Our Good God
September 18th, 2007
(By Nathan Williams)
In the study of apologetics, one of the most frequently used arguments against Christianity is the problem of evil. It is reasoned that God cannot be both all powerful and all good and still allow evil to remain in the universe. If He is completely sovereign, He can stop evil from happening. If He is completely good, He would not want evil to happen. If God were both sovereign and good, He would surely put a stop to the wickedness going on around us.
The wisdom of men normally solves this problem by denying either God’s sovereignty or His goodness. But this, of course, we must not do. If we are to remain faithful to Scripture, our explanation to the problem of evil must affirm both God’s sovereignty and His goodness.
Evil (meaning sin and its results) is something that touches every aspect of life, from global conflict to personal pain. In such cases, those of us in the reformed camp are usually quick to defend the sovereignty of God (especially when we are removed from the difficult circumstances). But what about the goodness of God? When the problem of evil hits home (in our lives or in the lives of our friends and families), how well do we live out our trust in the fact that God is good?
With that in mind, I’d like to take a few moments and focus on the infinite goodness of God. It is a theme that saturates the pages of Scripture.
Psalm 31:19 tells us, “How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men!”
Psalm 119:68 echoes, “You are good and do good; teach me your statues.”
But what exactly do we mean when we say that God is good? The Bible gives us a couple answers to this question. First, God’s goodness means that He is good in His intrinsic character. Along these lines,
Psalm 25:8 says, “Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.”
Exodus 34:6 reiterates this point: “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.’”
Wayne Grudem summarizes God’s intrinsic goodness in this way; “There is no higher standard of goodness than God’s own character and his approval of whatever is consistent with that character.” It is God’s own character that sets the standard of goodness. Thus, the only proper way to understand goodness is to look to Him. God’s holiness, truth, and love (as Robert Culver notes in his systematic theology) are all inward expressions of His goodness.
But the goodness of God is not only an inward part of His character, which brings us to our second point. It is also seen in His outward acts of righteousness, faithfulness, and mercy toward His creation. In other words, God’s inward goodness overflows and expresses itself through outward manifestations of that goodness to us and those around us. As Louis Berkhof explains, God’s goodness is “that perfection of God which prompts Him to deal bountifully and kindly with all His creatures.”
The Bible is filled with examples of God’s goodness to us. For instance:
Psalm 33:5 explains that, “He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”
Psalm 145:9 agrees, noting that “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.”
Because God is inherently good, He acts in a way that is consistently good. We can therefore have confidence in promises like that of Romans 8:28 — “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (emphasis added).
God’s perfect goodness is clearly taught in Scripture, and is therefore a characteristic of God we should never surrender. Rather, it should be a great comfort for us when we come face-to-face with hardship — whether we experiencing pain and suffering first-hand or simply hearing about it on the evening news.
I like to think of Job. God was sovereign in the whole matters of his disasterous life. Yet he never considered calling God evil. Instead, he blessed Him, saying, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” I’m sure if Job had Psalm 23 with him, that would have been his most precious promise of God.
I had a question concerning this in regards perhaps to Psalm 145:9. When we say that God is good to all does this pertain to only believers? How is God good to those who are not of the elect? And I don’t mean in terms of common grace but I don’t understand how God be good to those who’s eternal destination is hell. Or is the term good simply from God’s stance and not necessarily man’s?
@ Allen
I’ve thought about this alot also and here’ what I’ve come up with.
I think you’re making common grace to “common.” How would I treat ppl who are in constant rebellion against me 24/7, blaspheming my name, and sometimes killing my children? Let me tell you, I wouldn’t give them sunshine, food, family, friends, and everything that is through common grace. God’s common grace is magnificent. If we only knew what everyone deserved, its a miracle what sinners are getting.
And your are correct when you say that God is not good to those whose eternal destiny is hell. God is just being completely and utterly FAIR and JUST. Here’s the way most ppl think about it “People and sin are not so bad that its worth eternal damnation – maybe 50, even, 500 years or so, but surely not eternity.”
However, this is not the way it is. I used to always think hell was way, until I realized the price of sin is the Cross. Alot of ppl I come across never realize how terrible sin is, but once you realize that it cost Christ’s life it makes you realize “whoa, maybe sin is so bad that it is worth eternal damnation not 50-500 years.”
I’ve concluded to myself that sin is a deceiver and always wants me to think that it is not “that bad” and that ppl aren’t “so bad” that they deserve an eternity in hell. And whenever I have doubts about sin not being worth that much, I always look at what it cost – Jesus Christ Himself and I know that sin is in fact THAT BAD.
John (and Allen),
Wayne Grudhemn’s Systematic Theology which Nate W referenced has a great section on Common Grace that was helpful for me in this discussion.