying. The people of God were ready to take the promised land for the glory of God, and the first major city in the land was Jericho. So Joshua decided to send some spies into the land to scout things out.

Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a woman, a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there.

The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land.”

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. At nightfall, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!” But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof.

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