FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT
By Pastor George Cortez
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
By Pastor George Cortez
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Goodness – God Himself is good! "Good" in Scripture means primarily what God is. He is perfect and gloriously generous. His goodness is abundant and eternally satisfying. It is good to all, but great toward those who reverence and trust in Him. – So good is defined in terms of God, not vice-versa. - He is the standard by which goodness is determined and the standard by which we are measure and or hope to be.
The Hebrew word most often translated "good" is tawb, which means "pleasant," "joyful," "agreeable." Let us therefore be transformed by renewing our mind to be more like Christ. - God's commands express the perfection of His character and show us how to please Him. When we obey His commands, God bestows upon us blessings while teaching us how to be good like Him. Goodness is more than an excellence of character; it is character energized, expressing itself in active good. God can correct, sometimes very severely, and it is goodness in action. Thus parents can correct their child, and it is good because it helps to produce a responsible adult. If parents don’t bring correction with love, the law will bring correction without care.
Can men be good? In terms of ethics and morality, there is perhaps no more striking proof that most men are bad than the notions men have of what is good. In common speech "good" has been degraded to mean little more than amiability, and is applied with little discrimination to character. What one may call a "good fellow" may in fact be a very sinful person. - "Good" is carelessly applied to charming and physically attractive people in entertainment, politics, and athletics merely because of their professional skill or their ability to elicit a sense of encouragement or admiration, though their character may be exceedingly immoral. God says in Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." If we want to be more biblically correct, we need to learn more about what the Bible means by "goodness."
Commonly, "good" connotes merely more or less admirable motives and deeds, and its use is often no more than unthinking politeness. This is very likely what Christ discerned in the rich young ruler's address to Him in Matthew 19:16 "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Jesus' answer to him made him—and should make us—ask ourselves why we call very ordinary men and actions "good."
The scriptural concept is immensely deeper and its use much more restricted. This fruit of God's Spirit is more inward, touching on every thought, word and action of the godly person. This demands that motives be right before we call any action good. This means our central and all-influencing motive is loving God and regarding His will in all things. It means that the "good man" is one in whom righteousness (right doing) flows from inward devotion and love toward God.
From two elements, love toward God and goodness, godly character is formed. True goodness is inseparable from godliness. Godliness is goodness' source and foundation and the sole condition on which goodness is possible. From this, however, it follows that a man may be truly called "good" and at the same time not be perfect. A good person may have failures. It is the direction of such a person's desires, his motivations, that gradually determines his character, not necessarily the degree of perfection he has achieved.
Was not David "a man after God's own heart" despite his serious failures during his life? Those sins were certainly contrary to the very determined direction of his life because he repented of his failures in humility and tears (Psalm 51) and resumed pressing "toward the goal for the prize" of his high calling Philippians 3:14 - Peter also exhibited the same determination in the direction of his life by rising first from the humiliating debasement of his three-fold denial of Christ and later from his rebuke by Paul to offer himself in selfless, sacrificial devotion to God and the brethren. - These and many others were truly good men in the Christian sense because they did what Jesus taught the rich young ruler in answer to his question, "[W]hat good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" These men kept God's commandments by the power of His Spirit and thus with the correct motivation. In the absolute sense, however, only God is good. "So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" Matthew 19:17.
Since God is clearly the Source of good, how can a man begin to become good as God is? Jesus briefly addresses this question in the Sermon on the Mount: - Matthew 7:7-12 - Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being 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! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
God's Goodness in the Christian is to be shown - Ephesians 5:8 says that the converted persons are "light in the Lord" and should "walk as children of light." This light is revealed in all goodness, righteousness and truth. This is what others should witness in us and be guided by as an example. Each of these three terms covers a different aspect of our witness.
Goodness is indicative of a perfect balance in the various parts of the personality. A good man is a balanced man in whom everything that is noble and excellent works harmoniously together. Thus he can be gentle or sharp, but what he does always has the right balance and is good.
Such a person tries to promote the happiness of all around him. He is not selfish or self-centered, but because he has this balance himself, he desires that others have it too. This is how God is. God looks upon us in our misery, the result of sin, and in His goodness leads us to repentance. Sometimes the path to repentance for us is sharp and painful, but it is always good. - On the more gentle side, God "makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust". Although men are evil, He does this kindness out of His goodness.
We have a great example of goodness under trying circumstances. One such person was Joseph. He was wonderfully gifted and very righteous, but he was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. He overcame this through diligent and effective service to his master, yet he was arrogantly thrown into prison on trumped up charges. He lost his master's confidence and his career appeared to be ruined by the combination of his goodness and the hatred of a wicked woman. - "What a fool!" the world says, and doubters might comment that this is proof that God does not care because virtue should be rewarded. But to Joseph it was better to have a clean conscience and be clear before God in prison than to do wickedness and sit at a rich man's table. - Joseph could have become bitter, but Genesis 39:21 says, "But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison." God did not abandon Joseph because he was in prison, and Joseph did not abandon God nor cease doing good in his humiliating circumstance. – We must cultivate Goodness, because coming out of this present evil world, we have not been schooled in doing good. It is not part of our character. We have been schooled in being self-centered, and self-centered people cannot do godly good. – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!......
The Hebrew word most often translated "good" is tawb, which means "pleasant," "joyful," "agreeable." Let us therefore be transformed by renewing our mind to be more like Christ. - God's commands express the perfection of His character and show us how to please Him. When we obey His commands, God bestows upon us blessings while teaching us how to be good like Him. Goodness is more than an excellence of character; it is character energized, expressing itself in active good. God can correct, sometimes very severely, and it is goodness in action. Thus parents can correct their child, and it is good because it helps to produce a responsible adult. If parents don’t bring correction with love, the law will bring correction without care.
Can men be good? In terms of ethics and morality, there is perhaps no more striking proof that most men are bad than the notions men have of what is good. In common speech "good" has been degraded to mean little more than amiability, and is applied with little discrimination to character. What one may call a "good fellow" may in fact be a very sinful person. - "Good" is carelessly applied to charming and physically attractive people in entertainment, politics, and athletics merely because of their professional skill or their ability to elicit a sense of encouragement or admiration, though their character may be exceedingly immoral. God says in Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." If we want to be more biblically correct, we need to learn more about what the Bible means by "goodness."
Commonly, "good" connotes merely more or less admirable motives and deeds, and its use is often no more than unthinking politeness. This is very likely what Christ discerned in the rich young ruler's address to Him in Matthew 19:16 "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Jesus' answer to him made him—and should make us—ask ourselves why we call very ordinary men and actions "good."
The scriptural concept is immensely deeper and its use much more restricted. This fruit of God's Spirit is more inward, touching on every thought, word and action of the godly person. This demands that motives be right before we call any action good. This means our central and all-influencing motive is loving God and regarding His will in all things. It means that the "good man" is one in whom righteousness (right doing) flows from inward devotion and love toward God.
From two elements, love toward God and goodness, godly character is formed. True goodness is inseparable from godliness. Godliness is goodness' source and foundation and the sole condition on which goodness is possible. From this, however, it follows that a man may be truly called "good" and at the same time not be perfect. A good person may have failures. It is the direction of such a person's desires, his motivations, that gradually determines his character, not necessarily the degree of perfection he has achieved.
Was not David "a man after God's own heart" despite his serious failures during his life? Those sins were certainly contrary to the very determined direction of his life because he repented of his failures in humility and tears (Psalm 51) and resumed pressing "toward the goal for the prize" of his high calling Philippians 3:14 - Peter also exhibited the same determination in the direction of his life by rising first from the humiliating debasement of his three-fold denial of Christ and later from his rebuke by Paul to offer himself in selfless, sacrificial devotion to God and the brethren. - These and many others were truly good men in the Christian sense because they did what Jesus taught the rich young ruler in answer to his question, "[W]hat good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" These men kept God's commandments by the power of His Spirit and thus with the correct motivation. In the absolute sense, however, only God is good. "So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" Matthew 19:17.
Since God is clearly the Source of good, how can a man begin to become good as God is? Jesus briefly addresses this question in the Sermon on the Mount: - Matthew 7:7-12 - Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being 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! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
God's Goodness in the Christian is to be shown - Ephesians 5:8 says that the converted persons are "light in the Lord" and should "walk as children of light." This light is revealed in all goodness, righteousness and truth. This is what others should witness in us and be guided by as an example. Each of these three terms covers a different aspect of our witness.
Goodness is indicative of a perfect balance in the various parts of the personality. A good man is a balanced man in whom everything that is noble and excellent works harmoniously together. Thus he can be gentle or sharp, but what he does always has the right balance and is good.
Such a person tries to promote the happiness of all around him. He is not selfish or self-centered, but because he has this balance himself, he desires that others have it too. This is how God is. God looks upon us in our misery, the result of sin, and in His goodness leads us to repentance. Sometimes the path to repentance for us is sharp and painful, but it is always good. - On the more gentle side, God "makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust". Although men are evil, He does this kindness out of His goodness.
We have a great example of goodness under trying circumstances. One such person was Joseph. He was wonderfully gifted and very righteous, but he was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. He overcame this through diligent and effective service to his master, yet he was arrogantly thrown into prison on trumped up charges. He lost his master's confidence and his career appeared to be ruined by the combination of his goodness and the hatred of a wicked woman. - "What a fool!" the world says, and doubters might comment that this is proof that God does not care because virtue should be rewarded. But to Joseph it was better to have a clean conscience and be clear before God in prison than to do wickedness and sit at a rich man's table. - Joseph could have become bitter, but Genesis 39:21 says, "But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison." God did not abandon Joseph because he was in prison, and Joseph did not abandon God nor cease doing good in his humiliating circumstance. – We must cultivate Goodness, because coming out of this present evil world, we have not been schooled in doing good. It is not part of our character. We have been schooled in being self-centered, and self-centered people cannot do godly good. – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!......
