The goodness found in the world points to, but is not identical with, the goodness of God. Yet, just as the apostle Paul demonstrates in the first chapter of the Epistle of Romans, the natural revelation of God’s goodness is insufficient for truly knowing its essence. As Aquinas’ treatise demonstrates, man may know by creation and reason that God is good. Yet exactly what that goodness entails and the qualities that accompany it remains lost. Apart from God’s specific revelation of Himself, as far as man knows, the complete being and goodness of God could entail the qualities of untruthfulness or cruelty. Such qualities, however, are far from what is meant when goodness is attributed to God. Therefore, because goodness is not a self-evident category, it must be discovered and discerned through God’s specific and special revelation of Himself by His Word, the Holy Scriptures.
Erickson organizes the Biblical teaching on the goodness of God into three categories: direct predications, descriptions of God doing good, and appeals to believers to be good because God is good. First, numerous passages provide direct predications that God is good. 1 Chronicles 16:34 and Psalm 106:1, among others, proclaim, “He is Good.” Throughout the Psalms, God is often characterized either by His goodness or for possessing goodness. Furthermore, Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, testifies to the goodness of the Triune God, remarking in the Gospel of Luke, “No one is good except God alone.”
Second, various passages throughout Scripture testify to the works of God as being good. In his farewell address, Joshua recounts the numerous good deeds of God. The Psalmist declares the good works of God for the upright and righteous. Jesus attests the good that God does for those who seek Him. Furthermore, James writes that, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above.”
Finally, the Bible makes specific commands and pleas to all men to do good on the basis of God’s goodness. David prays for the Spirit of God to show him how to do good and be good as God is. Jesus instructs that those who uphold God’s commandments and statutes will be honored and called great in the Kingdom. The apostle Paul teaches that man is redeemed in Christ for the purposes of doing the good works of God.
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