The Fruit of the Spirit is Goodness

Some folks lump goodness together with kindness when explaining the fruit of the Spirit. That’s done for a couple of reasons:

1) The words are similar

2) The Greek word used for goodness is a rare one.

It’s only used four times in the Bible. Only used by Paul. I have read some scholars who say the word is not found in the Greek language outside of the Bible. That makes it hard to flesh out exactly what Paul is saying.

It’s clear to me that he is making a distinction between goodness and kindness. Each of these words matter. This morning we will do our best to explain what it is Paul has in mind.

Let’s begin by defining the word.

Goodness is the quality of moral excellence; especially as a quality that is not stagnant, but actively working itself out.

Let’s break this down.

1. God is good.

A. He is uniquely good.

No one is good in the way that God is good. He is morally superior to everyone.

Jesus said, “There is none good but God.” (Luke 18:19)

God is morally excellent. He is perfect. Only God is morally excellent. There is no one who is without sin.

The Bible says of humanity:

There is none good, no not one (Psalm 14:3)

All have sinned (Romans 3:23)

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. Eccl. 7:20

We are not as bad as we could be.

Not a single person is as good as they should be.

We may be able to do good things. However, that does not make us good. Only God is good in the full sense of the word.

God’s goodness is complete.

B. He makes His children good.

You don’t have to teach your children to be bad. You must teach them to be good. Even when you do, you must keep teaching them to be good.

You have to discipline them.

You have to reward them.

You have to warn them.

Much of parenting, in the early days, is simply teaching your kids to be good. It can be exhausting.

The Bible says:

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. Pro. 22:15

Before God teaches us to be good, He makes us good. If He didn’t make us good we would never enjoy being good.

How does God make us good? Through the new birth.

Ezekiel 36:26-27:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are recreated in Christ so we can perform good works.

Don’t try to be good without being saved!

C. There is both a positional and practical goodness for the believer.

Positional goodness:

God made you good. He declared that you are good. How? Through the imputed righteousness of Jesus. The perfect life of Jesus has been imputed to you.

Genesis 15:6 says of Abraham “He believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness”

In Romans 4 Paul argues that is the way the believer is made righteous.

Think of it as a transfer of funds. A credit to your account

Think of it as being clothed in a robe.

Practical goodness:

Actively working itself out- The practice of goodness. You do good things because of the goodness granted to you through Christ.

Ultimately only God is good. God, by His grace, grants His own goodness to the believer changing the believers’ desires. This change is both positional and practical.

2. Jesus is the ultimate example of goodness.

Acts 10:38 descibes Jesus in this way:

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

When I say Jesus went about doing good many probably think of His miracles.

He fed people.

He healed people

He comforted people

In keeping with the context of this word I want to give you some examples of morally excellent things He did that we may not think of so easily.

Last week we looked at kindness. I’m afraid that some people think kindness and goodness are the same thing. They are not. Goodness is moral excellence. We may be tempted to be kind in an unnatural way if goodness were not listed. Let’s consider three morally excellent things Jesus did that some may not consider kind.

A. He cleansed the Temple.

He took a whip in His hand

He overturned the tables of the money changers

He ran people out of the Temple.

The Bible says Jesus did all of this because of the zeal He had for the house of the Lord.

They were using the Temple for their own purposes. Jesus would have none of it.

Some might say “That wasn’t good Jesus!”

Was it good folks?

There is a time and a place we gather to worship corporately. That time and place should be guarded. What we are doing this morning is a good thing. It should be guarded.

Illust. – The other Sunday after worship started, I noticed a lady at the door. I opened it to let her in. She didn’t want to come to church. She wanted money. She wanted food. I told her to come to church and I could talk to her afterwards.

She was not sick.

She was not hurting.

She simply didn’t want to come to church. I told her I couldn’t help her until service was done. She left and never came back.

Some would say “That’s not good!”

Sometimes we have a drunk come in the mission center. There have been times we had to make them leave. We can’t have Bible study interrupted with a drunk.

Some would say “That’s not good!”

Yes, it is friend!

I have people contact me regularly:

Let me come perform at your church!

We can’t interrupt worship for the desires of man.

What can we do in church then brother Kyle?

We can pray!

We can sing to the Lord!

We can preach!

We can fellowship!

That’s what we can do! That’s what’s good!

Jesus cleansed the Temple because God was no longer being worshipped there. It is a good thing to guard our worship.

B. He corrected a lady caught in sin.

Illustration: I saw an interview of a man called Jelly Roll. He is some sort of singer. He knows enough about the Bible to confuse people. He was talking about the story of the woman caught in adultery. He was saying Jesus protected prostitutes. He was calling the church a bunch of hypocrites because they portray Jesus in wrong way.

I find that interesting because he called the woman in John 8 a prostitute and the Bible doesn’t say she was one. Essentially, he believes that Christians shouldn’t call out sin.

In that story a woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus. The religious leaders were setting a trap (they didn’t bring the man). They asked Him what the Law says they should do. They knew the Law said they should stone her. They figured if they could get Jesus to sanction the stoning of a woman that would turn people against Him. If He did not sanction it, they figured they could charge Him with contradicting the Law of Moses.

Jesus sanctions the stoning but with a condition. He says the one among them without sin should throw the first stone. They didn’t figure that was coming. They all dropped their rocks.

Here is where the story changes. After the men leave Jesus has a heart to heart with the woman. What does He say to her? He says Stop living a life of sin.

He identifies her sin.

He tells her to stop committing it.

This woman had just been through a traumatic experience. Yet Jesus still tells her what she did was sin, and she should stop doing it.

Was that a good thing?

Yes! It was a good thing for Jesus to do and it is a good thing for us to do!

C. Jesus called out the sins of His day.

There were those who had normalized some sins in Jesus’ day. Even the religious had normalized them.

The sin of divorce

The sin of anger

The sin of lust

The sin of greed

The sin of hypocrisy

The sin of hate

He deals with a lot of these in the Sermon on the Mount:

You folks don’t kill but you get angry.

You don’t commit adultery, but you lust.

You love some people but you hate some folks

Isaiah 5:20 says

Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

Think of all the sins being normalized in our day:

Profanity

Drunkenness

Drug use

Homosexuality

Transgenderism

These sins existed in Jesus’ culture, but they weren’t normalized. If He came to the earth today, He would call these sins out by name. It would be a good thing to do so.

It is a good thing to call evil evil!

Jesus is the ultimate example of goodness and He:

Cleansed the Temple

Corrected those in sin

Called out the sins of His day.

3. Christians are called to practice good works.

A. We have an obligation to practice good works.

Good works confirm our faith.

Faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

Works are required to reveal saving faith.

Micah 6:8 says:

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?

Goodness lived out means we:

Recognize and practice what is right

Love kindness

Walk humbly with God

We can’t say we are good if we don’t practice these things. This is what it looks like to be filled with the goodness of God.

We shun sin

We treat people kindly

We walk humbly with God.

B. We express goodness through service in the local church. Look at 6:10.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Who does the most good in this world?

It’s the church. The faithful church is doing the greatest thing in the world.

We are leading people to Jesus. That’s why the bulk of our goodness should be expressed here.

You can find all sorts of places to serve. You will not find a better place to serve than the church.

I think that many don’t serve in the local church because it’s too small for them. They want to be seen. They want to be recognized. They want a ministry with their name attached to it.

It always amazes me that a person will stand up and say “the ministry isn’t about me” and their ministry is literally named after themselves.

That’s like Oprah Winfrey saying her show isn’t about her.

There are so many “One another” verses in the Bible. These are commands for the church.

Love one another

Honor one another

Build up one another

Bear one another’s burdens

Care for one another

Submit to one another

Show hospitality to one another

Forgive one another

Comfort one another

Pray for one another

Be patient with one another

We are to do good to all people. But we are to especially to do good to one another. The church is important folks. The world needs the church. 1 Timothy 3:15 says the church is the pillar and buttress of the truth!

C. We express goodness through simple actions.

There is a well-known verse in Matthew 25 describing believers entering heaven. The Master says to them “Well done good and faithful servant!”

Those are the words we all want to hear one day. After that Jesus gives the parable of the sheep and the goats. He explains how the sheep served Him with very simple acts. They expressed the goodness of God. How did they do it?

Through a meal

Through a cup of water

Through clothing

Through a visit

Their actions were so simple they couldn’t believe they were being rewarded for them.

We will often do the dramatic, but will we do the small things?

It’s true that Jesus raised children from the dead. You know what else He did? He picked them up?

You can’t raise children from the dead. You could show kindness to a child you don’t know.

Illust: The other night I was taking some kids home after church. As one little girl was getting out she started rubbing my head. She asked, “Why is your hair like that?” I told her that was the way God made me. Honestly, it made me smile.

When Jesus picked up those children do you think they grabbed His hair? If they did, I bet it didn’t bother Him.

Would we pick up a child? Maybe not in our arms, but would we pick up a child and bring them to church? That’s simple, isn’t it?

Good things don’t have to be extravagant things. They can be simple actions that reveal concern and love.

Are you a servant? Are you going to hear those words “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Not everything Jesus did was dramatic. It wasn’t all supernatural. He went over to Zacchaeus house. He went over and had a meal with him. Zacchaeus was so happy he couldn’t stand it.

This is what the Bible says:

Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus.

Jesus went to Zacchaeus house.

There are people who just want to see you. There are people who would be thrilled if you simply visited them. That’s easy. It’s like giving someone a cup of cold water. It expresses the goodness of God.

Are you filled with the goodness of God?

Are you expressing His moral excellency?

Is the goodness of God actively working out in your life?