What Is Goodness, and How Can I Be a Good Person?

The Fruit of the Spirit

For the last several weeks, we’ve been looking, one at a time, at the Fruits of the Spirit. Tonight we’ll be looking at the fruit of goodness. If you have your Bibles, please turn with me there, to Galatians 5, and I’ll read the passage for us again. If you’re using one of our church Bibles, you can find Galatians 5 on page 916. I’ll be reading verses 22 and 23. But before I read our text, please pray with me.

[Pray and Read Text]

What Does It Mean to Be Good?

If there is one word in this list that receives the least attention, I imagine that it’s this one – the fruit of goodness. And I expect that this is the case because the word goodness seems so generic. When we talk about someone having love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness – we’re identifying specific traits in a person that we recognize as being generally good. And because of this, by the time we reach this word goodness in the list, it may seem redundant. It may just seem like we’re repeating the things that have already been mentioned, but in a less meaningful way. We might even wonder why the word goodness was included in the list at all.

And it’s true, that of all the words on the list, goodness is probably the word that’s most general, and that reaches the widest in its range of possible meanings. Goodness can refer to the goodness of God’s glory, as it does in Exodus 33:19, when he allows his goodness to pass before Moses. Or when we say that someone is showing “goodness,” it can overlap in meaning with the word, “kindness,” by describing someone’s generosity or graciousness. An example of that is found in 1 Kings 8:66, when the people are praising God for his goodness – his generosity and kindness “to David his servant and to Israel his people.” Goodness can sometimes be used interchangeably with the word pleasantness. Or it can have a moral aspect to it – referring to moral goodness.

But as we consider the different ways that goodness is spoken about in the Bible, it’s most likely that the usage of this word in Galatians 5 is most likely connected to the idea of moral goodness. The Spirit produces the fruit of good virtuedness in the lives of Christians. And we’re on pretty firm ground to come to this conclusion, because the goodness mentioned here certainly isn’t the unique, divine glory of the LORD. It’s unlikely that the word goodness was used, here, to be functionally redundant with the word kindness. Instead, the text wants us to understand, that when God saves a person, and he sends his Spirit to work in someone’s life, the Spirit brings into that person’s life good convictions, good concerns, and good conduct that hadn’t been there before. The Spirit transforms our minds, hearts, and lifestyles to be aligned with God’s own ethical excellence and good character, which is revealed to us in His Word.

Now, if people were innately good, this wouldn’t be particularly important news. But Paul’s whole point here is that our natural condition – the works of our flesh are not goodness. Without the Spirit of God, in our fallen human nature, we are unthankful, irreverent, undisciplined, arrogant, and unkind. We’re corrupt in our thoughts, our desires, and our deeds. And though God made us with consciences that restrain us from being as bad as we could possibly be – our lives are still stained with badness. This is true for everyone. We aren’t good like God is. Sometimes people are bad in obvious ways, by insulting God or by intentionally doing things that are unethical. But people can be bad in less obvious ways, too – by having outward, empty religion without having any love for God – or by saying God is important, but then prioritizing other relationships or things higher than him. But in whatever case, the point here is that if you and I would desire to have any amount of true goodness in us, we must have the Spirit of God. If you want to get apples, you need to have an apple tree. If you want to see spiritual fruit – the fruit of goodness – you need to have the Spirit.

So goodness isn’t something we can do or make in order to earn God’s kindness in our life. Our goodness isn’t something that causes us to get right with God, that opens the way to heaven. Living in a morally good way isn’t a gift that we give to God. But goodness is a gift that God gives to us, by giving us His Spirit.

And if we understand what the Bible has to say, about how morally bankrupt and lost we would be without God, it will help us to more deeply appreciate his goodness – the tangible goodness that he brings forth in every believer’s life, by His Spirit – the goodness spoken about in Galatians 5.

In particular, I’d like to highlight three key parts of what it means for the Spirit to produce goodness in our lives. First, the Spirit trains us to discern goodness. Second, the Spirit trains us to desire goodness. And third, and finally, the Spirit trains us to do goodness. These will be my three points tonight.

The Spirit Trains Us to Discern Goodness

So first, the Spirit trains us to discern goodness. This is an important first step. Because before any of us can understand God’s goodness, our minds, which have become warped in how they think because of sin – our minds need to be made new. In Romans 12:2, the apostle Paul speaks to the Christian church, saying, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” We can’t assume, just because we’re college educated, or just because we have a high view of our own intelligence – we can’t assume that our view of morality and goodness is correct. In fact, you might find that there are things God says and does in the Bible that make you feel comfortable. His actions may go against your personal perception of what you think goodness should be. But if you’re ever in a position like that, the issue isn’t with God and his goodness. The issue is that you and I need to have our understanding of goodness refined and refurbished, to align with God’s perfect standard.

I’m not saying it’s easy to have this attitude, though. One of the most difficult things about Christianity, is that you and I need to come to His Word with the humility of children. We can’t come, assuming we know better than God, assuming that we know all the answers. But we need to admit our need for God to correct our wrong ways of thinking, and to teach us his ways.

So before we can even talk about loving goodness or living in goodness, we need the Spirit of God to teach us how to discern what true goodness is. 1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us that, “The natural person [the unbeliever] does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” So we need the Spirit to open our eyes and give us discernment. Our consciences need to be trained by the moral perfections of God that we see reflected in His Word – in the Ten Commandments, in Jesus’s life and teaching, in the instructions given to the churches in the New Testament. We need the Spirit of God, working through the Word of God to lead us into the goodness of God.

And it’s important to be rooted in this discernment, that God gives, because the world around us is really confused what goodness is. In fact, many people in the world speak about goodness as though it isn’t even a real thing – as though it’s simply a social construct. They think that morality is something that’s invented by people – something that’s agreed upon by the majority of people and imposed upon the minority. And this is undoubtedly why a number of people today are trying to get rid of normative standards of virtue and morality – because in their minds, goodness is just an arbitrary standard that parents impose on children, and politicians impose on a nation’s citizens. Their viewpoint is distorted, such that goodness actually isn’t truly good at all! It’s simply a tool that people use to oppress other people.

But goodness isn’t something imaginary or innovated by creatures like us. Goodness, you have to remember, is from our Creator. It’s an attribute of God. Goodness belongs to the eternal, unwavering excellence of God’s own nature. In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, a historical tool used for centuries by Reformed and Presbyterian churches to teach young Christians about the faith – Question 4 in the catechism asks, “What is God?” And the answer summarizes Scripture by saying, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” When it comes to understanding justice and goodness, these aren’t things that we define for God – these are things that God defines for us. The reality of these standards are extended over humanity according to God’s own authority and excellence. And God doesn’t use his standards of goodness to oppress, but to bless.

To understand God and his goodness, though, it must be spiritually discerned. That’s why we pray for our children, that they would be given eyes to see these things. This is why we pray for government workers and educators. This is why we pray for our church, and for our brothers and sisters around the world. We need the Spirit to help us discern goodness.

The Spirit Enables Us to Desire Goodness

But in addition to this, we also depend on the Spirit to desire goodness. (This is my second point – the Spirit enables us desire goodness).

It isn’t enough for us to simply discern what’s good and bad. Because there are many people who know the right thing to do. The problem isn’t that they don’t know what goodness is. But the problem is that they don’t want it!

A large part of this is simply because our desires have been affected by sin, and they need to be re-trained to cherish what’s good. But what also doesn’t help is that American culture, by and large, has a way of looking down on goodness and virtue, as though it’s something undesirable.

In many movies today, the main character is often characterized as self-confident (possibly even arrogant). The hero is someone who ignores authority figures and gets rewarded for it, someone who’s a bit reckless and risqué, who lives life on the edge. The hero isn’t the person of pure character, but the person who exhibits a streak of passionate chaos.

So when it comes to Biblical standards of good character: being above reproach, self-controlled, managing household relationships faithfully, being honest, being hospitable – these virtues have been slowly disappearing from American consciousness. Many people who live straight-laced lives aren’t commended, but instead they’re mocked. And when people try to live upright lives – even if they do so quietly, and charitably, even if they never open their mouths to give criticism – it’s not uncommon for the people around them to accuse these people of being self-righteous and judgmental. It’s just assumed that if you’re serious about goodness, you must be a goody-two-shoes. And so it’s no wonder that people have a hard time desiring goodness. It’s often framed as being a bad thing.

So we need to be careful that this isn’t our attitude. We need to consider who our heroes are. We need to consider who we’re looking to, as examples of goodness and virtue. When the Spirit is at work in us, we should expect to be less and less concerned with what the world thinks. Our greatest desires won’t revolve around being acceptable in the eyes of our culture. Our desires won’t be dictated by our flesh. Instead, our ever-deepening longing will be to live for Jesus – to live according to his Spirit. As we see in Galatians 5, just a few verses before the fruits of the Spirit, in Galatians 5:16, we’re told “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” And right after the fruits of the Spirit are listed, then, in verse 24, we’re told that “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The Spirit of Christ in us – he puts our old self – he puts our old desires on the cross with Jesus, and he insists that those old cravings of greed, and envy, and selfish pride – those desires need to die in us. We don’t just need the Spirit to train our discernment. We also need the Spirit to transform our desires, to be more aligned with God’s goodness. And so whenever you’re struggling with a desire that you know is corrupt and twisted, take that struggle to the Lord. Ask that he’d give you new desires for good. And keep in mind, here, that since God is serious about producing the fruit of goodness in his people, you can pray for help with confidence.

Quick sidenote here: the Lord may not grant what you asked immediately – sometimes the Lord allows those temptations and desires to linger much longer than we would like, to convince us all the more of our utter need for his goodness, or to teach us other things. But you can expect, in time, that the Lord will bring forth the fruit of goodness in his people. So don’t resign yourself to your sin. Don’t give up without a fight. Even when it comes to having wrong desires – pray, and ask God to transform them, and to give you zeal instead for all that’s good.

In the freeness of God’s generosity, the Spirit is eager to give us new, wholesome longings. Longings for God. Longings for virtue. Longings for industriousness, generosity, humility, and for every fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit gives freely to those who ask, and to those who wait.

The Spirit Enables Us to Do Goodness

But let’s finish out the sequence here. We’ve seen that the Spirit renews our minds, to know goodness, and replaces our desires, to help us to want goodness. The last thing I want to explain here is how the Spirit helps us to do goodness. This is my third and final point. The Spirit trains us to do goodness.

And it’s really important to emphasize here that the Spirit’s work causes us to do what’s morally good and right (visibly and actively) – because I think that many people have an overly theoretical view of goodness. I’m not really sure why so many people think this way – but I think that many people imagine that they can have a significant measure of goodness and uprightness hidden inside them, without it affecting the way they live. They believe they can be good-hearted in principle without being good in practice. But this way of thinking doesn’t square with the Word of God! When God brings forth good in his people, inwardly, it necessarily produces fruits of goodness outwardly.

In Luke 6:43, Jesus uses an illustration to explain: “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person, out of the good treasure of his heart, produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure of his heart produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.”

And it shouldn’t be a surprise to us that true goodness is something that expresses itself. Because God himself shows us that true goodness – his goodness – is something active. God doesn’t just tell us about how good he is. He doesn’t just tell us about what it means to be morally excellent. But God’s goodness is expressed. It is shown. It is put into action, in his truthfulness, his generosity, and his judgments. So if you’re a Christian, who has trusted in Christ, and who has the Spirit of Christ at work in you, you should expect to see the fruit of goodness – not just in an invisible, inward way, but also in a tangible, active way. Because that’s what true goodness is – that’s how God’s goodness operates.

This isn’t to say that you’ll never struggle with temptation and bad desires ever again – that’s going to be a lifelong battle. And the text clearly doesn’t say that Christians will produce goodness in their lives with a predictable level of quantity or constancy – so we shouldn’t set unbiblical expectations on ourselves or on our brothers and sisters to tell them what standard of goodness they need to hit before they can have assurance that the Holy Spirit’s really at work in their lives. There are strange ways that this verse could be twisted. But it should be clear here – that the Spirit at work in us is aimed at bringing forth observable fruit in the lives of God’s people: good words and good works. And it should be our ambition to lean in to God’s work in our life, and to seek the same good fruits that he’s looking for.

And though I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, it can’t be emphasized too much – God works in our lives, to renew us inside and out, when our lives are filled with His Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship. These things are often called the ordinary means of grace – because these are the ways that God ordinarily uses to sustain and strengthen our faith.

The Spirit of God trains you through those 15-minute, thoughtful quiet times, when you read your Bible each morning. He works in families, when they gather together to sing, pray, and discuss God’s word together in their regular times of family devotions. Certainly, if you don’t have regular times of reading the Bible like that in your life, you’re missing an opportunity for the Spirit to work. The Spirit also works through our prayers and He gives us wisdom to discern God’s Word, and strength to overcome evil with good. The Spirit works through close Christian friendships, as we confess our sin to one another, and spur one another on to love and good works.

And ultimately what the Spirit wants to do through all these things, is he wants to show us more of Christ – more of his glory, more of his saving grace, and, yes, more of his moral example and goodness, so that we can be like him. The point isn’t just to spend more time with the Bible, itself – or simply to spend more time praying, or thinking about theological ideas. But the Spirit intends to draw you and I in to encounter the Lord himself.

And as we see Christ, we see the perfect picture of goodness. In his earthly life, Jesus withstood every onslaught of evil – even the fiercest temptations from the devil himself. He was never hypocritical – never scornful toward sinners – never bitter toward those who wronged him. But in every way imaginable, he was aligned with the moral rightness of heaven. He valued human life like none other. He was pure in every thought and relationship. He gave to others what was due them. He was truthful. He was never jealous or discontent, even in his suffering. He was, and continues to be, devoted to God the Father. He was perfect in showing love to both his neighbors and his enemies. In every way he was the Supreme picture of goodness – the best that the world has ever seen – blameless and upright, totally unstained with even the slightest smudge of badness. And it is the Spirit of Christ that has been poured into us!

And so let’s seek the help that God provides, by His Spirit. And as a church in Mt Pleasant, MI, let’s be ambitious to bear as much fruit as we can – to reflect the goodness of Christ in our discernment, our desires, and our doings. Please pray with me: