In Joshua 2, the Bible reader is introduced to a character named Rahab. The uniqueness of her name may be part of the reason that we automatically identify her with her past livelihood—she was a harlot. Of the eight times her name appears in Scripture, five of those times she is called “the harlot.” Why is this Old Testament character mentioned with favor in the New Testament?
She is not mentioned in Scripture because she was a harlot. She is mentioned in Scripture because of what she became—a woman of faith. Her saving faith was not merely a mental assent to some facts, but an obedient faith that stepped out from her upbringing and from her fellow countrymen and demonstrated an active trust in the God of heaven.
We learn from Rahab that the sins of our past do not have to define us. If you truly “believe that [God] is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6), that faith will lead you to a submissive obedience that will reward you eternally (cf. Heb. 11:31; Jas. 2:25). Do you have a true faith in the true God?