How to Walk in the Spirit of Goodness

Romans 15:14

Introduction.

  1. Last week we talked about walking in the Spirit of kindness.

    1. There are many similarities between the Greek words for kindness and goodness.

    2. In fact, we discovered that the Greek word for kindness is often translated as goodness.

    3. These are treated as synonyms, but with a nuance of meaning that can be helpful for us to understand how we ought to be.

  2. First we have the basic definition of goodness.

    1. It does seem rather subjective to decide what is good and what is bad.

    2. Of course in order to define these things we must look to God’s Word to see what is good and what is not: “It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jer. 10:23b).

    3. But broadly speaking, this Greek word for goodness is defined as: “uprightness of heart and life.”

    4. Interestingly enough, it is a word that can only be found in the Bible or church writings! – ἀγαθωσύνη

    5. It is quite similar to the word ἀγαθός, but just different enough to bring additional meaning to it.

  3. So we are going to look at this from Rom. 15:14 (Preview).

    Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

    1. Full of Goodness.

    2. Having Knowledge.

    3. Able to Admonish.

Body.

  1. Full of Goodness.

    1. God’s goodness.

      1. Last week we spent a good deal of time talking about God’s kindness and goodness.

      2. We won’t spend quite so much time here, but it probably doesn’t surprise you that this word is used to describe God and what He’s done.

      3. While God is kind to everyone, to the poor and to righteous kings, He is also good to Israel.

      4. He allowed them to come into the land of Canaan, to possess the land, not having to work to dig wells and plant vineyards because it had already been done.

      5. The people who did it before squandered what God had given them by acting wickedly and needing to be judged.

      6. God, in turn, was good to Israel by giving them the land that of which Canaanites had judged themselves unworthy (Neh. 9:22-25 – Turn there).

      7. We ought to pray that God gives of His goodness to each of us (2 Thess. 1:11-12).

        Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

      8. Even so, let us not be like the Israelites who didn’t exactly return in that goodness (Neh. 9:32-35).

    2. Our lack of goodness.

      1. So we as human beings often lack goodness, don’t we?

      2. Can we honestly say that we do good all the time?

      3. Even so, we have examples of people who do good (which we’ll get to), and some who don’t.

      4. Solomon generally speaks about that: “Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good” (Eccl. 9:18).

      5. The real kicker is that we are all sinners, aren’t we?

      6. So when we sin, what good have we destroyed?

      7. We certainly aren’t acting in accord with the fruit of the Spirit, are we? More like with the works of the flesh: adultery, fornication, lewdness, idolatry, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries.

      8. David describes Doeg the Edomite in this way (Psa. 52:1-4).

      9. Doeg spotted David when Saul was after him, and Doeg, no doubt full of hatred and selfish ambition, told Saul where he was.

      10. Later, Doeg was the only one willing to murder the priests on Saul’s behalf.

      11. While he certainly loved evil more than good, it is quite clear he was also one sinner who destroyed much good!

      12. Solomon describes such people who are not satisfied with goodness (Eccl. 6:3-6).

      13. It is better for one never to have been born than it is for one never to see goodness.

      14. We ought to have a reasonable idea of what that goodness is.

      15. Paul writes, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit/light is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (Eph. 5:8-10).

      16. In order to practice it, we ought to find it out, hence knowledge …

  2. Having Knowledge.

    1. There are two people specifically called out as having done good (ἀγαθωσύνη) in the LXX.

      1. The first one we are going to consider is Jehoiada.

      2. Who? Jehoiada. He was the high priest during the reign of the mostly righteous king of Judah, Joash son of Ahaziah.

      3. At the end of his life, the Bible says, “But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house” (2 Chron. 24:15-16).

      4. Those are some pretty lofty words! What exactly did he do that was so good?

      5. First off, he was a high priest, one tasked with studying the Law (i.e. having knowledge) and sharing that with the people.

      6. The people didn’t always listen, but during Jehoshaphat’s reign some years earlier, he sent out teachers all over Judah to teach them properly about the Law.

      7. Jehoiada was around for that, being in his 60s or 70s! Perhaps he was among those sent out to teach and judge among the people.

      8. Regardless, we know he did great things for Judah.

      9. First, he protected the line of David by protecting Joash from the wicked Queen Athaliah who had killed all the other princes of Judah’s line so she could reign herself.

      10. When Joash was 7, he arranged for Athaliah to be deposed while Joash becomes the rightful king.

      11. Jehoiada, helped and guided Joash to be a righteous king over Judah, restoring proper worship, and even collecting funds to restore the Temple after Athaliah and the wicked kings before her had allowed it to fall into disrepair and idolatry.

      12. Sadly, such faithfulness did not last long after his death, but it just shows how great an influence he had for good while living.

      13. What influence might we have for good upon those around us, using our knowledge of God’s Word to help them find the truth?

    2. Jesus’ Great Knowledge.

      1. It cannot be overstated just how good Jesus was during His earthly ministry—the best.

      2. And He certainly was the most knowledgeable and gracious with that knowledge.

      3. While Jehoshaphat sent teachers of the Law out into the land, Jesus Himself was the Great Teacher, having perfect knowledge of God and His Law.

      4. He understood it perfectly and knew how to apply it.

      5. That’s one reason why we continue to study His words in the Gospels to learn from His great knowledge and wisdom.

      6. He said it Himself, that a “greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42).

      7. Let us learn from Him, His knowledge, and all the good He has done for us!

  3. Able to Admonish.

    1. The second person described in the OT as having done good for Israel was Gideon (Judges 8:33-35).

      So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.

      1. Yet even in this passage, it is clear that the Israelites quickly forgot the good—it’s as if they were sinners, destroying much good.

      2. Well, in any event, what did Gideon do for the good of Israel? The passage we read said that he delivered them from their enemies.

      3. But there’s one more thing he did that I’d like to focus on.

      4. First, Israel was in a state of wickedness and idolatry, oppressed by the Midianites and others, an oppression that brought about famine and displaced many of them.

      5. It was in this environment that the Lord called Gideon to become a judge.

      6. The first thing he did as a judge was to destroy an idol to Baal in his own father’s house.

      7. This caused the men of the city to want to have him killed, but his father repented.

      8. Through Gideon’s actions here, he had admonished his father and the people.

      9. And that’s what goodness does—true goodness admonishes!

      10. An admonishment is a warning, which isn’t always nice to hear, but it is good to hear.

      11. Don’t touch that burner! It’s hot!” – That’s not nice to hear, but it’s good because it keeps your child from getting hurt.

      12. And therein lies the difference between kindness and goodness.

      13. As Trench says: “A man might display his ἀγαθωσύνη (goodness), his zeal for goodness and truth, in rebuking, correcting, chastising.”

      14. Gideon did just that when he destroyed the idol of Baal, but Jesus did something similar.

    2. Christ was good, though not always kind.

      1. As Trench continues: “Christ was not working otherwise than in the spirit of this grace when He drove out the buyers and sellers out of the temple (Matt. 21:13); or when He uttered all those terrible words against the Scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23).”

      2. While we might agree or disagree with Trench’s characterization of Jesus’ words when He cried, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” several times in Matt. 23, there is no denying that we typically would not describe that as being kind—but it was good!

      3. Think of being a parent or a school teacher. Sometimes you have to get downright mean to the kids in order to maintain discipline. I don’t mean in a nasty or abusive way, but certainly in a way that the kids won’t like.

      4. After all, is punishment kind? No, but it is good!

      5. And so to fulfill the command to be kind and also good in Galatians 5:22, we must strike that balance of being kind, but also good.

      6. As Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in Ephesians 5, he said it was “in all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Eph. 5:9).

      7. Sometimes that righteousness and truth is not kind as we understand it, and admonishment certainly isn’t.

      8. People don’t want to hear about sin and judgment, they don’t want to be corrected.

      9. But as Paul also writes, we ought to be “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).

      10. Anything we say must be spoken from a place of love.

      11. But that’s not always obvious unless you know the person.

      12. Recall Solomon’s words: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:6).

      13. It’s a lot easier to understand that such words come from a place of love if you know the person and care about him or her.

      14. And let’s not forget the saying from last week: “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

      15. That’s generally true, but there is the occasion when goodness requires admonishment more than kindness.

      16. It takes wisdom to strike that appropriate balance, so let us learn that wisdom.

Conclusion.

  1. I never thought I would study something like the fruit of the Spirit and discover this kind of friction between two concepts.

    1. While we are to be kind, there are times when kindness is not what’s called for.

    2. There are times when I read through the Bible, the words of Jesus or Paul, and I don’t see kindness, but I always see goodness!

    3. If you’re not sure what I mean, read Matt. 23 again, or 2 Cor. 10–13.

    4. And if we are going be working on the fruit of the Spirit, we must learn to strike that balance between kindness and certain aspects of goodness.

    5. At the heart of it all is love, speaking that truth in love, and love being that first aspect of the fruit of the Spirit that governs it all!

  2. The problem is the works of the flesh.

    1. Can we show the goodness of Jehoiada through knowledge and teaching, and the goodness of Gideon through admonishment and not be contentious or dissentious?

    2. Well, that’s the trick, isn’t it?

    3. That takes wisdom to do that, too, but it can be done.

    4. It’s not easy, but it is important for exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit!

    5. After all, we want to be able to pray the same prayer Nehemiah did at the end of his book: “Remember me, O my God, for good” (Neh. 13:31).

  3. Do you want to be remembered for good this morning?