The Fruit of the Spirit Pt.6: Goodness
A young man ran up to Jesus. This guy was one of life’s success stories, a rising star in society who seemed to have the world at his feet. Though young, already he had gained wealth, position and prestige, but he was struggling spiritually. In spite of his success and wealth, his soul wasn't satisfied. Deep down, he knew something crucial was missing from his life. So, he ran to Jesus and fell on his knees with a question burning in his heart: ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ Jesus replied, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good - except God alone.’ These words of Jesus highlight three major truths that dominate Scripture
(1) THE GOODNESS OF GOD
Jesus said to the rich young ruler, ‘God alone is good - no one else!’ This is a fundamental truth we must believe and rejoice in. It's a totally wonderful truth about God! He is perfectly good. But it is a truth many struggle to believe. And it's a truth that Satan always seeks to undermine. The father of lies seeks to dissuade us of God's goodness. The evil one is out to blind us to the goodness of God. But God has revealed His goodness to us in many ways.
(i) His Word declares His goodness.
David declared in Psalm 25 v 8, ‘Good and upright is the Lord’. We sing in Psalm 100, ‘For the Lord is good and His love endures forever.’ Both Psalms 106 and 107 begin with this exuberant exhortation, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.’ The New Testament announces that God has called us by His own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1 v 3). The Bible is unambiguous about the goodness of God.
(ii) His Creation declares His goodness.
His world communicates God’s goodness for all to see. In Genesis 1 God delighted in His creation. God was thrilled with the sun, moon and stars, with the land and the oceans, with the vegetation and the animals and especially with the pinnacle of His creation, mankind. In Genesis 1 v 31 we’re told that ‘God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.’ We now live in a fallen world. The perfect world God first created has been terribly marred by our sinfulness. Yet we still see so much of God’s goodness shining out as we look around and admire the work of His hands (Psalm 19 v 1).
(iii) His Provision declares His goodness.
Each day and hour the Lord provides for all of our needs. Everything we have comes from His good hand, our food, clothes, homes, families, friends, health and strength, education and employment, healthcare and hospitals! In His astounding goodness, God not only provides for His own people. He provides for believers and unbelievers alike. ‘He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.’ Matthew 5v45
If you come to Christ in repentance and child-like trust, God's arms will open wide to welcome you into His family. No matter how sinful we have been, if we come to God, repentant and resting on Christ alone for salvation, He embraces us in His fatherly love.
What about you? Have you responded to God's amazing kindness in the Gospel in repentance and faith in Christ? If you have, the third question then follows on.
(iv) His Salvation declares God's goodness.
It's astounding how God saves sinners like us. In His amazing goodness, the great Jehovah sent His one and only Son into this rebellious world to rescue rebels like us. Jesus Christ was goodness personified. We're told in Acts 10 v 38 that Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil. But the greatest act of goodness that Jesus performed was enduring the horror of the cross on our behalf. It was an absolutely staggering act of selfless sacrifice that Jesus gave Himself over to suffer the unimaginable terror of hell on behalf of all who would turn to Him as Saviour and Lord (2 Cor 5 v 21). Calvary communicates God's glorious goodness supremely in the most vivid and shocking manner. Oh, the goodness of God!
At times, we may be tempted to doubt God's goodness, especially when we're hit by hard providences. At such times, we must take time to reflect on what His Word and His world and His provision and His salvation declare to us about His abundant goodness!
(2) THE CORRUPTION OF MAN
Jesus said to the rich young ruler, 'No one is good - except God alone!' Most people do not accept the fact that no one is good and deserving of God's acceptance. Yet this truth is hammered home from Genesis to Revelation. Time and again the Scriptures reveal the corruption of human hearts.
We often hear people complaining about corruption in high places. But we all need to face up to corruption in low places, in our own hearts. In Romans 3 v 10-12 the apostle Paul spells it out powerfully, 'There is no one righteous, not even one; ... there is no one who does good, not even one!' This is God's stark verdict on every single one of us! By nature and practice, we are all unrighteous and sinful, with hearts that are desperately deceitful and self-centred.
On hearing about 'the corruption of men', many think instinctively of terrorists or paedophiles or fascists. But God calls us first and foremost to recognise the evil of our own hearts. In Luke 11 v 13 Jesus describes sinners like us as evil. It is essential to realise that we are not basically good people who occasionally sin. We are basically corrupt people who sin repeatedly and who are spiritually dead. This must really hit home to our hearts so that we'll appreciate our urgent need for the Saviour and the brilliance of the Good News.
Jesus's response to the rich young ruler highlights both the goodness of God and the corruption of man. And it points to the most wonderful miracle we all need...
(3) THE TRANSFORMATION OF BELIEVERS
God's great goodness is displayed when, in His amazing grace, He grants sinners repentance and saving faith in Christ. What a transformation takes place as believers in Jesus are cleansed of all our sinfulness and clothed in the very righteousness of Christ. When someone is born again, a complete revolution takes place! The apostle Paul put it this way...'if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.' 2 Cor. 5v17 What a transformation in Christ! No longer are we guilty in God's sight. Now we are innocent in His holy eyes! No longer are we condemned before God. Now we are completely pardoned! Our wickedness has been paid for! Our sinfulness has been atoned for! No longer alienated from God, now in Jesus we are adopted into God's very family!
As those transformed by Christ, the Almighty has a mind-stretching, heart-humbling purpose for us. Paul spells it out in Ephesians 2v10, 'We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do!' We are not saved by our own efforts. Our good works contribute nothing to our salvation. We are redeemed solely by Jesus's good works and by His substitutionary death for all our sin. We are saved entirely by grace in Christ! But God has a phenomenal purpose in making us new creations in Christ. He transforms us so that we'll glorify Him by doing good works which He prepared in advance for us to do. The Lord has specific tasks He wants us to undertake. The great Jehovah knows what sort of people He has made us. He knows our gifts and abilities and our strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, He knows exactly the sort of service best suited for us. Taking all this into account, God has plans for us each day. He has acts of service lined up for us.
What an encouragement and what a challenge! Each day there are certain ways the Lord wants us to serve Him. There are things He wants us to do. In Christ, we have been brought to new life and recreated to do good by the enabling of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us to do good in every part of our lives. He may not call us to serve Him in spectacular ways. But He certainly calls us to serve Him in a whole host of little ways, in every area of our lives.
(i) We are to do good in our homes,
Serving must begin in our own families (Timothy 5v8). Let me ask a few pertinent questions...
who takes out the rubbish in your home?
who cleans the bathroom and toilet?
who washes the dishes after a meal?
who vacuums the floors?
who does the ironing?
You may smile. But it highlights an important issue. Mundane household duties are sore points in many homes, even in Christian homes. But for Christians growing in the grace of goodness, undertaking distasteful, mundane duties of the house are opportunities for doing good to those we love the most.
(ii) We are to do good in our places of study and work.
Colossians 3v23-24 'Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.'
Most of us spend more than half our waking hours doing our study or work. It is a tragedy if we fail to find opportunities to do good to others in our places of study or work. Whether we are students at school or college or shop assistants at Sainsburys, or work in waste disposal or in teaching, or in car mechanics or computers, or as builders or nurses, this is vital. We must do our work to the best of our ability by the Spirit's enabling for the glory of God and for the good of others.
(iii) We are to do good to people in particular need.
Galatians 6v10 'Let us do good to all people!'
Doing good at home and at work is vital. But there is a big world of need and there are many, many opportunities for doing good. Indeed, openings for doing good are virtually unlimited. Therefore, we must ask God for wisdom in how to help others. We must pray for the Spirit to give us discernment as we think about what ways we should offer to help others. In Matthew 25 Jesus stresses the importance of caring for people in real need. Our Saviour clearly expects us to be involved in feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the needy, showing hospitality to the stranger, attending to the sick and visiting those in prison. But, alongside seeking to meet physical and emotional needs, our deepest burden as believers must be the urgent spiritual need of the lost. Therefore, in doing good to all people, we must be ready and eager to share the Gospel at every opportunity with those who are lost and perishing. There is no greater good we can do for anyone than to show them the way of salvation. Let us not be slow or shy to share Christ with those who are lost without Him. And let us not become weary in doing this good work of evangelism. For if we do not give up, we will reap a harvest at the proper time.
(iv) We are to do good especially to our fellow believers.
God's Word tells us to make a special point of helping our brothers and sisters in Christ (Galatians 6v10). There is a special bond between true brothers and sisters in the Lord. We must recognise that bond and rejoice in our unity of Spirit. Even when we don't see eye to eye on everything, we are to prize our bond in the Spirit and Gospel of Christ. As we recognise each other as born of the same Spirit and members of the same family, we're to do everything we can to support and encourage one another. We're to minister to each other and to strengthen and refresh one another. We are to be like Barnabas, who was always eager to help his fellow Christians. In Acts 11v24 Barnabas is described as a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. Barnabas was a sinner by nature and practice, just like us. Yet God, in His sovereign grace, saved him and transformed him. His life was marked increasingly by the fruit of the Spirit goodness. He was known for his generosity (Acts 4), his encouragement (Acts 11) and for his patience with his fellow believers when they let him down (Acts 15). What a prime example Barnabas is in displaying the fruit of Spirit, goodness.
God in His great goodness is in the business of transforming corrupt sinners like us into Christ-like servants, who reflect His goodness in all our daily responsibilities and relationships. Pray for the Spirit to continue this inner transforming work within you and all His people in your fellowship, so that our heavenly Father may be glorified increasingly in our lives. Jesus commands us, 'Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven!' Matthew 5v16
