CHAPTER SEVEN

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ---Ro 8:28

In the last chapter, we mentioned that when you open the Bible to its first page, you are immediately confronted with the omnipotence of God—a self-existent God who speaks the universe into being ex nihilo, out of nothing. The mere presence of the universe stands as a monument to God’s “eternal power and divine nature” (Rom. 1:20).

Omnipotence, however, is not the attribute that the writer of Genesis underscores; what’s highlighted with intentional repetition for manifest emphasis is God’s goodness. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good” (Gen. 1:3-4). God looks at the newly created light, and he is drawn not to its beauty or brightness, but its goodness. Of course, the light, which was God’s glory entering into the material universe (the light of the sun doesn’t appear until the fourth day), was magnificent and radiant, yet we are to note particularly that what emanates from God is good. To ensure that we don’t skate over this, we have no less than six references to what God saw in creation as being good (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). When we arrive at the end of God’s creative masterpiece, we read: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). This explains why “the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (Ps. 33:5b, KJV).

The opening chapter of Genesis leaves no doubt that if something comes from God, it’s pure goodness. How could it possibly be any other way, since God’s nature is holy goodness. Thus, the Psalmist said to God, “You are good and do good” (Ps. 119:68a). This is a simple statement about the heart of God, yet it has profound implications, as we shall see shortly.

Wayne Grudem makes this observation about God’s goodness:

[I]f God is himself good and therefore the ultimate standard of good, then we have a definition of the meaning of “good” that will greatly help us in the study of ethics and aesthetics. What is “good”? “Good” is what God approves. We may ask then, why is what God approves good? We must answer, “Because he approves it.” That is to say, there is no higher standard of goodness than God’s own character and his approval of whatever is consistent with that character.

Commenting on this kind of circular reasoning, John Frame observes:

[N]o system can avoid circularity, because all systems … are based on presuppositions that control their epistemologies, argumentation, and use of evidence. Thus a rationalist can prove the primacy of reason only by using a rational argument. An empiricist can prove the primacy of sense-experience only by some kind of appeal to sense-experience…. [Therefore,] such circularity can hardly be urged against Christianity.

Frame goes on to note, “Circularity in a system is properly justified only at one point: in an argument for the ultimate criterion of the system. The Christian employs circularity in his argument for Scripture, the rationalist in his argument for reason, and the empiricist in his argument for sense-experience…” However, as Frame also clarifies, ours is no “narrow circularity.”

[The writers of Scripture] describe and praise God’s mighty acts of deliverance, his kindness in providence, and his grace in salvation. These are big, bold, obvious evidences of goodness. They overwhelm believing readers and call from us almost involuntarily the confession that God is good…. [This] is a broad circularity, not a narrow one. It is a circularity loaded with content, full of evidence, and richly persuasive. We are literally surrounded by evidence of God’s goodness.

ONLY GOD IS GOOD

As we consider the attribute of God’s goodness, one might be naively tempted to conclude, “Oh, finally an aspect of God’s character with which I can personally identify. God’s self-existence, holiness, sovereignty, and omnipotence are all transcendentally beyond me, but at least goodness is a quality I have in common with God.” To which I would have to respond, “Guess again.”

One day a rich, young ruler approached Jesus, “‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone’” (Lk. 18:18-19). Only God is inherently good and does good. The apostle Paul stated emphatically “that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘… no one does good, not even one’” (Rom. 3:9-10, 12). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah categorically declared, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isa. 64:6). Even our best deeds, our “righteous” deeds, are like a polluted garment (possibly a reference to filthy menstrual cloth).

Let me pose this question to you, to help you see that being good or doing good doesn’t happen outside of Jesus Christ: If an unbeliever helps an elderly lady cross the street because she is struggling to do so on her own, does he sin? Was that seemingly kind, considerate, good, righteous act a sin? It was, and he should repent!

Jonathan Edwards helps us to see why unbelievers do nothing but sin, even when they are performing “good” or “righteous” acts. He says,

Whatever may be done or suffered [referring to 1 Cor. 13:3: “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames...”], if there be no sincerity in the heart [love], it is all but an offering to some idol.... [T]here is nothing ... really offered to God, and therefore it will follow, that it is offered to some other being, or object, or end; and whatever that may be, it is what the Scriptures call an idol. In all such offerings, something [other than the true God is] worshipped; and whatever it is, be it self, or our fellow-men, or the world, that is allowed to usurp the place that should be given to God, and to receive the offerings that should be made to him. And how absurd to suppose we can make up for withholding from God that which is his due, by offering something to our idol! It is as absurd as it is to suppose that the wife can make up for [lack] of love to her husband, by giving that affection which is due to him to another man who is a stranger; or that she can make up for her [lack] of faithfulness to him, by the guilt of adultery.

Many years ago, that paragraph by Edwards hit me like a ton of bricks! It brought clarity to the issue for me. I saw like never before why helping the elderly lady cross the street is a sin, as is giving hundreds, thousands or even millions of dollars to churches or charities, as well as countless hours of volunteer work. If these “good deeds” are not done with a view to glorifying God (1 Cor. 10:31; Rom. 3:23), then they are all offerings to an idol. Many who are seen as magnanimous philanthropists in the eyes of the world are spiritual adulterers in the eyes of God. Again, apart from union with Christ, no one does good, not even one. Only God is good in and of himself.

GOD IS GOOD & GENEROUS

Indeed, God is good. But he’s so good that I think we fail to appreciate just how good he is unless we tie his goodness to his generosity, and say that God is good and generous. A simple definition of generosity may be “goodness that runneth over.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines generous as “willing to give money, help, kindness, etc., especially more than is usual or expected.” God holds nothing back from his children—if it’s good for them. And I’m speaking literally, not with poetic hyperbole. The psalmist asserts without equivocation, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11). Jesus told his disciples, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk. 12:32). Some of us fathers may think we’re being generous when we give our son or daughter the keys to the car, but our heavenly Father gives us the keys to the kingdom. You might wonder, “But didn’t the Father give the kingdom to his Son to reign over?” Yes, he did (Rev. 11:15; Ps. 2:8), yet we are co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:14-17). All that the Father gives to the Son, he also gives to us.

God has been generous to man since the creation of the world. After God creates the whole universe, he then turns it over to Adam and Eve, saying:

‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. (Gen. 1:28b-30)

All of creation was brought forth not only to parade God’s glory, but also for man to freely enjoy—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Enter Satan, who implied that God was not good and generous, but evil and tightfisted. Satan sought to indict God as a stingy miser when he said to Eve, concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). There are many ways to evaluate the fall. From one angle, it is a demonic assault on God’s goodness. Satan knows that man will not be fully devoted to a god who is not sheer goodness to the core.

EVIDENCE OF GOD’S LIMITLESS GENEROSITY

Scripture, as we saw earlier, boldly declares, “No good thing does [the LORD] withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11b). Do we have any hard evidence for believing such an audacious declaration? We do. Follow Paul’s a fortiori argument: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). “Paul argues from the greater to the lesser, namely that since God has already given us the supreme and costliest gift of his own Son, ‘how can he fail to lavish every other gift upon us?’ (REB). In giving his Son he gave everything. The cross is the guarantee of the continuing, unfailing generosity of God.”

God is good, and holds nothing back from his children. J. I. Packer clarifies the distinction between God’s universal goodness to all, and God’s particular goodness to his elect. He writes, “Theologians of the Reformed school use the New Testament word grace (free favor) to cover every act of divine generosity, of whatever kind, and hence distinguish between the common grace of ‘creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life,’ and the special grace manifested in the economy of salvation—the point of the contrast between common and special being that all benefit from the former, but not all are touched by the latter. The biblical way of putting this distinction would be to say that God is good to all in some ways and to some in all ways.”

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

As we consider that God is good to his people in all ways, we should reflect on Paul’s remarkable statement: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). This is one of the most comforting verses in the whole Bible. But what exactly is the “good” in all things that God is working to bring about? I fear that many Christians comfort themselves with Romans 8:28 without knowing to what the “good” in this verse specifically refers. The next verse clarifies that the “good” is conformity to Christ: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son …” (v. 29a). Therefore, if God ordains that you go through difficult trials, so you can be more like Christ, then he is being good to you. And if he withholds material blessings from you because they would corrupt your character or even damn your soul, then, once again, he is being good to you. Perhaps another person could enjoy the blessings without them having a detrimental effect, but God knows what is good for you. Trust him. As R. C. Sproul writes,

If God is able to make everything that happens to us work together for our good, then ultimately everything that happens to us is good. We must be careful to stress here the word ultimately. On the earthly plane things that happen to us may indeed be evil. (We must be careful not to call good, evil or evil, good.) We encounter affliction, misery, injustice, and a host of other evils. Yet God in His goodness transcends all of these things and works them to our good. For the Christian, ultimately, there are no tragedies. Ultimately, the providence of God works all these proximate evils for our final benefit.

Belief in God’s goodness results in implicit trust in all circumstances. Martin Luther had such confidence that he once remarked in his typical earthy style, “If God told me to eat the dung from off the streets, not only would I eat it, but I would know it was good for me.”

Since God’s goodness is prone to misunderstanding and confusion, let’s mention four things that it doesn’t mean. First, goodness doesn’t mean equality. Our egalitarian culture wants “fairness” across the board, across all classes. Recently, I heard about a Christian newsletter that mentioned a list of different sins, including the “sin of classism”—the mere existence of different economic classes. Where, pray tell, are the references for such a sin? They might be found in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto, but they are not in the Bible. The class warfare that surrounds us on all sides is due to greed and envy—in all classes. But the existence of economic disparity doesn’t negate God’s goodness. While greed and envy are summarily condemned in the Bible, having money or not having money is not inherently evil.

In the parable of “The Laborers in the Vineyard” (Matt. 20:1-16), Jesus illustrated that there is nothing inherently sinful about paying workers different rates of compensation. In this parable, men agreed to work all day for a denarius (a day’s wage). At the end of the day, all the laborers were given a denarius, but some were upset because the master had paid other workers a denarius for fewer hours of back-breaking labor in the hot sun. The master replied to one of the complaining workers,

“Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (vv. 13-15)

Indeed, if we are given less than others, we are prone to question God’s goodness and begrudge his generosity. Beware! Asaph’s confession stated, “Truly God is good to Israel” (Ps. 73:1a), but he almost apostatized and turned his back on God. “For,” as he admitted, “I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (v. 3). Asaph was in danger of hell, because his greed caused him to question the goodness of God.

Second, as a corollary to the previous point, we want to be careful not to equate goodness with material prosperity. This must be stressed, since materialism is as American as baseball and apple pie. I’m not denying that God blesses his people materially; what I am denying is a truncated view of God’s goodness that confines it to material possessions. We need to understand, in this era where the ubiquitous prosperity gospel distorts our view of reality, that there are blessings greater than the material ones. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mk. 8:36).

Third, God’s goodness doesn’t preclude chastisement for his children. On the contrary, it actually ensures it. Writing to Christians, the author of Hebrews says:

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. (12:7-10)

Discipline is good because the ultimate outcome is holiness and eternal life.

Finally, God’s goodness doesn’t contradict his justice or judgment. Would we think a judge was good if he failed to punish thieves, rapists, or murderers? A. W. Pink applies this fundamental principle to God: “Would God be ‘good’ if He punished not those who ill-use His blessings, abuse His benevolence, and trample His mercies beneath their feet? It will be no reflection upon God’s goodness, but rather the brightest exemplification of it, when He shall rid the earth of those who have broken His laws, defied His authority, mocked His messengers, scorned His Son, and persecuted those for whom He died.” Hell, then, contrary to the scorn of many atheists, is not a blemish on God’s otherwise pristine character; but rather another example of his goodness. Due to God’s holy goodness, we can be confident that full justice will be meted out in his perfect time.

How then shall we respond to such a good and generous God? First, we should exercise genuine repentance. The apostle Paul wrote, “O man, … do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:3-4, NKJV). I don’t know about you, but when Paul mentions a character trait of God that leads us to repentance I’m expecting the heavy artillery. I’m bracing myself for a reference to God’s holiness or maybe, his righteousness or perhaps, his justice. I’m anticipating a comment about his anger and wrath. To my surprise, when God desires to bring about repentance, he unleashes his powerful … goodness. God’s goodness and generosity should bring us to our knees.

I’ve never had this experience personally, but a pastor relayed that one time a man came up to him after a service, and said, “I don’t usually attend church, but recently I’ve been overwhelmed with all the blessings in my life. I have a great job that pays well, a beautiful wife, wonderful children, and excellent health. I just have to learn about this God who has been so good to me.” That is a reasonable (and biblical) response to God’s goodness. And for those of us who already know God through Jesus Christ, we should be broken when we realize that our sin is an affront to such a good God.

Another appropriate response to God’s goodness is that of humble gratitude. After all, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor. 4:7b). Boasting is excluded on the grounds that all we are, have, and do is owed entirely to the gracious generosity of God. James writes, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. [He says this for an obvious reason—many people are deceived.] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (1:16-17). Thus, for example, parents try to instruct their children to be humble when they get good grades. “Yah, but I worked hard,” a child may counter. “Yes, you did,” dad replies, “but who gave you your energy level and drive?” If it all goes back to God—and it always does—then God should be exuberantly thanked and praised. Ingratitude is nothing less than cosmic treason (Rom. 1:21). We should shutter in horror at the very thought of God not receiving the glory and thanks that is rightfully his. Dr. John Maxwell tells about trying to instill a thankful attitude in his son. Apparently, his son was a little exasperated as he asked, “Dad, do you want me to say, ‘thank you’ for everything?” Maxwell answered, “Now, you got it!” Our heavenly Father desires the same kind of gratitude from his children.

A final response to reflect upon is that of guilt-free enjoyment. Why does God flood our lives with his good and generous gifts? So we can pack them away in the bottom of a closet? God forbid! Yes, we’re called to give alms and share with others, especially the poor, but aren’t some gifts for our personal enjoyment? Beware of legalism! Even some prominent Christian leaders imply that God’s people should feel guilty if they enjoy more than the bare necessities of life. One Christian writer noted John Wesley’s starling assertion that “all income given to the poor after bare necessities were met…. Any ‘Christian’ who takes for himself anything more than the ‘plain necessaries of life,’ Wesley insisted, ‘lives in an open, habitual denial of the Lord.’ He has ‘gained riches and hell-fire!’” Contrast these words with those of the apostle Paul: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:1-5). This passage should not be abused in order to justify one’s crass materialism. On the other hand, the text strongly warns that hindering God’s people from enjoying the good gifts he has given them, could result in apostasy. Legalism is not just deadly, it is also potentially damning. When God blesses us (and his obedient children are often blessed materially, and not just spiritually), we should humbly thank him, as we delight in his goodness, and look for divine opportunities to pass along his gifts to others in need.

As we, finite creatures, contemplate the goodness of God, it would behoove us to meditate on the infinite thoughts and ways of Yahweh: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9). God is good, even if his concept of goodness is beyond us at times. John Piper illustrates this well, by considering what Christ may have been doing on 9/11. He writes,

So then, was this all-ruling Christ building His church on September 11? I answer with questions that are not merely hypothetical. What if Christ saw the planes heading for the destruction of thousands and the upheaval of nations? What if, at the same time, He saw 200 million Hindu untouchables in India, the Dalits? What if He saw that His centuries-long work of dislodging them from Hindu bondage was about to come to consummation in our day and they were contemplating embracing Islam or possibly Christianity or Buddhism? And what if He foresaw that this Islam-related terror against civilians in New York would have a mass effect of tilting millions of Dalits away from Islam toward Christ? What if He withheld His power from stopping the terrorists because (along with ten thousand other hope-filled effects) He had a view to the everlasting life of millions of untouchables in India? And if not this, perhaps my grandchildren will tell a better story of sovereign grace, which only time reveals.

A day is coming when the dark cloud covering the exalted, mysterious ways of God’s goodness will be lifted, and we will be able to say what Joseph said to his brothers, who sold him into slavery, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good …” (Gen. 50:20). Until that day dawns, may God, nevertheless, through his Word and Spirit empower us to speak those words with great conviction—by faith in a good God.

I sing the mighty power of God

That made the mountains rise,

That spread the flowing seas abroad,

And built the lofty skies,

I sing the wisdom that ordained

The sun to rule the day;

The moon shines full at His command

And all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord

That filled the earth with food;

He formed the creatures with His Word

And then pronounced them good.

Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed

Where'er I turn my eye:

If I survey the ground I tread

Or gaze upon the sky!

There's not a plant or flower below

But makes Thy glories known;

And clouds arise and tempests blow

By order from Thy throne;

While all that borrows life from Thee

Is ever in Thy care,

And everywhere that we can be,

Thou God art present there.

Isaac Watts

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