GOD IS GOOD, but… (Part.1)
“God is good” is probably one of the most trendy and popular catchphrases of our modern times. Christians as well as non-Christians use this phrase…!
Similar phrases are:
- “God is good all the time – all the time God is good!”
- “The goodness of God.”
- “God is a good God – the devil is a bad devil.”
- “God is good – He’s better than you think.”
People commonly express their belief that the LORD is good and does good things for them through these catchphrases. But, does everyone making these statements have a biblical understanding of what those phrases mean? Does everyone have the same meaning in mind when they make these statements? Does everyone have the same or even the biblically correct expectations from the LORD when believing “God is good”?
While many may confidently state “God is good”, there is no guarantee their understanding has a proper biblical foundation. The absence of biblical truth guarantees confusion and disillusionment.
THE “GOD IS GOOD” CONFUSION
It should be obvious that true Christians and non-Christians don’t have the same understanding when stating “God is good”. Non-Christians certainly don’t get their definition of the goodness of God from the Bible. In this article, we’re not focusing on non-Christians. We intend to help Christians to get a correct understanding of the LORD and His ways.
In the Christian community, the degree of confusion varies on what “God is good” means. Propagators of this belief system have published many books, songs, curriculums, videos, on this subject. Yet many of them are erroneous (or incomplete at best) giving Christians an unbiblical perspective of the goodness of God. This then stirs wrong expectations about God in the hearts of the (probably well-meaning) Christian audience. However, when these expectations are not met by the LORD, confusion, disillusionment, and sometimes even shipwrecked faith follow. As the saying goes: “REALITY is what you run into when your theology is wrong!”
WHAT “GOD IS GOOD” DOESN’T MEAN
We will not go into all the erroneous “God is good” teachings that are going around in Christian circles today. But, here’s a summary of its main concepts:
God is nice
The fallacy: He’s always such a pleasant person to be around. He’ll never offend anyone in word or deed. God only has pleasant and uplifting things to say to everyone. The LORD never scares anyone or makes them feel uncomfortable in any way. He never condemns (or makes someone to feel condemned). He will never bring any harm/misfortune to anyone (only the devil does that), etc.
God is always in a good mood
The fallacy: He is never angry or offended, and is so much more approachable than we think.
God is my pal/buddy
The fallacy: In His goodness, He has chosen to be my “Friend”. I can relate to Him solely on a friendship level. Therefore, I can casually relate to him (much like relating to an earthly friend).
God only wants to bless
The fallacy: He just wants to do good and pleasant things for me. He always wants to prosper, heal, promote, and protect me. He always wants to lead me into my destiny (AKA: He has a “wonderful” plan for my life…!).
My present circumstances must change
The fallacy: One can and should alter any negative realities. These must “come in line” with the good and pleasant will of the LORD for my life.
No bad things
The fallacy: Every negative or unpleasant thing which are happening to me must be from the devil. It can NEVER be from the LORD, as He only wants good/pleasant things for me.
Only success
The fallacy: The LORD always wants to help me succeed and to reach “the destiny” He has for me.
Breakthrough is mine!
The fallacy: The LORD wants me to always confidently pray (or make declarations) for breakthroughs. He wants me to believe for miracles, and have faith for Him to move, no matter what comes against me. (While it’s true that God desires us to request His assistance in everything through prayer, it’s never a matter of pragmatism where one can presume His will and compel God to align with one’s own desires.)
God wants me to prosper in ALL areas of my life
The fallacy: The LORD demonstrated His good intentions for all areas of my life in Jesus Christ. Jesus demonstrated through His miracles, etc. that the Father always wants me to be free from negative circumstances and sufferings. This modern “God-is-good” message is often justified by the (unbiblical) catchphrase “JESUS IS PERFECT THEOLOGY”. God’s people throughout the Old Testament times might have suffered through many unfair and horrible circumstances, sicknesses, and fatalities. However, when Jesus Christ appeared on the scene it all changed. He demonstrated God’s will for me – freedom from all negative circumstances, injustices, sicknesses, poverty, etc. In other words: in the New Testament God is revealed as a “good Father”…
We must “partner with Heaven”
The fallacy: As God’s children we can (and should) “partner with Heaven” to “release” supernatural solutions. The LORD is ready to make heaven’s resources available to His children. Thereby we can transform this world which lies in chaos. These acts are referred to as the “GREATER WORKS” which we as Christians must learn to execute.
We can (should) “change the atmosphere”
The fallacy: We as Christians can (and should) experience new realms of “supernatural thinking”. Thereby we will be able to “bring Heaven to Earth”, and “change the atmosphere” (for the good) around us.
God can only do “good things”
The fallacy: “God is good”, but is not in control of everything. Otherwise, the bad that happens could also be ascribed to Him, even the most horrific things. No, God IS good, and only does “good things”. But, we need to do OUR PART to see to it that God’s goodness breaks through into all negative circumstances.
God can never be angry
The fallacy: Believing in a “good God” will free me from the “angry God” way of thinking about Him and will bring a breakthrough in the way I relate to Him.
Sinners want to know how “good” God is
The fallacy: In a missional sense, believing in a “good God” as opposed to an “angry God” will help draw people to accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior because they will start to realize actually how pleasant and friendly God is, how good he wants to be to them if they will just give Him the opportunity…! Who won’t be attracted to such a “good God” as opposed to an “angry God”…?
THE CONSEQUENCES OF GETTING IT WRONG
A flawed approach to the LORD
Having an incorrect understanding of the goodness of God will cause one to relate to the LORD inaccurately. Such a person will have a distorted image of Him, and consequently treat the LORD accordingly.
How would any of us feel/react if someone who had a twisted idea about us related or treated us accordingly?! Let’s take it a step further… What if that person treated us with less due respect because of the distorted idea he/she had of us…? What would our response be toward that person? Would such a relationship work out? Why would the LORD feel and respond any differently…? Are there any biblical examples of people who treated the LORD in such a way?
There are overwhelmingly many such examples in the Bible. Every instance in the Bible where people disobeyed Him had to do with them having a warped idea/understanding of Him. The consequences of such behavior were never good or pleasant. Never did the LORD just gave them a pass on that. Here are a few examples:
Psalm 50:16-21 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. 20 You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.
In this passage we learn about Jews who were indulging in flagrant sinful practices while simultaneously partaking in national religious worship. Due to God’s patience with them and thus not pouring out swift judgment upon them, they concluded that the LORD didn’t have any problem with their sin and that He approved of them (that He was altogether like them…!). God made it clear that it wasn’t the case and He would hold them to account by bringing severe judgment upon them eventually.
Psalm 73:11-12 And they say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; They increase in riches.
Very much in the same manner as what we saw in Psalm 50:16-21, the postponement of God’s judgment on the sinner caused them to conclude that God was unaware of their sin or the intensity of it. Their luxurious lifestyle strengthened their delusion about God. They kept on rebelling against God because they didn’t face any immediate consequences.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
This verse portrays the same delusion sinners had as was described in the other passages above.
Isaiah 57:11 And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, that you have lied and not remembered Me, nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held My peace from of old that you do not fear Me?
Here again, we see that God’s “silence” (not punishing them immediately) over their sin was misinterpreted by these sinners as God being unable or unwilling to bring them to account, and so they lost their healthy fear of God, therefore not taking Him and His commandments seriously.
Acts 5:1-11 (Please read Acts 5:1-11 here by hovering with your mouse over the text reference)
In this New Testament example, we encounter a husband and his wife who for the sake of the recognition and praise of men thought that their lying (pretending) about the amount of money they were “giving unto the Lord”, would not at all be an issue for God, and would certainly not be found out. In fact, it appears that they disregarded God and His very presence amongst His Church people completely and acted under the delusion that they were only dealing with the leaders and elders of the Jerusalem Church. Their delusion of God being uninterested, unaware, or uninvolved, or maybe that God wouldn’t be such a great threat to their dishonesty, deceived them into lying to God’s face, thinking that it wasn’t such a big deal. They were greatly mistaken and suffered shame and death for their error.
Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
The context of this verse shows that certain Jews didn’t think of them as sinners in God’s eyes and that they were fully capable of getting on good terms with God through their religious works. This erroneous reasoning caused them to despise God’s command for them to repent and acknowledge their need for a Savior (Jesus Christ). Thus, they related to the LORD on the merit of their own perceived goodness by keeping the requirements of the Old Testament law. As we can see in this verse and the rest of the New Testament, God doesn’t have any regard for such an attitude and belief in a person.
Other errors
Now, the examples above are leaning toward the extreme – not all errors are intentionally sinful or attract the same severe consequences. But, it is plain to see that a wrong view of God does lead to an inaccurate relationship with/towards God, and leads to erroneous actions / a lifestyle.
Here is just a very short summary of what the consequence of a wrong view of the “goodness of God” would entail (not all of these would necessarily apply to everyone guilty of such a distorted view, but we mention these as possibilities):
Not taking Him seriously enough
God and His commands are not taken seriously enough, or not taken seriously at all. Thus, sinful behaviors, acts, and/or lifestyles become acceptable and even approved of.
No repentance and wrath
The focus is turned away from repentance from sin, and from the immanent wrath of God. The essence of the gospel (that Christ died for sinners to be able to escape the consequences of sin – the wrath of God) is ignored or underemphasized.
A false or watered-down gospel
Under the illusion of authentic Christianity, a false gospel and a false Christ are now presented and believed.
“Love bombing”
One should constantly tell unsaved people how “great” they are. Tell them of the great plans God has for their lives, and that if they only would give their hearts to Jesus all these great plans and destinies God has for them would come into fulfillment. They are seldom (if ever) confronted with their sin and their need for repentance (godly sorrow and turning away from it) from sin unto a life that pleases God (holiness).
Positive prophesies
You should never give any “negative” prophesies. You must only minister encouraging and affirming “words from the Lord”. These are the kind of prophesies people would like to hear…
Sinners only need a “better picture” of God…
It is a fallacy to believe that sinners will come to Christ if they could only have a better (good and friendly/nice) picture/concept of God, AKA “a good God” as opposed to “a wrathful God”. God tells us in His Word that the fallen nature of all people causes them to NOT seek after God. They have NO desire to know and submit to Him. They won’t respond appropriately even to a good and pleasant picture of God (Psalm 53:1-3; Romans 3:11). Such a ministry approach will not lead sinners to the true Christ, but to a false Christ, one who is according to their own making and likes (2 Timothy 4:3-4), and consequently will end up with false converts…!
(This article will continue in part 2)
