For the past three weeks we’ve been focusing on two verses in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul wrote, ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law’ [Galatians 5:22-23]
In these famous verses Paul lists nine fruit of the Holy Spirit. They are nine wonderful characteristics of God, and they are characteristics the Holy Spirit wants to develop in us.
This is our fourth talk on these verses. The first talk was an overview of Galatians. In the second talk, we looked at the first three fruit: love, joy and peace. In the third talk, we looked at patience and kindness. This week, we’re going to look at just one fruit, goodness.
GOODNESS
The sixth fruit of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s list is goodness. But what is goodness!?
Many years ago, I memorized these verses in Galatians. I’ve reflected on the qualities of character which the Holy Spirit wants to develop in us. And I’ve often thought that the fruit of goodness is difficult to understand.
We use the word goodness in a casual way. We say, ‘Oh, my goodness’ or ‘Thank goodness’ or ‘For goodness’ sake.’ In those phrases the word goodness doesn’t mean anything. But we understand that the word goodness comes from the word good. Goodness is the quality of being good. But what does ‘good’ mean!?
It’s tricky! But we know that the Holy Spirit wants to develop this quality of goodness in us. So, we need to think about goodness.
WHAT GOODNESS IS
Goodness is the quality of being good. That’s clear. The problem is, how can we know what is good?
Let’s suppose you sit an exam, a GCSE, for example. A couple of months later you get the result. You got a grade of 3. Sorry! That’s a fail. Let’s suppose you then appeal. You write, ‘My answer to that question was correct in my way of looking at it. It was a good answer!’ However, the examining board will have their own view on what a good answer is. It doesn’t matter very much what you think. It matters what the examining board thinks.
It's the same in life. God is the creator of the world. Being the creator gives him the right to judge. He decides what is good and what is evil. We don’t have to go very far into the Bible to see God judging. In Genesis 1, when God has finished creating, we read, ‘God saw everything that he had made, and behold, IT WAS VERY GOOD’ [Genesis 1:31]. God made a judgment. His creation was good. But by Genesis 6 the situation has completely changed. We read, ‘The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY’ [Genesis 6:5]. Once again, God made a judgment. People’s thoughts were evil. It wouldn’t matter if those people thought they were righteous. What mattered was what God thought. God is the judge.
God, as judge, is the arbiter of what is good.
Each year, exam boards publish a document written by the people who mark papers. In that document, they say what they like to read and they give you examples of what not to do.
Does God do something like that? Absolutely! God has published a document saying what he likes and doesn’t like. It’s called the Bible. We could take Micah 6:8 as an example:
‘He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?’
In this verse, God tells us three things that are good.
Each year, most exam boards publish model answers to questions.
Does God do something like that? Absolutely! God has sent his model answer into the world. He is called Jesus. Is Jesus good? He’s more than good. He’s perfect!
On one occasion, a man came up to Jesus and addressed him ‘Good teacher.’ Jesus replied, ‘No one is good except God alone’ [Mark 10:18]. Jesus might have meant that he wasn’t good. But Jesus didn’t think that. On one occasion he asked his disciples, ‘Which one of you convicts me of sin?’ [John 8:46]. Jesus was good. But if only God is good then Jesus WAS GOD!
The point for us is that Jesus was absolutely good. There was no sin in him. So, Jesus is the model answer! He shows us what goodness is like.
Let’s recap. An exam board publishes a document to say what a good answer will look like. And they provide model answers from previous years. God has done the same. He’s given us the Bible. That tells us what is good and what is evil. And he gave us his son to be an example to us of how we should live.
A young person sitting a GCSE can know what a good answer would be. In life, knowing the Bible and having a picture in our minds of how Jesus acted IS A GREAT START to finding the path of goodness. But more is needed. Finding the path of goodness in the complexities of life can be hard work. What else can we do?
I’ll look at that in a moment. But before I do, I’d like to talk about what is NOT helpful.
WHERE WE WON’T FIND THE ANSWERS
As we look for the path of goodness, watch out for PEOPLE, PHILOSOPHERS and PASTORS. Or you could have PRIESTS if you prefer. All three groups should be approached with suspicion.
Let’s start with PEOPLE, your friends, perhaps. The problem with people is that a lot of the time they don’t know what is good and what is evil. It isn’t hard to think of examples.
In Jesus’ day, people traded in the temple. The traders no doubt thought it was good to be able to trade in the temple. It made them money! But Jesus knew it was wrong. God’s house was meant to be a place for prayer, not a place for trading. The traders mistook evil for good. Jesus made a whip and drove them out.
In the late 18th century, the Atlantic slave trade was at its height. I’m sure we all agree that it was evil. But the people involved in the slave trade thought it was good. It made them money! They mistook evil for good.
Vladimir Putin no doubt thought that invading Ukraine was good. I’m sure we all believe it was shameful. Putin mistook evil for good.
We can think of examples that are closer to home. Some people think that it’s good for women to have the right to abortion. Other people think that abortion is murder. Some people think that same-sex marriage is good. Other people think it’s a sin. Some people think that remaining celibate until marriage is silly. Other people think it’s good.
The point is that people around us – especially people who don’t believe in God – will regularly make the wrong call. They will call something that’s evil good and something that’s good evil.
The prophet Isaiah observed this in his day. He wrote:
‘Woe to those WHO CALL EVIL GOOD
AND GOOD EVIL,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!’ [Isaiah 5:20].
Isaiah was condemning the people of Israel – people who were supposedly following God! They were calling evil good and good evil just as much as people today. So, don’t go to PEOPLE. Don’t talk it over with your hairdresser. Don’t write to your agony aunt. PEOPLE are an unreliable source of help.
Second, don’t go to PHILOSOPHERS. You’re probably not tempted to go to philosophers but I say this just in case. There is a branch of philosophy called ethics. Ethics is working out the moral principles that should guide our action. It’s about working out what is good or evil in any given situation. BUT IT CAN’T DO THIS.
There was an English philosopher called George Moore. He was a professor of philosophy at Cambridge University after the First World War. He believed that the most fundamental question in all ethics is how ‘good’ should be defined. BUT HE CONCLUDED THAT ‘GOOD’ IS UNDEFINABLE. From what I can see, many philosophers today would go along with George Moore. But even if philosophers said, ‘We’ve got it cracked! We know what good is’, it’s impossible that they do.
If your child sits a GCSE only one exam board will mark his paper. For you and me, only one being can tell us what is good and what is evil. That is God. PHILOSOPHERS cannot do that.
Third, don’t go to PASTORS – or you can have PRIESTS if you prefer. Many of the priests in Jesus’ day got a lot wrong. Lots of priests in our day get it wrong. They think that if they tell people what they want to hear, more people will come to their church. The apostle Paul warned Timothy: ‘For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.’
People don’t simply ENCOUNTER false teaching. THEY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO FIND IT! Paul wrote that people ‘WILL GATHER ROUND THEM a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.’ People who don’t want to follow God’s word go looking for teachers who will tell them that what they want to do is OK. They may move to a church which supports their beliefs. They may read books which support them in their beliefs. But just because a church or books or Christians friends say that something is good doesn’t mean that it is good. So, WATCH OUT FOR PRIESTS.
SEARCHING FOR GOODNESS
Let’s go back to where we were. I said earlier that before an exam we can read the examiners’ document and look at the model answers. Then we’ll have an idea of what a good answer is. But we’ll still have to think!
In a similar way, to know what goodness is, we should look at God’s word, the Bible, and look at the one perfect person, Jesus. Doing that is a great start. But we will also have to think!
I said that finding the path of goodness in the complexities of life can be hard work.
I then thought about unhelpful places we might go to for answers.
Let’s now come back to our search for the good path. We read the Bible. We consider Jesus. What else can we do?
Paul listed goodness as one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit wants to help us!
Jesus described the Holy Spirit as the counsellor. The Holy Spirit wants to counsel us, to guide us into truth. And Jesus promised his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them. So, if we want to find the path of goodness and have the strength to follow it, we need the Holy Spirit’s help. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us.
There’s one more thing I want to mention. It is prayer.
Paul wrote, in his letter to the Philippians, ‘And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent …’ [Philippians 1:9-10].
Paul is praying for the Philippians. He wants the Philippians to be able to ‘approve what is excellent.’ That’s a similar idea to finding the path of goodness. But Paul doesn’t just pray, ‘O God, please help these Philippians to choose what is excellent.’
Paul prays, ‘it is my prayer that YOUR LOVE MAY ABOUND MORE AND MORE, WITH KNOWLEDGE AND ALL DISCERNMENT...’
There are three important words here: love, knowledge and discernment. They all have a role to play in choosing what is excellent.
The path of goodness is the outworking of LOVE.
The path of goodness requires KNOWLEDGE. A doctor can’t help a patient without knowledge.
And the path of knowledge requires DISCERNMENT. The word that’s used means to ‘grasp the significance of.’ A mission organization may know that a missionary is very tired. Discernment tells them that they need to do something.
CONCLUSION
What have we learned? I hope we have learned that the Holy Spirit wants us to develop in goodness. Life often confronts us with hard questions and we may struggle to know what is good. But God has told us what is good. He has shown us what is good. He has given us the Holy Spirit, the counsellor, to help us discern what is good. We have a hotline to God in prayer, and we can ask him for help. With God’s help, we can find the path of goodness.
But let’s be wary of people, philosophers or even priests. They may be helpful, but they may well not be.
Then, with God’s help, we will produce the fruit of goodness – and become a little more like God.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit.
Please help us to understand more and more what goodness is as we read your word and look at Jesus. Please help us to be wary of the views of the world around us. Please help us instead to grow in love, knowledge and discernment, and as we do so, learn to recognize the path of goodness. And please give us strength to follow it.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
TALK GIVEN AT ROSEBERY PARK BAPTIST CHURCH, BOURNEMOUTH, U.K., 10.30 A.M. SERVICE, 23RD JULY 2023.
