Last week we looked at the fruit of kindness and that we are commanded and able to be kind because we are becoming more like our Father in Heaven who is kind even to those who don't acknowledge Him.
This week, to prepare for the communion meal, we will look at the fruit of goodness. The word used here is the quality in a man who is ruled by and aims at what is good, namely the quality of moral worth, what is morally honorable, that is, moral excellence.
The original Saxon meaning of "God" is "the Good", and Websters 1828 dictionary defines it using words like virtue and righteousness, and finally says that goodness means "actions which are in conformity to the moral law".
As I began studying the goodness of God, I was overwhelmed by the scope of it, and how every attribute of God is good. Goodness is the essence of God's nature. In Ex 33, after Moses asked God boldly to reveal himself, "Please show me your glory" God said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you." God's goodness is here associated with His name and His character. By the indwelling Holy Spirit, we now have the possibility of seeing His glory, in a way even Moses couldn't, and growing in His character and in Christ likeness, and in goodness.
Greg Bahnsen, By This Standard, said "God's will is communicated by His commandments, telling us what his holiness means on a creaturely level". How could we possibly understand holiness and goodness, and live it, without His commandments, His law, and the power of the Holy Spirit?!
His goodness is revealed in all His providential activity. Everything He is and does is good. Ps 119.68 "You are good, and do good." Ps 31.19 "Oh how great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those Who trust in You." Eph 2.10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
His goodness is most clearly reveled in the person of Christ and the character of His goodness in His law. The supreme example or expression of God's goodness is the saving grace of God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
If you were asked to describe what the goodness of God looks like in practice, in just a few minutes, or even if you had a long time, what would you say? Where are God's standards for goodness found summarized in the Word?
God's standard for goodness is in His law, as summarized in the 10 commandments. The revelation of God and His righteous character is in the Law, the Decalogue.The law reflects God's holy character and His purposes. The law shows what pleases Him and what displeases and offends Him. It reveals His moral will. The summaries of the moral law in the New Testament such as the fruit of the Spirit or the Golden rule (Mt 7) derive their importance and binding character from the law of God which they express. The presupposition of the New Testament authors is continually and consistently that the Old Testament (moral) law is valid today."
Lev. 20.8 says "You shall keep my statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you". Here God connects obeying the law and sanctification. First, they condemn us and show us how far short we fall of God's goodness and righteousness, and then in the elect, after regeneration, they help us grow in sanctification.
Thomas Bolton, one of those commissioned to participate in writing the Westminster Confession wrote, "The law sends us to the Gospel that we may be justified, and the Gospel sends us to the law again to inquire what is our duty as those who are justified".
The Westminster Confession states in 16.2 that "good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidence of a true and lively faith." Thats what we pray for in this church. A congregation of saints with a true and lively faith, growing in the goodness of God and acting out that goodness by obedience to His law.
Obedience to His law can now be a delight! Ps 1 The godly man or woman delights in the law of God, and on His law meditates day and night. Ps 145.7 says that the godly "shall utter (bubble forth) the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of your righteousness." Phil 4.8 says we should meditate constantly on what is good and honorable, God's holy Word! When we delight in the law of God, we also take His commission seriously, that is, to teach others to observe all He has commanded us. 1 Jn 5.3 "His commandments are not burdensome" They are the delight of the person growing in love for the law of God.
So I would like to conclude by briefly observing how God's goodness is seen in the 10 commandments:
1.You shall have no other gods before Me.
He is a jealous God, alone worthy of our praise. He is good to reveal Himself, the only true, living God, our only hope and our joy!
2. If we love God and are growing in righteousness and goodness, we will abhor the idols of our hearts. We can worship the living God, who sees and hears and communes with us! God is good in removing the idols which enslave us.
3. We can reverence God's name and His character and His goodness because He has been good to reveal Himself, he is good to show us Himself! Praise God. Hallowed be Your name!
4. God is good to give us blessed relief on the Lord's day. He is good to give us rest, especially now in Jesus, a day where we can delight in Him together. He gave us this day in His goodness to remember His goodness, as we will in just a few minutes.
5. We will prosper and know the goodness of God if we respect and honor our parents, and our societies know His goodness if parents are respected and obeyed. He is so good to establish the institution of the family!
6. God showed us the sanctity of human life, and He is good to make us in His image. He removes the murder in our hearts , the anger. He is good to individuals and societies who recognize the sanctity of human life.
7. God is good to free us from the adultery of our hearts and from the destruction which it causes. He is good to help us develop right and holy relationships.
8. God is good in allowing personal property, good in giving to us and providing for us, supplying our needs so we don't steal
He is good to make us content and that we don't have to give our lives for things, for possessions. We can be free of the love of things and love Him the most!
9. God is good in showing us what is true, right, and honest. he keeps us from deceit, helps us understand and practice truthfulness and honesty. He is good to show us Absolute truth, a sure foundation.
10. God is good in helping us be content and thankful for what we have, to be happy for others and not covetous, not controlled by greed; and we can know what true wealth is!
Isn't God good to us!!??
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