Theology Thursday: God is Good

“God is good, all the time.”

“All the time, God is good.”

Ever had that exchange with someone or heard it? It’s almost a miniature doxology confessing the goodness of God. We say that he is good, and I wonder, do we know what we’re saying? What do we mean by good?

I’m about to enjoy a really good cup of coffee. I had a relatively good night’s sleep. I have a good job.

When we say, “God is good” are we communicating the same thing as those examples? If not, what is different about the goodness of God?

When I say a cup of coffee is good, it is a relative example of goodness. The cup of coffee is good relative to a bad cup of coffee. It’s good relative to cough medicine. (Which I am convinced some medical researcher made taste horrible because he’s mean.) The goodness of my cup of coffee is relative to other things; it does not have absolute goodness in itself. We tend to use good to convey how beneficial a thing is to us, how favorably we view it. “Used in that sense, the word “good” has no independent concrete meaning of its own but depends for its meaning on the purpose that the person or thing must serve and hence varies in meaning with different peoples.” Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, 210–211.

God is perfection. Whatever virtues he possesses are there in the absolute sense. What I mean by that is his attributes are his absolutely and not in relation to anything else. He alone is the sole possessor of absolute goodness, purity, knowledge, and love. Our apprehension of those qualities is always relative to him. He is the source. Saying “God is good” is not equating him with usefulness in a favorable or utilitarian way. Saying “God is good” is quite literally saying “God is the good.” He is goodness itself.

Bavinck is again terribly helpful and says it best,

According to Scripture God is the sum total of all perfections (metaphysical goodness). All virtues are present in him in an absolute sense. Scripture only a few times calls God good in an absolute sense. “No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19). He is perfect (τελειος, Matt. 5:48). But whatever virtue Scripture ascribes to God, it always presupposes that that virtue is his in an absolute sense. Knowledge, wisdom, power, love, and righteousness are uniquely his, that is, in a divine manner. His goodness, accordingly, is one with his absolute perfection. In him “idea” and “reality” are one. He is “pure form,” “utterly pure act.” He does not have to become anything, but is what he is eternally. He has no goal outside himself but is self-sufficient, all-sufficient (Ps. 50:8ff.; Isa. 40:28ff.; Hab. 2:20). He receives nothing, but only gives. All things need him; he needs nothing or nobody. He always aims at himself because he cannot rest in anything other than himself. Inasmuch as he himself is the absolutely good and perfect one, he may not love anything else except with a view to himself. He may not and cannot be content with less than absolute perfection. When he loves others, he loves himself in them: his own virtues, works, and gifts.¹³¹ For the same reason he is also blessed in himself as the sum of all goodness, of all perfection. (ibid, p. 211)

How is his good expressed toward us? He gives us rain and food. (Acts 14:17) Have you thought about the goodness of God in the revelation of nature? We live on a world in perfect orbit with our Sun. It provides the necessary conditions for life to exist as we know it. Any minor variation in rotation of the Earth or distance from the Sun and life would not exist as we know it. The Earth is a marvelous greenhouse on which life flourishes. I see the goodness of God in the sunrise each morning, the flash of color as birds glide to and fro looking for food and singing beautiful melodies, and the yearning growth of trees stretching toward the warmth and light of the Sun.

God expressed his good toward us in the giving of his word. He did not have to communicate with us. Yet, he is good and has caused his word to be written down in Scripture. We know what God wants because he has told us.

God expressed his good toward us in the cross of Jesus Christ. God the Father sent God the Son to die on the cross for the sins of all who would believe in order to satisfy God the Father’s wrath for them fully and completely, and in so doing draw all the elect to himself by God the Holy Spirit. The atonement was by God and for the glory of God and we benefit because he is good. He did not have to save anyone, but he has because he is good and does good. He does not do anything that is not absolutely good.

The atonement, I believe, is the ultimate expression of God’s goodness. His wrath poured out on sinners is good. His salvation of the elect from that wrath is good. God is just as good in punishing sin as he is in saving sinners.

To apprehend the goodness of God in your own life, you must have Christ. You must repent and believe in him for the salvation of your soul. In this relationship can you most fully experience the absolute goodness of God. Only then can you know his steadfast love, grace, and mercy expressed toward you in Christ.

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
Psalm 34:8