Opening Prayer: God You are Good! Help us Lord to fully grasp what that means, help us to look beyond mere human notions of Goodness to discover the Fruit you have prepared for us to produce in our lives. Amen!
INTRODUCTION: Are you having a Good Day? Truth be told I intended that to be a trick question. When posed that question we might quickly respond yes - either because we have a positive outlook or because we just don't want to share our "mess" with others. Can we ever, in our current mortal state, have a completely Good Day? No... but we're still meant to have this spiritual fruit called Goodness.
PRINCIPLE: Goodness is a defining character of God
God is not only the giver of all Good things, He is the measure of all that is Good. As I was searching the scriptures regarding the Goodness of God I ran into something interesting. I saw that several times in the Old Testament the words (or a minor variation of the words) "give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever". Being a curious person, I decided to see how many times these words occurred, wondering if they by chance might occur 7 times - 7s in scripture are relevant & 7 is the number representing fullness or completion (I won't get into numerology here - it can be divisive and is not necessary to this study). And yes, this statement occurs 7 times: 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalms 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 118:29, 136:1; Jeremiah 33:11.
Jesus tells us that God alone is perfectly Good (Mark 10:18). In His goodness God is: Benevolent, Holy, Praiseworthy, and so much more. We can't be perfectly Good as God is, but we can exhibit Goodness by the power of God's Holy Spirit.
I. Good is much more than the opposite of Evil
Or more to our theme, Goodness is not simply the lack of Evil. Our book mentioned the Greek word used for Goodness as a Spiritual Fruit as Agathosune, the root in Greek is Agathos. Agathos is one of 2 words used for Good in Greek, and this particular word is used for Good when speaking of what is Useful or Profitable, or Moral Goodness. The other Greek word Kalos is similar, but more used for what is aesthetically good or beautiful. From this we can gather that our Goodness is related to our Usefulness or Value - specifically in God's hands. We can also determine that it's speaking of Goodness as a matter of Moral Character - this would embody not just Purity of Heart but possessing multiple Godly traits. This idea even carries over to the English language where Goodly & Godly are similarly formed and have similar meanings, likely with one deriving from the other (though I confess I don't know enough to say this definitively).
Further, the Greek Agathosune is a combination of both being good & doing good, it is a matter of heart as well as action. It is doing good out of the overflow of a good heart, with a motivation to please God & without expecting accolades.
From Romans 3:23 we learn we are sinful by nature and not good (not Godly), only by taking on God's nature in the form of the Holy Spirit are we able to produce the Spiritual Fruit of Goodness (Agathosune).
PRINCIPLE: Goodness in man comes from the Power of God at work through the Holy Spirit.
We can display good behavior, live outwardly moral lives - after all the Pharisees excelled at doing this. But what did Jesus call the Pharisees? He called them Whitewashed Tombs (Matthew 23:27) which looked beautiful (Kalos good) on the outside (to mankind, to the world) but on the inside were full of everything unclean. We must be more concerned about the inside, being Agathos rather than Kalos, when the inside is clean what comes out is Good (Luke 6:45).
II. Goodness has its roots in our Salvation
We get Salvation when we choose to trust in Jesus as our Lord & Savior. It happens in a moment in time, and once accomplished is immediate & complete. At Salvation we are sealed by the Holy Spirit with a guarantee of our redemption, and in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit - God living in us.
The Holy Spirit has multiple inter-related roles in the life of the believer. He is our teacher, counselor, etc. His work in us helps to grow in Godliness (Grow in Goodness) - another word for this is Sanctification. Sanctification begins at Salvation, is progressive & continuous throughout our mortal existence, and will only be completed when we who are perishable are clothed with the imperishable - then our victory over sin will be complete, and that by the work of Jesus alone (see 1 Corinthians 15:53-57).
2 Peter 1:3-4 says: "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires".
PRINCIPLE: Our Goodness results from our compliance to the work of God's Holy Spirit.
We are not simply given the Fruit of Goodness when the Holy Spirit comes, it is something that must grow and mature in us as we grow and mature in Christ, as we cooperate with God working in our hearts & minds. Our responsibility in this is two-fold, we must grow in our knowledge & love of God, and we must resist the pressures of the world. We are in this world, we are called to relate to this world & to impact this world, but we are not called to participate in the world - sometimes this is a fine line, we must guard ourselves.
III. Goodness requires Wisdom & Courage
Goodness requires knowing & choosing what is right, what is Godly - this requires Wisdom. Goodness is standing up for what is right even when we're in stark contrast to the world around us - this requires Courage. Both Wisdom & Courage working together allow us to know & keep Godly convictions - to know what is good and act upon it.
Goodness in the believer requires training, regular spiritual "exercise", in order to maintain a strong Godly character, in order to have both Wisdom & Courage. That training entails knowledge of scripture - how can you keep God's Word if you don't know God's Word? That training involves a deep & personal & honest communication with God - how can you know His Will in a situation if you've not spent time with Him? That training requires fellowship & accountability: Titus 2:3-5 speaks about older women (more mature in the Faith) should teach us who are younger (less mature) how to be Godly women; Proverbs 27:17 speaks of us sharpening each other.
As believers we need to guard our hearts & minds, as well as help our brothers & sisters in Christ to guard theirs. We cannot assume that just because someone has been exposed to God, or even given their life to God, that they won't fall into error.
Some examples (in order from best to worst) of people's choices:
- Choosing right at the risk of your life: Daniel 6:1-10 - Daniel was doing so well that others plotted against him. These others had the king seal a law (can't be broken) that people weren't to pray to anyone but the king, on risk of death by lions. Daniel responded by not changing his behavior, but continuing to pray in front of his open windows 3 times a day - Daniel got thrown in the lions den, was miraculously preserved by God, and the results? Those who plotted against him were fed to those hungry lions, and the king sent out a proclamation that all people in his kingdom should revere the God of Daniel - the Living God.
- Choosing right in a pagan culture: Acts 17:16-34 - Paul, when exposed to the polytheistic culture in Athens, and asked to speak at the Areopagus (a place where the local philosophers went to argue about ideas). Paul used this as an opportunity to speak to this group of pagans about their "unknown god", and told them of the One True God - resulting in some coming to faith.
- Choosing poorly, but responding to rebuke: Galatians 2:11-13 - Peter was influenced by the circumcision party & separated himself from the Gentiles, and in doing so led Barnabas astray. Thankfully Paul rebuked & corrected their behavior or much damage could have been done to the Gentiles in the church.
- Choosing poorly, and not correcting: In Genesis 13 Lot chose to park his tent near Sodom, and later move into Sodom & be one of it's leaders (Genesis 19 records he was sitting at the gate when the angels arrived to attempt to rescue him). Lot chose to leave but with reluctance, his wife choose to turn back & was turned to salt, and his daughters turned to despicable means in order to have descendants. 2 Peter 2:7-8 tells us Lot was a righteous man who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless, tormented in his soul by the deeds he saw & heard. But Lot chose to live in Sodom, it was only by God's direct intervention that Lot was rescued from the condemnation that came on that place.
- Specifically choosing against God: Numbers 22-24 contains a very entertaining account of a character by the name of Balaam & his uniquely gifted Donkey. What's most interesting is that Balaam is a prophet (actually a pagan prophet for hire), that God decides to speak to - God tells him what not to do, and lo & behold Balaam choses to do it (for profit of course). 2 Peter 2:15 tells us that Balaam loved the wages of wickedness. Balaam was forced by God to prophecy for Israel rather than against, which frustrated the people who hired him. Balaam didn't learn his lesson, he continued to choose against God, Numbers 31:16 tells us that he advised the enemies of Israel in how to entice God's people to be unfaithful.
PRINCIPLE: The Fruit of Goodness shows in the choices we make.
At this time I know people who could fit into each of the categories I mentioned. People choosing right at personal risk, people choosing right in the midst of a pagan culture, people choosing poorly but remaining teachable, people choosing poorly who are resisting correction, and people choosing against God. I am praying for all of them. Choosing to be Good & do Good takes Wisdom & Courage.
CONCLUSION: I'd like to think I'm making right choices, but I know my nature. I must constantly be on guard regarding what I watch, what I listen to... be careful about any & all influences in my life. I want you to watch out for me, and I'm willing to watch out for you.
Closing Prayer: Lord please guard & protect our hearts & minds, make us aware of ungodly influences around us, give us the courage to stand firm for what is right & the wisdom to know when to flee from those influences. Amen!
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