GOD IS GOOD, but… (Part 2)
We need a biblical understanding of God’s goodness. This will prevent profound disappointment and possibly permanent damage to our spiritual (and eternal) lives.
UNDERSTAND THE BIGGER PICTURE FIRST
Getting it backward
People often make the basic mistake of predetermining what a quality or virtue is and then measuring God accordingly. This can result in the following outcomes:
- The person anticipates the LORD to embody a specific behavior or respond in a particular manner. When this does not occur, the individual experiences offense, disillusionment, and confusion.
- The person deprives themselves of the chance to develop a profound understanding of God – an understanding that surpasses the limitations of human logic and comprehension.
- The person disregards other virtues of the LORD in an attempt to mold Him into a form that caters to human desires and necessities. In essence, such an individual crafts a deity resembling themselves…!
So, in the context of this article, people guilty of this fallacy would first establish a concept of what “good” or “goodness” is, and then search for evidence of that definition of “good” in God…
Getting the biblical understanding of God’s goodness right
No, we should reverse the approach. We need to allow the LORD to define what the term “good” means based on what He has disclosed about Himself in the Bible. This presents a significant issue because it will ascertain whether a person truly KNOWS God or merely holds an OPINION of Him…! Creating an opinion (often distorted) doesn’t necessitate a revelation from God. However, attaining true and deep KNOWLEDGE of God requires a REVELATION from Him about Himself (Ps. 119:130; Matt. 4:4; Matt. 11:25-27; Matt. 16:17; 1 Cor. 2:9-11).
Virtues vs characteristics
Therefore, we will refer to those things as virtues rather than characteristics or attributes. The former stems from letting the LORD declare His own identity, whereas the latter is predetermined before we even engage with the Bible.
It’s not first of all about what God DOES, but who He IS
Much of what God is finds reflection in His actions. However, for a biblical understanding of God, we must go beyond that. We must first uncover WHO and WHAT He truly is. In essence, we need to concentrate on what God communicates about Himself – the revelations He provides about Himself. In the Bible, God informs us about the way we should perceive, comprehend, and articulate things concerning Him, as well as how we should engage with Him. What He disclosed about Himself inherently becomes evident in His actions. God’s actions stem from His identity and nature. Therefore, commence with that understanding, and the (potential) motive behind His actions will gain clarity.
“I AM”
Much of this becomes evident through the “I AM” statements of God in the Bible. The most renowned instance of this occurs when God unveiled Himself to Moses and the Israelites in Exodus 3:14, which states:
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “.
How would such a statement of God about Himself be of any help to the Israelites? This name for God indicates His self-existence and eternality; it signifies “I am the One who is/will be.” In practical terms, this signified that He, the eternally all-powerful God, transcended every problem and threat they had experienced at that time or would ever encounter. Within His transcendence, He would fulfill all their needs, allowing them to place unwavering trust in Him. In this single example, we observe that it was significantly more important for the Israelites to gain a revelation of WHO He was rather than just hearing about what He would DO for them.
Our limitations
It’s important to grasp that our comprehension of all that God discloses about Himself (whether in His Word, in creation, etc.) remains constrained to the totality of what there is to know and understand about Him. We, as His creatures, possess an exceedingly limited capacity to fathom God, His essence, virtues, and His methods. (Job 36:26; Ecc. 8:17; Rom. 11:33). God unveils Himself to us using “creation language” – concepts familiar to humanity within this created realm. One might assert that God adorns Himself with earthly and natural components, facilitating man’s ability to apprehend the truth about Him. Nevertheless, this revelation adjusts to humanity’s constrained grasp and awareness, thus remaining inherently limited. This is about God’s self-revelation to us – where He imparts facts about Himself within our capacity to comprehend.
The key lesson to grasp is that we need to acknowledge that when discussing the “goodness of God” (or any other virtue attributed to Him), we will never possess the complete picture and should abstain from speaking or behaving as if we do. This underscores the importance of never approaching the virtues of God (or our exploration of Him and His methods) in a surface-level manner.
The Holy Spirit as “AGENT”
This revelation comes to us through the operation of the Holy Spirit, who illuminates things of God in the Holy Scripture, as well as in creation (pointing to His eternal power and divine nature), to reveal God to us (John 14:26; John 16:13; Rom. 1:20; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 1 Cor. 12:8-11). Getting a proper understanding of God is never about relying on human intellect or ability. Instead, it involves humbly seeking Him in the Scriptures, which the Holy Spirit responds to by “unveiling” the truth about the LORD to us (Luk. 24:32; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:21).
It’s important to note that the profound impact of the fallen nature of every human being renders them unable to receive (and grasp) intimate and profound knowledge of God. Sin has severed the direct connection and revelation of the Holy Spirit for every human being. Thus, it becomes highly critical for a person to experience a rebirth (regeneration) through the Holy Spirit to “attain the capacity” to comprehend, think, speak, and so on, as God desires, even though this capacity remains limited (John 3:3-8; 1 Cor 2:13-14).
The wider context of the Bible
Any statement, assertion, or proclamation regarding God should never exist in isolation from what the remainder of the Bible articulates concerning God (Matt. 4:6-7; Mark 12:24; Luk. 24:27; Acts 17:11; Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 1:19–21; Rev. 22:18-19). It should never conflict with other truths about His various attributes, methods, and teachings. The remainder of the Scriptures should enhance and emphasize what we state, assert, or proclaim about God. Therefore, it becomes essential to assess what we communicate about God within the broader context of the Bible in mind to ascertain its validity.
Drawing inaccurate conclusions about God or attributing words or behaviors to Him that He has not spoken or revealed are deceptive. As previously emphasized, this will inevitably lead to profound disappointment and disillusionment. This principle undeniably pertains to the doctrine of “the goodness of God” or the concept that “God is good.”
As explained in the first part of this article, numerous distorted and incorrect conclusions regarding “the goodness of God” have arisen, resulting in significant harm and misrepresentation of God’s genuine nature. One can argue that neglecting the broader context of the Bible, which presents various aspects of the nature of God, is the MAIN reason why those who distort the doctrine of God’s goodness do so.
WHAT THE BIBLE MEANS BY “GOD IS GOOD”
The Bible presents the term “good,” “goodness,” or “kindness” as a generic concept. In Hebrew (Old Testament), this concept is also recognized as: favor, grace, benevolence, abundance, and generosity. In Greek (New Testament), it conveys meanings such as good, excellent, pleasant, honorable, beautiful, admirable, outstanding, kindness, useful, and goodwill.
However, to provide greater specificity and a more contextual explanation based on the Bible, “God is good” or “the goodness of God” signifies the following:
God is perfect
The essence of God primarily defines and determines the goodness of God. Due to WHO and WHAT God is, He PERFORMS certain actions or refrains from doing so. The passage in the Bible that probably best describes the goodness of God as His perfection is found in Luk. 18:18-19 (see also Matt. 19:16-17 and Mark 10:17-18):
Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God…”
In this case, it’s clear that the ruler’s understanding of goodness derived from a person’s actions. If someone performs good deeds, they are considered good. It’s understandable why he held this belief, as humans indeed engage in numerous positive actions, as does God. However, this doesn’t equate them on the same level! Jesus distinguished between the ruler’s perception of goodness and God’s, highlighting the real definition of “good” as God’s perfection and His embodiment of ultimate moral correctness. Only God can assert such a claim, an assertion that no human can ever make! No imperfection, weakness, or evil can be associated with Him. He is the very definition and source of goodness (Joh. 7:18; James 1:17; 1 Pet. 1:19).
The Bible contrasts this perfection of God with the morally corrupted and imperfect condition of all human beings who are without Christ (Matt. 7:11; Rom. 3:10-12). They are in urgent need of the Savior Jesus Christ to reconcile and unite them (corrupted ones) with the perfect God (Matt. 19:21; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 12:23).
Everything God does is GOOD
At this juncture in the article, emphasizing this truth becomes crucial due to the fact that God is perfect (good). It’s vital to grasp that every action undertaken by God is good and perfect, irrespective of whether it’s agreeable or disagreeable to humans (Ex. 6:6; Deut. 32:4). The determination of His goodness isn’t reliant on how humans perceive God’s actions; rather, it’s rooted in the fact that His actions stem from His flawless essence and completeness, and these glorify Him.
It is of the utmost importance that the child of God grasp this truth! It’s at this point of biblical doctrine that the contemporary misleading teaching of “God is good” (meaning “God is nice”) fails to capture this essential truth about God. This distortion of the view of God’s nature neglects the possibility of any so-called “negatively” experienced actions from God towards people.
God displays His goodness when He pardons, blesses, saves, delivers, provides, heals, restores, forgives, raises from the dead, and so on.
However, His goodness is also revealed when He judges, disciplines, refrains from acting the way humans have anticipated, takes lives, casts into heck, chooses not to heal or assist, and more (Ex. 4:11; Rom. 1:24; Rom. 1:26; Rom. 11:22; 1 Cor. 11:29-30; 1 Pet. 4:16; Rev. 2:22-23; Rev. 3:7; Rev. 15:4; Rev. 16:6-7; Rev. 19:1-3; Rev. 19:15).
His honor and glory
Naturally, the question arises: Why is this the case?
Every action He takes is inherently good (though not always pleasant), as each action serves to uphold His honor (Isa. 43:25; 48:9; 63:12-14).
He will never act in any way or partake in something that doesn’t bring Him honor or fails to glorify Him (Deut. 32:26-27; Josh. 7:9; 1 Sam. 12:22; Ps. 51:4; Ps. 106:8; Isa. 37:35; Isa. 43:25; Isa. 48:9-11; Jer. 14:7; Jer. 14:21; Ezek. 20:9; Ezek. 20:14; Ezek. 35:11; Luk. 2:14; Joh. 3:33; Eph. 1:6; Eph. 1:12). He possesses the exclusive understanding of what will bring Him glory and honor, even when our understanding falls short (Job 40:8).
As humans, it’s simpler for us to fathom His goodness in actions that aid and bring pleasure, but it’s considerably challenging, if not sometimes impossible, to recognize His goodness in His actions that cause discomfort. This reaction is both normal and understandable. However, this is precisely where genuine spiritual growth and a deeper knowledge of Him emerge – when someone can rejoice in Him despite the depths of negative or unpleasant circumstances, even when these circumstances, which God sometimes permits, remain unchanged or unaltered (Job 1:21-22; Job 2:10; Php. 3:10; 1 Pet. 4:16; Rev. 2:10; Rev. 13:7; Rev. 13:15).
God’s character never oscillates between goodness and non-goodness. Instead, the expression of His goodness varies based on what will maximize His glorification. The expression of His goodness usually transcends the limits of our finite human understanding (Rom. 11:35, Rom. 11:36).
