All fall short . . .

 

When it comes to being a sinner, the term applies to everyone. That means a deeply evil person who exploits others, kills, steals, etc. and a person who steps over the line and lies one time or who gossips once or who is full of pride at his own goodness are both sinners. Sin is sin and I’m either walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Sin does not have a scale making one sin worse than another except in the way it affects me and everyone else.

God makes a point in the story of the Israelites when they conquered Jericho. They first sent two spies who were in peril and wound up at the house of a prostitute.

(She) said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. (Joshua 2:9–11)

Her confession of faith and the protection offered to the two spies was a God-thing. He used her faith, as imperfect as it might have been, for his purposes. She risked her own life to hide the spies. MacArthur points out that because Rahab lied to protect them, we might question the validity of her faith thinking that genuine believers wouldn’t lie like that. However, Abraham did. Sarah did. Isaac did. Jacob did. But the important thing to understand is that God honors faith, not deception, and not ever any ‘good’ deeds we do apart from faith.

The NT says: “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” (Hebrews 11:31) In this, she illustrates the depth and breadth of God’s amazing grace, but also that no matter what we are or were, have done or not done, God’s saving grace is about faith in Him, not about our performance. This is not an excuse to sin but a reason to trust Him!

Not only was Rahab a prostitute, she was not an Israelite but a Canaanite. Her people were idolatrous, barbaric, debauched, infamous even among pagans for their immorality and cruelty. Yet amid that exceedingly wicked society, Rahab came to faith in the Lord God. Her faith wasn’t perfect, nor was her knowledge of God’s moral law, but because she trusted God, she was spared during Jericho’s conquest, and then was given an even greater honor — she became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth, the great-great-grandmother of David, thereby becoming an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. (see Matthew 1)

PRAY: Jesus, I know there are people who say their lives are so horrid that God cannot forgive them. Rahab’s story illustrates that His grace is for all, those who appear ‘good people’ and those we would consider great sinners. You do not measure us like that. Your word says:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:21–25)

To You all praise be given for Your great salvation which You offer to all, even to those we consider ‘vile sinners’ for Your Word says:

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. (Isaiah 64:6–7, italics mine)

PONDER: How do I feel when reading about this woman and about the truth that God isn’t impressed by any ‘good’ that I do apart from Him?

 

 

Don’t Worry — Exercise Faith

I’m stressed with large tasks on my to-do list that I have no idea how to accomplish. Today, God speaks to my worries, not by solving them but by pointing to the root problem.

He reminds me that eternal life begins with faith, and that faith is not only the beginning but the characteristic of eternal living. I know that faith is the foundation of being a Christian because it affects where I go when I die, but it also affects what I do while I am here. This passage begins a description of those who lived by faith and shows me what that means for my life:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:1–6)

This passage says that faith is just knowing. I cannot see God or eternity but faith is the conviction that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Faith is also a gift. It is not conjured up without the Holy Spirit granting it. This faith knows that God is creator, no matter what people without faith decide. It also offers to God what God asks, not what human thinking supposes He wants. Faith knows that God can do whatever He wants to do. It also knows that death is not the end.

Abraham is an OT example of faith, but James gives one more example:

In the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:25–26).

Rahab was a Gentile, a prostitute, a liar, and lived in the pagan city of Jericho. How could such a person illustrate true faith? Unlike the Jews, she didn’t know much about God, but what she knew, she believed, and what she believed, she acted on. She said to the Israeli spies:

“I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:9–11)

Faith and obedience are partners. If anyone believes God, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, an Abraham or a Rahab — if faith is there, so is obeying God. It begins a life of walking with Him. I believed and was adopted into His family. I believe and that faith is involved in all of life, where I go, what I do, how I speak and behave.

The Bible calls me to make sure I have a living faith, not only for salvation but in all of life. Am I believing God and relying on Him for wisdom in relationships? For words when called upon to speak? For ideas when I design a quilt? For help in writing job descriptions? For guidance in planning a family reunion? Or plan a brainstorming session? Or for being salt and light in the people I meet? Living faith and obedience go hand in hand, otherwise the ‘faith’ I claim is dead and useless.

PRAY: Jesus, I realize that dead faith is like offering pious words to the needy but refusing to meet their needs. It is like demons who believe the truth about God but are eternally lost. A living faith is vibrant, exciting, and often very scary. The devil whispers, ‘God does not want the best for you’ and other lies. The world believes him and shakes their fist at His sovereign rule. Living for You in this lifeless environment is a challenge yet Your grace assures me, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14) Even as I write this verse, the stresses of this day begin to fade. You are an amazing God!

PONDER: Read Matthew 7:7; 17:20; 21:21-22 and Luke 18:26-27. Compare these words to what I worry about!