She Reads Truth: Fresh StartSample

Grace by Faith Rahab. A prostitute. A pagan. Not exactly a clean slate. But today we read a story of how God chose her and used her in big ways. She is the first recorded Gentile to have a saving faith. [Joshua 2:11] She is part of the lineage of Christ. [Matthew 1:5] Rahab was feisty--she was smart. But she probably wouldn’t have been a logical pick, in our human minds, for the role God gave her. Are you starting to notice a pattern, sister? Saul, the woman at the well, Rahab. There is no story too messy for God. No mistake too big. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— [Ephesians 2:8, NIV] It is a gift. All grace. But there is another important aspect of this story that we can’t ignore. Action. Rahab doesn’t just speak a faith in the Most High, but she acts upon it. James 2 challenges us in this way: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” 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? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. [James 2: 14-18, 25-26, NIV] Don’t get me wrong, the gift is still a free gift. And this gift means new life. A fresh start. New beginnings. And the fruit of the grace poured out on us are the actions--the changes in our life--that we see each day. Will you be perfect? no. [Romans 7:15] But you are covered by His grace. Forgiven. Let your life be an outpouring of all He has poured out on you. {If you’re unsure about what it means to be saved by grace through faith, here are some additional verses. John 3:16 Romans 5:8 Romans 3:23 Romans 6:23 Romans 10:13 Romans 10:9