Good

I’ve long wanted to write about goodness, but could never really find a great context for it, or a good way to explain what I’ve learnt about the word “good”. I used to think of “good” in the context of behavior, and to some degree this is correct, but there’s so much more to “being good” and what “being good” actually is.

Good is an absolute. Good is what God is. As the originator of all things – all things – his nature, his character, his essence is what “good” is. Good is synonymous with His name. From the present, we have to subtract all that is, all that has been created, whether visible or invisible, from the tiniest speck of dust to the furthest spinning planet, to every single angel and unknown spiritual force. All subtracted, there is God, alone, in nothingness. This is how it was. Try to undefine good and evil, and apply these words to this context. God, because He is the originator, the being from which all else flows, is the great standard. His nature is called “good”. Therefore, anything that falls outside of that, or that is contrary to it is called “evil”, or to better define it, “not good”.

To create a visualization, let’s say good is light. Light is the thing that is, and in the simple absence of it there is a contradiction, darkness. In fact, there would be no darkness if there was no light.

I read a great explanation of this concept in the Tao Te Ching, which follows:

Beauty and ugliness have one origin.
Name beauty, and ugliness is.
Recognizing virtue recognizes evil.
‘Is’ and ‘Is not’ produce one another.
The difficult is born in the easy,
Long is defined by short, the high by the low.
(Ch. 1, Tao Te Ching)

When God began creating, after each thing He would say “It is good”, meaning it is of Him, through Him, in Him, according to design and purpose. Essentially, perfect. And man, created in His image and likeness, designed in the very nature of God, was also said to be “good”. (As a side note, after a while alone on earth, something had changed in Adam, and for the first time God said about him, “it is not good”. But that’s another story.)

Being good then, with this in mind, is not a list of things you should do or not do, but a nature. And we see this play out every day in ourselves, and in our churches, and our world. There is so much effort given to attainment, but really “being good” is a given thing, an indwelling of God by the Holy Spirit. It’s of no trying whatsoever. This is grace versus religion, Jesus versus the Pharisees.

It’s a fine, sticky line though. The nature of God in us produces works that mirror the works of God – that which He does naturally, out of His nature. The works of a “good” person would cover all of “the Law” and then some. It was Jesus who said that unless your righteousness surpsasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:20). This, we know, is an impossibility without righteousness being offered as a gift. And that, we know, is what salvation is.

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” (Luke 18:18-20)

He admits it – there is no one good. Only God is good – as the great Origin of all that is.

So we can rest easy. We can sleep at night. We can rid ourselves of guilt and shame and condemnation. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Mt 11:29) As a newly married husband and wife become one person, living together, sharing life together, having children, they gradually become two parts of one whole, knowing each other fully, and perfecting each other. So it is with this, the Christian journey - to know Him is the final answer. And in knowing Him, we become like Him (1 John 3:2)