Bonitas Dei

Bonitas Dei, the goodness of God. Goodness according to Webster’s Dictionary means, “The state of being good; the physical qualities which constitute value, excellence or perfection, moral virtue, kindness; favor shown; acts of benevolence, compassion or mercy.” As Jesus said, “No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19) and as the Psalm says, “Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! (Psa 106:1), thus God alone is the standard of good. According to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology the goodness of God means, “He[God] is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval.” Grudem goes on to ask, “What is ‘good’? ‘Good’ is what God approves. We may ask then, why is what God approves good? We must answer, ‘because he approves it’ There is no higher standard of goodness than God’s own character and his approval of whatever is consistent with that Character.” (Grudem 198).


The goodness of God is identified as an essential attribute of God; that is, goodness is identified with the divine essence. Stephen Charnock (1628-1680) in his magnum opus, Discourses upon the existence and attributes of God said, “whatsoever is perfect goodness, is God; whatsoever is truly goodness in any creature, is a resemblance of God.” (Charnock 538). When Charnock wrote of the goodness of God he referred to it as the, “efflux of his will, whereby he is beneficial to his creatures.” (Charnock 540). We see here that not only is God good in and of Himself, but He also does good, “You are good and do good” (Psa. 119:68). Because God is perfectly good no one can say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” (Jas 1:13).


God gives good gifts, everything He makes is good, and He works everything for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (Jas 1:17). “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gen 1:31). We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28).


One of the unique aspects of the goodness of God is that though this attribute falls under the category of being a communicable attribute we cannot imitate this attribute in our fallen state. God must regenerate us. When God made man, He made man in His image and able to do what is right before the Lord and to obey His law. They were able to do this until man rebelled and sinned against God. As stated in the Baptist Confession, “Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.” (1689 LBC 6.2).


In order for us to imitate the goodness of God He has to remove our hearts of stone and replace it with a new heart and “[He] will put [His] Spirit within [us], and cause [us] to walk in [His] statutes and be careful to obey [His] rules. (Eze. 36:27). As the 1689 London Baptist Confession says about those who have been regenerated, “Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ; and that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is necessary an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure; yet they are not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty, unless upon a special motion of the Spirit, but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them” (1689 LBC 16.3).


We might ask, “what lies within the goodness of God?” and when one searches the scripture one will find God’s power, mercy, grace, and love for example, are aspects of His goodness. J. I. Packer writes in his book Knowing God, “when the biblical writers call God good, they are thinking in general of all those moral qualities which prompt His people to call Him perfect, and in particular of the generosity which moves them to call Him merciful and gracious and to speak of His love.”(Packer 161). God’s grace, mercy, and love are an outpouring of God’s goodness. God’s providential care and benevolence are the fruition of God’s goodness.


God is a good gift giving God. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Mat 7:11). God gives us the gift of grace, repentance, and faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Eph 2:8)” “…God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (2Tim. 2:25). As one reads through the Scriptures one will see from the very beginning God displaying His goodness through providence, benevolence, and miracles. God made Adam and Eve a special place to live just for them in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2). God gave the Israelites bread from Heaven (Exo. 16). God sent a crow with bread and meat to feed Elijah (1 Kings 17). Jesus fed different multitudes of people by multiplying bread and fish (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9; John 6). God rescued His people from blindness, sickness, prison, persecution, and even death!


Many accept the fact that God is holy. Many accept the fact that God is sovereign. But many people have trouble reconciling the fact that God is holy, sovereign, and good. People can understand the idea of a holy God. A God that has the highest standards and because we cannot meet those standards wouldn’t want anything to do with mankind. People can grasp the idea of a sovereign God who is all powerful and is able to do what ever He pleases when He pleases. But many people have trouble accepting the fact that God is also good. They have trouble accepting this attribute because of the presence of evil. They can accept a God who is holy and has nothing to do with Evil. They can accept a God that controls all things and makes everything that happens happen. But they claim, “If God is holy, sovereign, and good why does He allow evil?”


Quickly, many Christians would appeal to free-will, but I believe the free-will argument, in every case that I have heard it, limits the power of God and sacrifices His sovereignty. I also believe the free-will argument fails in its failure to give an answer to the vast biblical evidences of God foreordaining and decreeing everything that comes to pass including evil. “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.” (Isa 45:7); So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— (Rom 9:18-23).


We know clearly from Scripture that God is not the author of sin or evil nor forces people to sin. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1Jn 1:5). Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (Jas 1:13-14). We cannot be noisy gongs where the Bible is silent. Scripture simply does not tell us where evil came from but what we do know for sure is God is holy, sovereign, and good. God is not surprised or frustrated by evil. In fact, God has allowed, controls, ordains, and decrees evil.


We see that God is holy and righteous and just. And because of these attributes God hates sin. But how do these attributes reside harmoniously with God’s goodness? God’s holiness, righteousness and justice are displayed through His wrath and God’s wrath is God’s goodness in response to that which is evil and sinful. God sent His people into captivity because they disobeyed and transgressed His laws. Even the psalmist says, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” (Psa 119:71). This is not just an Old Testament thought for God is the same yesterday, today and forever. “But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” (1Co 11:32), “Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:9-11).


This is not to say either that every time evil occurs it is God punishing sin. For we read in John 9 “As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (Joh 9:1-3). When God allows evil to happen it is to lead us to repentance, bring glory to God, and provide missions. Taking the example of the blind man it served as all three. It brought repentance, it provided an opportunity to proclaim the good news, and it brought glory to God. Many mission opportunities are provided by way of natural disasters. Rather it be earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, or hurricanes churches respond quickly with help. Not just physical help but with the good news of Jesus. All of this God ordains within His goodness and sovereignty. Even Origen gives an example how God providentially allows something evil to happen to bring about a greater good. “it is certain, moreover, that the Jews were punished even in this present life, after treating Jesus in the manner in which they did. And let the Jews assert what they will when we charge them with guilt, and say, “Is not the providence and goodness of God most wonderfully displayed in your punishment, and in your being deprived of Jerusalem, and of the sanctuary, and of your splendid worship?” For whatever they may say in reply with respect to the providence of God, we shall be able more effectually to answer it by remarking, that the providence of God was wonderfully manifested in using the transgression of that people for the purpose of calling into the kingdom of God, through Jesus Christ, those from among the Gentiles who were strangers to the covenant and aliens to the promises.” (Origen)


Knowing these things help us in life and ministry. If it was not for the goodness of God we would not even have the revealed word of God nor would we have any form of hope in this life. Because of God’s goodness and His simplicity, He is not capricious. God is all that He says He is all the time. Which means God is good all the time and all the time God is good. In Islam Allah is praised for His capriciousness. Allah can be loving one minute and wrathful the next he does not have to hold them at the same time. Allah can be good one day and completely evil the next. As the Jehovah Witnesses believe God is good and loving above His justice and holiness. They would say that God would not even cast Satan into Hell for all eternity because He is too good and loving for that. In both cases of Islam and Jehovah Witnesses their god has no unity or holiness or true goodness. Whereas the True and Living God has unity with His goodness, love, wrath, justice, wisdom, and etc.


The goodness of God also helps those of us who are Christian in our times of sufferings and trials. Because we can look at the promises of God’s word such as Romans 8:28, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” And know that whatever we are going through God is allowing for our good. We could even say that nothing bad will happen to us. I will caution that statement with, I do not mean that we will not suffer or have great pain but what I am saying is that even the attacks of Satan, so long as we are in Christ, are being worked for our good and the glory of God.


Lastly, how are we to behave knowing God is good? We are to respond with humility, obedience, and the transformation and renewal of our minds. As Paul penned,” I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:1-2).


Even the Psalmist says after experiencing God’s goodness in way of affliction, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. (Psa 119:66-68). As Wayne Grudem states, “In imitation of this communicable attribute, we should ourselves do good (that is, we should do what God approves) and thereby imitate the goodness of our heavenly Father.” (Grudem 198). Paul goes on to say, “let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal 6:9-10). We have to realize that God Himself is the ultimate good that we seek. “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:1-2, 11).





works cited
Association at Philadelphia. 1689 London Baptist Confession. Philadelphia : Association at Philadelphia, 1689.


Charnock, Stephen. Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God. New York: RT CARTER & BROTHER., 1874.


DD, James Orr M.A. ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia . public domain: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing company , 1915, 1939, 1956.


Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1994.


Packer, J. I. Knowing God . Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1973.


Webster, Noah. Webster Dictionary. Public Domain, 1828.