Can God Use a Sinner?
Can God use me? Can God use a sinner, like me, for His good? Can God use anyone for His purposes? One of our most remarkable examples of grace and faith comes from the unlikely tale of a prostitute.
Scripture: Joshua 2:1-13, Ephesians 2:8-9
All of us know what it feels like to be stuck and in need of help. Most of us are professionals when it comes to white-knuckling through life's challenging situations. We know what it means to earn things, don't we? We spend all of our lives trying to be on the track of achievement and doing something to prove ourselves worthy.
Grace doesn't make sense to us. It's not what we would have chosen because we strive to save ourselves. Yet God tells us repeatedly in scripture that He welcomes anyone who will have Him. We were the cause of Jesus' journey. God was in search of us and our hearts.
In the classic devotional Streams in the Desert, the author, Lettie Cowman, reminds us that God calls many of His most valued workers from the unknown multitude. God, almost, if not always, works in reverse order from the way the world works. He chooses those the world thinks are foolish and weak. Many of God's greatest servants are unimpressive, unusual, and unlikely. God's favorite instruments are nobodies, to put it more bluntly.
But Can God Use Me?
Introducing our Main Character: The Most Unlikely Hero
Short answer: There's nothing so dirty that God can't make worthy. Our past never has to determine our future.
Long Answer: In today's scripture, our main character is the most unlikely Biblical hero. Rahab and her story appear eight times in scripture, five of which present her as a harlot. Scripture doesn't hide this; in fact, it seems to announce her profession with a neon sign.
She is one of the Bible's greatest examples of living faith. Scripture says in Hebrews 11:31, "By faith, the prostitute Rahab welcome the spies in escape the destruction that came on those who refuse to trust God." We even see Rahab listed on Jesus' family tree on Joseph's side. What a picture of God's grace.
Interestingly, God chooses to pursue a woman with minimal promise to be the hero. Perhaps we've done this in our ways. Sometimes we misjudge others because some people we might not choose ourselves are the people God has chosen.
Rahab is the kind of woman that most of us would have second-guessed as the woman for the job, but God saw tremendous potential. Thank God for grace because none of our stories have to end with what's wrong with us.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul lists those who will not inherit the kingdom of God, and He concludes it with one of the most powerful verses in scripture. "And such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified, cleansed, and you were justified, you are made right with God, in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of God."
God wants us to know that this is not the end, and He is always is making all things new. God wants us to experience His forgiving and merciful heart. It is by grace you have been saved through faith. So we've established that God can use anyone, but how?
How Can I Be Rescued?
What are the steps to finding faith and allowing God to use you in extraordinary ways?
1) Leave The Wandering Life
We see Rahab turned away from her former life; that's what faith looks like. It means turning away from our past transgressions and immorality in favor of God's grace. Rahab turned away from the evil of the Canaanites, and in her turning away, she also turned towards the living God and His people. She put off her old self and put on the new self. God gave her that undeserved favor.
Grace is not just God's undeserved favor, though. It is God giving us the power to live a new life. In the order of His creations, we're the highest gift. His greatest delight is to make us new. We can do things to improve ourselves, but there's nothing we can do to save ourselves. That resolve is only found in God's power.
2) Ask For Help
Do you know what faith is? Faith is calling on God to save and rescue you because you know you can't do that on your own. Faith doesn't end with yourself either. It can also look like intercession by asking for help from others in your life.
Rahab called on the Lord for her to be saved. But she didn't stop there. She called not just for herself but her entire family. Her prayer was to be saved from death, and when the City of Jericho was attacked, she asked the same for her family. This is a picture of calling on the Lord.
3) Acknowledge God's Grace
No matter what we do in life, no matter who we think we are, how many hats we wear, our profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the most essential thing in our lives. Rahab exchanged her old profession of prostitution for a profession of faith. There's power to publicly acknowledge our profession of faith before our families, our church, and God. Then we began to live a new life through His power and His grace.
In Joshua 2:9,11, Rahab said to Joshua, "know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."
4) Commit to Obedience
Rahab followed the Lord wholly in what she was told to do. That's obedience, isn't it? Faith is obedience.
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Ephesians 1:7
I'm so thankful for the blood of Christ. Without the doctrine of the precious blood of Jesus, we're in the wilderness, and there is no way out. We cannot enter the Promised Land unless we trust the blood of Christ.
God loves to hear the cries of His people. I believe that there is a supply for every cry in our hearts with all my heart. It's a supply of God's grace that meets the need that we have in our lives.
We may wonder if we have any future based on our past. We may think we're too dirty, distant, or afflicted ever to live the Promised Land life. When we have such doubts, God's one-word reply is Rahab. God has a place for every Rahab. Christ loves each of us, regardless of our past, and wants us to know Him personally.
TL;DR
It’s rarely easy to admit that you are stuck and need help.
Many of God's greatest servants are unimpressive, unusual, and unlikely.
There's nothing so dirty that God can't make worthy. Our past never has to determine our future.
How can I be rescued?
Leave the wandering life.
Ask for help.
Acknowledge God’s grace.
Commit to obedience.
God loves to hear the cries of His people. He has a supply for every cry in our hearts.
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About Christ Church Memphis
Christ Church Memphis is church in East Memphis, Tennessee. For more than 65 years, Christ Church has served the Memphis community. Every weekend, there are multiple worship opportunities including traditional, contemporary and blended services.