God's Coaching #176

God's Coaching #176

When Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Edwin Jackson threw his final pitch on June 25, 2010, he joined an elite fraternity: he became the 267th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw a no-hitter. After Jackson hit a game-ending groundout for a 1–0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, his teammates mobbed him in celebration. Then, during a postgame TV interview, a teammate playfully threw a pie in his face.

But as joyous as the occasion was for Edwin, his performance was one of the ugliest no-hitters ever. He threw an astounding 149 pitches—the most of any major-league pitcher since 2005—and gave up eight walks, including seven in the first three innings. Edwin suffered with so many control problems that the Diamondbacks had relievers warming up in the bull pen from the sixth inning until the end of the game.

What’s the Score?

Like Edwin’s no-hitter, when it comes to our righteousness before God, even our best performance has major flaws. Many people think that if they do enough good deeds and don’t commit any “major” sins like murder or stealing, they’ll get to heaven. But the Bible clearly teaches that our best isn’t good enough to earn God’s favor. In fact, Isaiah 64:6 says our righteousness is “nothing but filthy rags” before God.

That’s because God is holy—meaning he is perfect, sinless, and set apart from us in every way. We, on the other hand, are utterly sinful. We can’t earn a relationship with a holy God by what we do. Our righteousness before God has to come from someone else. That someone is Jesus! God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, died to take away our sins and clothe us in his righteousness. If we put our faith in Jesus, God forgives our sins, looks past our flaws, and credits Jesus’ righteousness to us. So don’t try to earn your salvation from God. Trust in Jesus—the only person who can turn filthy rags into spotlessly clean clothes!

On the Ball

Put a fancy, clean shirt over what you’re wearing and look in the mirror. What do you see? Just the clean shirt, right? If you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, that’s what God sees—Jesus’ righteousness—when he looks at you.

Coach’s Comment

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:6