Doctrine of God Part 11: The goodness of God
Notes
Transcript
What do we mean by the goodness of God?
God is Good.
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
2. All that God does is worthy of approval.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
3. God is also the source of all goodness.
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.
Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
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.
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
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.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.
4. God is the highest good.
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
What is the relationship between Gods goodness and his other attributes?
Mercy ------God’s goodness toward those who are in misery and distress. (Psalm 4:1, 18:6 , 18:18, 25:16, 27:7 )
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!”
David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.”
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
Grace----Gods goodness toward those who deserve punishment. (Genesis 3:15–4:26, Exodus 33:17–34:9, Psalm 86:15, , Psalm 111:4, Psalm 116:5, Isaiah 30:18, Joel 2:13, Ephesians 1:6–7, Ephesians 2:7, 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17, Hebrews 4:16, 1 Peter 5:10)
They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.
Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Now Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Gods goodness and the believer.
In Christ believers have the ability to specially represent the goodness of God by doing good (Ephesians 2:10), loving good (Titus 1:8), discerning good (Hebrews 5:14, Romans 12:2), overcoming evil with good ( Romans 12:21)
By the power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit believers can do good. (Galatians 5:22)
Scripture explicitly calls believers to do good. (Romans 12:9, 1 Corinthians 10:24, 3 John 11 , 1 Peter 3:11, Psalm 34:14, Psalm 37:27, Proverbs 11:27, Amos 5:15)
Discussion Question:
1. What is the first thing that come into your mind when you hear the word “good”?
2. What does it mean to “be good”?
3. Do all humans have the capacity to truly “be good”?
4. Do all humans have the capacity to truly “do good”?
5. Does “doing good” necessarily equate to “being good”?