Transforming Power of Faith

Sermon OverviewScripture Passage: Hebrews 11:31Faith has the incredible ability to radically and dramatically change people.In Joshua 2, Rahab the prostitute was transformed by faith. She was a Canaanite woman living in spiritual darkness, but after God saved her, she became part of the bloodline of Jesus Christ.Rahab’s transformation reveals four things about the power of faith.First, the providence of God confronted Rahab.In Joshua 2, two spies approached Rahab’s home with a message of Jericho’s imminent destruction. Rahab believed them and agreed to hide them in her home.God works on both sides of our circumstances; He will bring people together in order to save them. He finds tender, ready hearts and brings to them soul-winners to share their faith.Second, the Spirit of God convicted Rahab.As she helped the two spies in Joshua 2:9-10, Rahab confessed that she knew what God had done for their people. She had heard of God’s mighty, miraculous power, displayed through them.The Holy Spirit convicts others through people who are living and walking in victory. As Christians, the Holy Spirit uses our transformed lives to convict others of their sins.Third, the Word of God confirmed Rahab.By receiving these two messengers into her home, Rahab welcomed in the Word of God, spoken through them.Hebrews 11:31 says, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”Finally, the grace of God cleansed Rahab. The messengers instructed Rahab to hang a scarlet cord over her doorpost so that when they came to avenge Jericho, they would pass over her home and spare her. This act illustrates the principle of the Passover, in which God instructed the Israelites to paint their doorposts with the blood of sacrificial lambs, to spare them from the death angel.As a result, Rahab was delivered from destruction and her character changed; she was justified and made right in God’s sight.Adrian Rogers says, “There are none so bad they can’t be saved, and none so good they need not be saved.”Apply it to your lifeHas your faith transformed you from the inside out; have you been confronted by God’s providence? Has the Holy Spirit convicted you, Scripture confirmed your belief, grace cleansed you?