GOD IS GOOD
God is good. That’s not a controversial statement, is it? Today it’s an easily accepted statement. However, a half century ago, that was apparently not always the case.
Some years ago, I heard the story of how a well known “healing evangelist” caused many “Christians” (?) to become rather upset with the statement, “God is good.” Although I won’t mention his name here, you may know to whom I’m referring, as I quote his famous statement: “God is a good God, and the devil is a bad devil.”
When I first heard of how so many church people were outraged with this man for that statement, I shook my head in disbelief. Long before this servant of the Lord was ever born (and he’s 90 years old now), another man wrote these words:
Psalm 118:29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy (lovingkindness) endures forever.
Of course in the New Testament we have this statement:
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
There are many, many more verses of Scripture that could be quoted. Personal opinions of the quoted healing evangelist aside, no student of the Word of God can deny that the Bible clearly teaches us, over and over, that God is GOOD.
Many times I’ve turned on a Christian television station and heard a preacher spend 30 minutes preaching “fire and brimstone” and telling everyone the bad news that everyone is going to hell. At the very end, he tags it all with 30 seconds of “…unless you are born again by making Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of your life.”
When I hear such a message, I tend to scratch my head and wonder: where is the Good News? Jesus commanded that His followers “preach the Gospel.” The word “Gospel” means “Good News.”
Yes, I agree that all men (male and female) are born to a fallen human race because of the sin of Adam and are eternally “lost” without the “free gift of eternal life” through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the immeasurable grace of God the Father.
Every time I hear a preacher quote Romans 6:23 in part (as follows), I cringe!
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…
Accurately cited? Yes. The Word of God? Absolutely. But without the remainder of the verse, it is NOT the Gospel, the Good News. The words just quoted are the bad news! And only with the rest of that passage do we have the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Many years ago I was involved with evangelistic ministry at a Rescue Mission. When it was my turn to preach, I did my very best to “preach people under conviction.” Actually, in retrospect I know that I was attempting to “preach them under condemnation” and literally “scare the hell out of them.”
There came a point when the Lord brought some revelation to me as to what I was doing wrong. Conviction — not condemnation — is the work of the Holy Spirit, not a preacher screaming fearful thoughts at people.
It is the knowledge of, and faith in, the love of God (who is Love) that brings people to the foot of the Cross of Calvary, and the eternal life that He purchased for us in full in a completed work of salvation.
1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
I’ve heard it said — and I sincerely believe — that more people enter into salvation by God’s grace, received by faith, from the second half of Romans 6:23 than the first half. In fact, a correct exegesis of this verse makes clear that the first half is only given to provide the contrast that amplifies the greatness of the second half.
So what is my point? God is good. His mercy (lovingkindness) endures forever. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him. There is no variableness with Him. He is all good, and always good. He is always full of mercy. He has offered all people a free gift of eternal life that they do not deserve. But then Jesus didn’t deserve our sin! What He did for us was manifested mercy ensuing from ultimate Love.
As the song says, Jesus “paid a debt he did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed Someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a bring new song, Amazing Grace. Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He (God the Father) has made Him (Jesus), who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
NOW THAT IS GOOD NEWS!