Holy Goodness

Romans 12:9b, “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” 

Holy Goodness. Not simply goodness, but Holy Goodness. Why can’t I just say “goodness” you might ask? Honestly, I wish I could, but trying to define goodness from our culture’s perspective is like trying to play baseball with a ball of slime. Goodness seems to morph into the morality of whoever happens to be defining the term. Using the term “holy” cements goodness in the character of God where it ultimately must rest. When we fail to define goodness based on the rock-solid character of a holy God, we twist it into the slimy forms our own fleshly desires. Goodness then becomes what we like, rather than what is truly good.

Good Evil; Evil Good

Isaiah 5 details the results of this shift in the people of Israel. God had cared for His people and they turned from His ways and followed their own desires. The people acted as their own gods and lived out their own morality. Throughout the chapter, God lists woe after woe describing the defiant behavior of His people. In verses 20-21, we read the fourth and fifth woes as follows:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!

Sound familiar? That’s where we are at today in America, isn’t it? A traditional view of marriage and gender is evil today. We instead celebrate homosexual marriage and the idea that a biological male is actually a woman or visa-versa. Apple has embraced this through a new emoji it introduced in its latest software update—a pregnant man. If you have the latest update, you can check it out for yourself. I discovered how far this confusion has permeated society a little over a year ago at a physical for a life insurance policy. The medical examiner reluctantly asked me if I was pregnant, clarifying that she was required to ask that.

So Wise...

We are so wise and shrewd today, aren’t we? What would God know anyway? It’s not like He created us or anything. The universe magically appeared from absolutely nothing and then somehow life began from non-life, contrary to the settled law of biogenesis, saying that can’t happen. Then the impersonal, unintelligent entities of chance and time put together complex, sentient, reproducing beings called humans, who happen to know what is good and what is evil. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

 Romans 1:22 sums up our culture today, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools.”

Maybe you think I’m coming across too sarcastic, but I don’t believe I’m exaggerating where we are at as a culture. What is evil? What is good? Ask a friend. Ask a family member. Ask a co-worker. Ask a stranger on the street. You’ll get answers all over the place. And you’ll find answers that call good what God calls evil and evil what God calls good. These are the times we are living in. As followers of Jesus, we must stand and model something different. We must value and model Holy Goodness.

Goodness Defined

Holy Goodness is goodness defined by the character of a Holy God. In Leviticus 19:2, God told the Israelites “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 quotes that passage, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” As Creator of the universe and creator of man and woman, God gets to decide what is good and what is evil. When humanity starts deciding what is good and evil, we usurp the role of God. That’s a horrible place to stand. You won’t stay there long.

 God’s holiness magnifies God’s love. One of the most detrimental theological misunderstandings in our society involves minimizing God’s holiness in an attempt to maximize God’s love. It doesn’t work that way. God’s love and holiness are two sides of the same coin. If you diminish one, then you diminish the other. If you magnify one, then you magnify the other. God did not make a bunch of rules to make life miserable for humanity. He laid out rules as a means of understanding His Holy Goodness. As people made in His image, we must embrace His definition goodness to fully embrace who He meant us to be as human beings.

Goodness Modeled

Ultimately, we can’t do this on our own. We act just like our ancestors, Adam and Eve, ignoring God’s guidance and figuring we know better. We live in defiance of His holy goodness and call evil good and good evil. If God were not loving, He could have simply judged us as we were—defiant, rebels deserving death. But this is where His love is magnified. As holy as God is and as repulsed by sin as He is, He didn’t leave us to our own rebellious, evil ways. He made a way of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. He loved us so much that He sent His One and only Son to die on a cross as a substitute sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus died the death we deserved (Romans 3:21-26). That’s God’s goodness. A loving, holy God willing to pay the price for the sins of a rebellious people so we might have forgiveness and new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In myself, I’m not better than anyone else. I call evil good and good evil. Maybe the categories I like to twist are different than yours, but I want to create my own morality like everyone else. That’s why I need God to change me by His Holy Spirit. Through faith in Jesus Christ, His Son, I receive not only forgiveness, but the gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). And the Holy Spirit can keep shaping me into an image of God’s Holy Goodness.

Our world needs to see Holy Goodness. Not in a judgmental, prideful way, but in a manner bathed in God’s love. They need to see goodness founded on the sure and stable character of God Himself. Trying to walk this life on a road made of slime gets you nowhere. May we, as followers of Jesus Christ, let the Holy Spirit work in our lives and lovingly demonstrate God’s Holy Goodness to a lost world.

Holy Goodness—a value to live by!