This subject will only be fully understood once we are with Him in eternity. “As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:17-18) God is good, this is a fact and a powerful statement, but it doesn’t carry the meaning it’s supposed to in our day. The word good has been devalued. Like love, we use the word good so much that it has lost its original value. Webster’s Dictionary has over 33 different definitions of the word good based on various contexts. With that many meanings, it’s clear that we have devalued the word.
The Greek word used in the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is Agathos (ag-ath-ose), which means: intrinsically good, good in nature, good whether it be seen to be so or not, the broadest and most colorless of all words with this meaning. The Hebrew equivalent is Tob (tobe): pleasant, agreeable, good. With these words and their contexts throughout the Old and New Testaments, there is a sense of purity in the meaning of good, like holiness.
The context of The Rich Young Ruler is a young man with great potential, and means came to Jesus, as many do. The difference between this man and most others is that he was in sorrow when he left Jesus. He had the desire for spiritual things, and he came to the right place. The problem was his superficiality. Like many, the young man thought he had to do something, to work, for salvation and God’s favor. He asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He thought that because he was rich, he could buy his way into heaven. You can’t earn or work to get into heaven. No amount of ‘good works’ will suffice. Even our best deeds are like filthy rags. He not only had a superficial view of salvation but of Jesus too. He calls Jesus a “Good teacher.” Yes, Jesus was the best teacher. But He is more than just a teacher, more than just a prophet, more than just a man. The rabbis at that time forbid people to call them good; they reserved that word for God alone. And that is what Jesus was doing.
Jesus is God, and of course, He is good. But the young man didn’t understand this. He thought Jesus was just another rabbi. He didn’t recognize and confess Jesus as God. And so Jesus asks, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” So Jesus recites the Ten Commandments, “You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.” Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.” (Mark 10:19-22) Jesus used the Ten Commandments as they are supposed to be used–to show and produce the conviction of sin and that we cannot ‘do’ to win favor with God. The man’s problem was the last commandment, do not covet; along with the first, do not have any gods before me. The man was rich, so Jesus told him to sell all he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Him. Jesus showed the man that he had broken God’s law and required a savior.
Many people like to use this and the accompanying verses to say that being rich is evil. But this is only partially true. Jesus does say, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25) But the meaning of this is that being rich gives you the temptation to place your faith and trust in your wealth. Your wealth will save and protect you, and you can do anything because of your wealth. While this is true from a worldly perspective, it doesn’t work like that in the eyes of God. It’s all about what you do for God with what you have. He gave you that wealth and allowed you to have it; what are you doing to honor Him with it? The man broke God’s law, not because he was rich, but because he placed his trust and faith in his wealth rather than in Christ.
Back to the issue at hand, there are three main attributes of God: God is omnipotent and active: “Look, I am the LORD, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27), He is entirely just and holy: “The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is compassionate.” (Psalm 116:5), He is perfect and full of love: “For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.” (Psalm 100:5) Genuine goodness is defined by the character of God. It’s His nature. The Amplified translation puts verse 18 like this, “Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is [essentially] good [by nature] except God alone.” We can claim to be good people, but only God Almighty, Himself, is positively, eternally, and perfectly good. So to define good, we must define it by God’s standard. Himself. And by that standard, no human being is good. We are far from perfect. This view of perfection even extends to the secular. The most secular person would still admit that no one is perfect. Yet they don’t acknowledge why we aren’t perfect. This good God established the Mosaic Law to show us how perfect He is and how imperfect we are. And by recognizing that imperfection, we are drawn to the savior, the only person who can help us. God Himself.
“This is the message [of God’s promised revelation] which we have heard from Him and now announce to you, that God is Light [He is holy, His message is truthful, He is perfect in righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness at all [no sin, no wickedness, no imperfection].” (1 John 1:5) What does light do? It eliminates darkness and exposes what is in the dark. One criminal deterrent used for building security is adequate lighting. A building is less likely to be broken into if the lights are on versus if the building is entirely in the dark because the criminal would be more likely to be seen committing the crime, whereas if they executed it in the dark, no one would see them. Exposing darkness is what God does. When He calls us, He begins to reveal the sin within us. We see ourselves as we are, impure sinners needing help. His light permeates our being and exposes the darkness within us. Then He begins to change us, to walk and live in the light. As such, there is no darkness within God. After all, what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
Because of this, God is and acts according to His justice, doing what right, proper, and sound is. God is not only the standard of goodness; He is the standard of purity, holiness, and righteousness. There is no darkness or impurity in Him. He holds no impartiality towards sin, impurity, or darkness. “Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”” (John 8:12) When He calls us unto Himself, He calls us into the light. And as we live in the light, we begin to hate the darkness, just like He does. Thus, all of His actions and plans are good, even when they don’t seem like it to us. From the beginning, everything God made was good, including humans. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31). Because He is good and only good, all He creates is good.
So then the question arises: Why is there evil? I’ll only touch on this here, as this could be the topic of a whole other discussion. But, firstly, to acknowledge that evil exists, you must have a standard defining what is evil and what is not. And if there is a standard, there is absolute morality, right, and wrong—no ifs, ands, or buts. Evil is an absence of good. Like darkness is a lack of light. You don’t measure darkness; you measure light. Since the fall, this absence was allowed to permeate all creation. And the last 5000+ years of human history demonstrate that this absence thrives and will continue to thrive until Jesus returns. No pill or amount of training and education will fix this absence. Sin is a spiritual problem, not a physical or mental one. But we must remember that there is still goodness as long as the Holy One sits on the throne. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
Ultimately, the goodness of God is shown in the cross. That He gave His only son to redeem the irredeemable–humankind, something we don’t deserve by any means. “as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18) We all have sinned, and because of this, we fall short of that perfection. We are soiled with irremovable stains. God was under no obligation to save us.
But He did anyway, and He provided the lamb that takes away the sin of the world; He did it for you. “What’s the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.” (Luke 12:7) And that goodness should lead us to repentance and thankfulness. “Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) We should always, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)
He invites us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8) When we obey God, it’s perceived from the outside as us saying, “I’m obeying you out of fear of eternal punishment. I don’t want to go to hell.” But this places God in the light of a tyrant that punishes us if we step out of line. “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are you silent
while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?” (Habakkuk 1:13) God cannot bear sin and must and will punish it. But to call Him a tyrant completely misses the point. Because of the fall, our sinful nature, and what we’ve done, we all, by default, are on a one-way trip to hell. We are the ones that unleashed sin upon ourselves. Just one sin, just one miss of the mark, makes us ripe for God’s judgment. And none of us can count the multitude of sins we’ve committed. It’s His goodness that saves us. If God were a tyrant, He wouldn’t have provided a way for salvation and reconciliation.
When life is going well, God is good. And many agree with this. It’s when life isn’t going too well that we forget the goodness of God. We think God has abandoned us; He’s too far away to know what is happening to us. David Wilkerson once said, “God is closest to you when you think He’s the furthest away.” And he’s right. God knows us better than we know ourselves, so He knows what we are going through. And He will fight for us and help us through it. But we must trust Him, which is one of the hardest things a person can do. But it’s worth it. So, in reality, once you experience the goodness of God, you are saying, “I’m obeying you because you are so good. And I want others to know how good you are.” We obey voluntarily out of a compulsion to please Him. His goodness is too strong for us to resist and reject. It’s truly beyond comprehension.
“He foresaw my every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding; yet, nevertheless, fixed His heart upon me. Oh, how the realization of this should bow me in wonder and worship before Him!” — A.W. Pink
Psalm 118, displays this idea: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever. Let Israel say, “His faithful love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His faithful love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His faithful love endures forever.”
I called to the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and put me in a spacious place. The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me? The Lord is my helper; therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humanity. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in nobles.
All the nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I destroyed them. They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I destroyed them. They surrounded me like bees; they were extinguished like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I destroyed them. They pushed me hard to make me fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. There are shouts of joy and victory in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly! The Lord’s right hand is raised. The Lord’s right hand performs valiantly!” I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord disciplined me severely but did not give me over to death.
Open the gates of righteousness for me; I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the Lord’s gate; the righteous will enter through it. I will give thanks to you because you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord; it is wondrous in our sight. This is the day the Lord has made; let’s rejoice and be glad in it. Lord, save us! Lord, please grant us success! He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God and has given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks. You are my God; I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm 118)
“I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and be kind to you! May God bless you with his love, and may the Holy Spirit join all your hearts together.” (2 Corinthians 13:13)
314Apologia 