August 9, 2015 NOTES NOT EDITED
Summer Fruit: The Grapes of Goodness
Galations 5:22; Micah 6:8,
and others
SIS— Goodness
aligns ourselves to the standard of God’s holiness and righteousness in all we
say and do.
Most people consider
themselves to be “good people.” In fact,
that is the foundation for sin. The
Bible says, “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty.” (Prov. 20:6). The word “loyalty” can be translated
“goodness” (as in the KJV). Few people
declare their sinfulness—in fact, none without the conviction of the Holy
Spirit. Yet, protest as we might our
goodness, we often do things less than kind and good.
A young boy lived in the
country. His family had to use an outhouse, which the young boy hated. It was
hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and always smelly. The outhouse was
located near the creek so the boy decided that he would push it into the water.
After a spring rain, the creek swelled so the boy pushed it in. Later that night his dad told him that he and
the boy needed to make a trip to the woodshed. The boy knew this meant
punishment. He asked his father why to which his dad replied, "Because
someone pushed the outhouse into the creek and I think that someone was you.
Was it?" The boy responded that it
was. Then he pointed out his basic goodness by saying, "Remember when
George Washington's father asked him if he had chopped down the cherry tree? He
didn't get into trouble because he told the truth." "That is correct," the dad said,
"but . . ., his father was not in the cherry tree when he cut it
down."
Most of us have never
toppled an outhouse, however we can identify with the boy in at least three
ways. First, there is an urge within us that wants to do evil, not good. We
call it the sinful nature. Second, our lack of goodness affects others. Third,
there are consequences for choosing good
over evil.
Let’s read a couple
passages that will serve as a starting point for our survey of what the Bible
says about goodness. [Read, Gal. 5:22-23;
Mic. 6:8].
As we read again through
that list you will notice that kindness and goodness appear together in this
passage. Kindness and goodness are
synonyms in English, as well as in Greek.
As we have seen with all the Fruits of the Spirit, the word “goodness”
requires more than a simple dictionary definition. Goodness like all the other fruits grows in
the soil of love, mentioned first in the list in Galatians 5. Goodness and kindness are synonyms, both in
English and in Greek. They are listed as
separate fruits by direction of the Holy Spirit so they must be seen as
referring to different virtues. The
basic difference relates to the emphasis of each word. Kindness puts more emphasis on the deeds
performed whereas goodness focuses more on the root of acts of kindness.
We often speak of someone
performing a kind deed, “out of the goodness of one’s heart.” [1] One way to distinguish the two is to realize
that “kindness is always good, but goodness is not always kind.” Goodness seeks truth, and truth can sometimes
be difficult or even, harsh. For
example, the wrath of God is “good,” but not “kind.” Hell is good, but not kind. The word for goodness, agathōsunē (ἀγαθωσύνη, a-ga-thō-soo-nay) more
directly attaches to the righteousness of God as the source of goodness than
the word kindness, which more directly attaches to the deed itself. This is a subtle, but helpful
distinction. See Mark 10:18 where the
same root word for goodness is used. Goodness is only used four times in the
N.T., and all in Paul’s letters. It
seems Paul wanted to distinguish, however subtly, that God’s holiness and
righteousness must be the controlling factors for all the behavior of His
people. Acts of kindness not anchored in
God’s truth are “dead works” (Heb. 6:1)
There are at least four components
to the idea of goodness in the Bible to bring out its full meaning.[2]
1. Goodness and the
Character of God (Ex. 33:18-19)
18 Then Moses said, “Please, let me see Your
glory.”
19 He said, “I will cause all My goodness to
pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you. I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion.”
Hear we are during a
pivotal moment in the life of Moses. He had
led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt and they were headed toward
the Promised Land. Through Moses God would align Israel with His standard of
goodness. Before the Tabernacle was
built, Moses would meet regularly with God in a tent pitched outside the
camp. Our text records one of the
exchanges between Moses and God. Moses
wanted to experience the very “essence” of God.
He had known God “by name,” but wanted to know Him fully. Notice that our text connects the “glory” of God to the “goodness” of God. “Goodness”
is the very “essence” of God. Goodness
as a virtue finds its basis in the very nature of God Himself. Goodness is related to righteousness. Goodness
rests on the bedrock of the very nature of God, Himself. The word,
“glory,” refers to the “heaviness or
weight” of God’s Being referring to the very essence, totality, or “Isness” of God. Just like a river flows from the headwaters
to the sea, so goodness flows from the headwaters of God’s essence, or glory
into the heart and lives of His people. Goodness is Godness.
Humanity may fain goodness,
even make sincere efforts toward goodness, but there can be no “goodness” apart
from Godliness, just as there can be no fruit apart from the vine (Jn.
15:5). This is at the heart of the
debate between Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler (Mt. 19:17). The Rich Young Ruler asks Jesus, “What good
deed must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds:
17 “Why do you ask Me about what is
good?” He said to him.
“There
is only One who is good.
In addition to Galatians 5,
the word for goodness, agathōsunē, appears
three other times in the N.T. (Rom. 15:14; Eph. 5:8-11; and 2Thess.
1:11-12). In each of these cases
goodness is seen as a direct result of the Holy Spirit’s control over a
believer. In other words, a relationship
with God through repentance is essential to being “good.” Unbelievers cannot be good, even it they
wanted to be good. Human goodness is an
“oxymoron”—that is, contradictory.
One of the big debates between
theological conservatives and liberals has been over the “inherent” nature of
man. Is man inherently (by nature) good
or inherently bad, or evil. Many
alternative answers have been offered in the hallowed halls of academia. Scholars have come to very well-reasoned
conclusions—for both sides of the argument.
I believe, however, one does not need to climb the ivory tower of
intellectual learning to arrive at a conclusion to the matter of man’s inherent
nature. One only need to spend an hour
in a room full of toddlers. One blogger
sums up the issue in this manner:
It’s
this simple: If humanity were fundamentally good, we wouldn’t have to be
taught how to behave! We would just be benevolent, kind and loving,
instinctively. [I]ndividuals wouldn’t revert to barbaric, selfish, greedy,
violent, shortsighted, lazy basis that resides in us all.
Goodness is a “Fruit of the
Holy Spirit,” and like all the others is directly linked to the character of
God.
2. Goodness and Truth
(Eph. 5:9)
6 Let no one deceive you with empty
arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these
things. 7 Therefore, do
not become their partners. 8 For you were once darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light — 9 for
the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth — 10 discerning
what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Don’t
participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Several issues bubble up in
this verse that instruct our understanding of goodness. The Apostle Paul under the Spirit’s guidance
presents several contrasts in this verse, representing a life of goodness, or
godliness as opposed to a life of evil and worldliness. The first contrast is between light and
darkness—goodness being represented by light and evil by darkness. Second, fruitfulness is contrasted with
fruitlessness. Goodness leads to
fruitfulness; evil leads to fruitlessness.
Third, “empty arguments” are set in contrast with “truth.” Worldliness is dark, fruitless, and
empty. Goodness is light, fruit, and
full of truth. Goodness is much more
than right thinking or even right acting.
Goodness is the wellspring from which right thinking and right
acting—that is “righteousness” rises.
Goodness aligns us with the “truth” of God that leads to
righteousness. Goodness, righteousness,
and truth are three tributaries that come together to form a holy life. Goodness
always proceeds from the truth of God’s Word. One cannot be “good” without standing firm on
God’s Word—even when to do so means that one might seem unkind, intolerant, or
even harsh.
Goodness never risks
offending God out of fear of offending man.
Goodness knows nothing of political correctness. Unless you have been living under a rock in
the last few weeks, you have heard much talk about an atypical politician who
has entered the present race for the White House in 2016. Of course, that atypical politician is Donald
Trump. Polls have him leading the pack
of 17 or so Republican candidates by a hefty margin: over twice the popularity of the next
candidate, and three to four times others.
What accounts for the popularity of this billionaire, non-politician
with a bad haircut? At least for now, it
appears he is speaking the truth without filtering it through a political
filter. He says what he feels is true,
regardless of how others might react to it.
Now, one may disagree with his perception of what is “true,” and he may
turn out to be nothing but a temporary amusement in the political game, but
Trump does illustrate an important point:
goodness demands we speak the truth, even if the truth is not popular or
politically advantageous. The Bible
admonishes us:
Speak
the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).
Goodness and truth go
together like a hand and glove. As I
said earlier, “kindness is always good, but
goodness is not always kind”—at least in the way most people understand
kindness as always gentle and tender.
Goodness speaks the truth without concern for the consequences.
3. Goodness and Righteousness
(Eph. 5:9)
Look again at verse 9 in
Ephesians which we just read: 9 for
the fruit of the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth — 10 discerning
what is pleasing to the Lord.
If the standard for one’s
life is the Truth of God’s Word, the result will be the fruit of goodness that
is reflected in righteous living.
Goodness is the springboard to righteousness. The word, “righteousness” refers to the “act of doing what God requires,” or simply
aligning oneself with the Word of God.
Goodness and it’s resulting righteousness comes about by discerning
what is pleasing to the Lord. Now,
it is not just likely, but guaranteed in today’s world especially, that walking
in step with God will put you out of step with the world. Goodness
always leads to righteousness but it will be through a deep valley of testing. The word for “discern” means “to
be proven through testing.” Being
good does not always equate to being
popular!
Have you ever heard the
statement, “No good deed goes
unpunished?” UsingEnglish.com explains this proverb by saying, “This means that life is unfair and people
can do or try to do good things and still end up in a lot of trouble.”
This happened to an anonymous
man in June of 2013. The Florida
Powerball Lottery was up to $371 million.
Lines were long with people wanting a shot at the life of the rich and
famous—or at least the rich part.
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, Gloria Mackenzie, 84
years young, who bought the winning ticket that day recalls the
circumstances: “While in line to purchase a
ticket, another lottery player was kind enough to let me go ahead of them in
line to purchase the winning Quick Pick ticket.
The writer of the
article added this commentary, “In a just world, the winner would have been the person who graciously
allowed the senior to cut in line. In the real world, that person has already
worn out several pairs of shoes kicking himself in the behind.”
Doing good does not always
lead to immediate rewards, or perhaps any rewards in this life at all. Goodness seeks to “discern what pleases the Lord,” regardless
of what the outcome might be. Goodness
leads to and requires righteousness.
As we have seen there are
different ways to examine the idea of goodness.
Goodness is related to the character of God. Goodness is related to the truth of God. Goodness is related to the righteousness of
God reflected in our “right living.”
There is another way to examine the idea of goodness and expand our
understanding of it.
4. Goodness and “Good
Works” (Eph. 2:10)
Here is where the fruits of
kindness and goodness are grafted together.
Recall that last week we learned that to be kind meant, “to be useful to
others.” We spoke of the “worker bee”
that maintains the life of the hive as opposed to the “drone bee” that just
hangs around the queen. Goodness, like
kindness, must have some outlet or expression.
You cannot be “good” if you do not “give.” God is good and God is a giver. Here’s what God’s Word says about “goodness”
and “good works” (Eph. 2:10):
10 For we are His creation, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should
walk in them.
To “be” good means to “do”
good. Goodness is both a state of our
being and a description of our behavior.
If we are truly good, we will be righteous, and our righteousness will
be demonstrated by good works. Being
good requires much more than simply saying a sinner’s prayer and staking claim
to a saints seat on a sacred bench.
One of the most effective
“good works” that a person can perform is the “work of giving,” or
generosity. As I said, the Greek word
for “goodness” can mean “the act of generous giving.” That generosity should begin in church on
Sunday morning and spill out into the streets of our community Monday through
Saturday. According to what we read a
moment ago, God created us and redeemed us in Christ, “FOR good works.”
Now pay close attention to
that little preposition, “for.” We are
not saved “by” our good works but created and saved “for” good works. Goodness is a “circular” matter. The goodness
of God leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4) bringing us salvation and resulting in
good works that lead others to repentance.
Therefore, the greatest gift we could give anyone is the gift of
evangelism, which can be greatly augmented by good works. Matthew 5:16 says it this way,
Let
your light shine before men, so that
they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Doing good works for others
shows them that you really care. It has
been said, “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” Good works lets others know we truly care
about them.
I remember a man who showed
a group of young children how much he cared.
The carnival was in town and a crowd formed around the ticket
booth. As the crowd purchased tickets
and entered the crowded press of people inside the carnival gates, there was a
large group of children trying to peek over the fence to see the sights. They did not have any money and they could
not persuade the ticket man to let them in.
Then, there was a voice from the crowd that called out to the man at the
ticket booth, “Let the children in and tell me how many there are.” The little children scampered through the
gate past the ticket-taker and disappeared into the carnival crowd. As the last one passed the gate and
evaporated into the crowd, the ticket-taker said to the benefactor in the
crowd, “Thirty-four. You told me to tell
you how many there were and there were thirty-four.” The man shouted back, “Thank you. I counted thirty-four, too,” as he sank back
into the crowd and out the gate.
I’m sure those kids
appreciated how much the man in the crowd cared about them, though the ticket-taker-who-got-took probably
wasn’t real happy. Good works open up
lines of communication between believers and non-believers. Good works are strategic tools for evangelism. Good people do good works and bad people get
saved.
Goodness is a “package”
deal that reflects the very nature of God and involves truth, righteousness,
and good works. All three of these
virtues work in harmony to demonstrate the presence of God, Himself, in the
heart of a believer. The Grapes of Goodness grow on the vine of
redemption and no fruit is sweeter than goodness.
As I said earlier, Proverbs
tells us that “every person declares His
own goodness.” The problem is, our
standards for goodness have “movable boundaries.” I remember reading about a man who bought a
small farm. He had a few acres but was
not really sure where the boundary lines were.
So, he spoke with his neighbor.
“Sir, could you tell me where the boundary line is between my property
and yours?” The neighbor replied, “Are
you talking about OWNING, or MOWING?”
You may think you are a
“good person.” But, goodness aligns us with God’s boundary lines of holiness and
righteousness in all we say or do. Standards
of goodness are absolute. Perhaps you
have never pushed an outhouse into the river while someone was in it, but it
takes more than “not being bad,” to be “good.”
Goodness reflects the character of
God, rests firmly and exclusively on the truth of God, results in living
according to the righteousness of God, and we magnify the glory of God through
our good works.
Be godly. Be good.
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