Question 1

What does “being good” mean?

Accepted Answer

1 Samuel 15:22Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”John 14:15“If you love me, obey my commandments.”Being good means doing what God has told us to do—obeying him.Matthew 7:12“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”Mark 12:29-31Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”Galatians 6:9-10So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.Being good means treating others the way Jesus would treat them, with love and respect.James 1:22Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.Being good means doing what God’s Word tells us to do.

Question 2

How do we know that God is “good”?

Accepted Answer

Exodus 34:5-7Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty.”When Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, he heard and experienced God’s terrifying goodness first-hand.Psalm 100:5For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.Psalm 119:68You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees.Nahum 1:7The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.The Bible often affirms God’s goodness. God is perfect, so he is perfectly good. God’s goodness is a demonstration of his perfect love and power. He provides us with his protecting presence in all the difficulties we face.Luke 18:18-19Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good.”Jesus told this religious leader that only God is truly good. In doing so, Jesus was quietly affirming his own divinity.Psalm 34:8Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!David is telling us that we can know that God is good by how we experience him.Romans 8:28We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.We see God’s goodness in how he weaves together all our life experiences, even the painful ones, for our good and his glory.

Question 3

How can I be good?

Accepted Answer

2 Corinthians 5:17Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!Philippians 2:12-13Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.All who belong to Christ are made new, with the Holy Spirit living in them. He changes their desires, helping them want to obey God; he also gives them the power to do what is right.Ephesians 5:1-2Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.Hebrews 12:2We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.We can know how to think, speak, act, and react by focusing on Christ and his teachings. He is our perfect example of how to live.Galatians 5:16-17So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.Galatians 5:22-23The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.The Holy Spirit is working in each follower of Christ, in our mind, emotions, and will, but we must submit to his leading.Ephesians 6:18Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.James 5:16Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.We can win the continual battle with sin through prayer, bringing our petitions to God and asking others to pray for us.

Question 4

How should I go about being good?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 119:40I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness.The Scriptures make clear what God desires and knows to be best for us. To live according to God’s Word is to live according to his will, and that is living a good life.Job 1:1There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.Romans 12:9Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.Job followed a plan for pursuing goodness that is simple in design yet so difficult to practice. When we avoid evil and honor God, we become more like God, the only perfect representation of what is good.1 Samuel 24:9-10Then he [David] shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s anointed one.’”Romans 12:21Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.Returning good for evil is a real victory for good.Micah 6:8The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.1 Timothy 5:10She must be well respected by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good?Humility and kindness are marks of goodness.

Question 5

How can I show my appreciation to God for his goodness?

Accepted Answer

1 Chronicles 16:34Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.Psalm 7:17I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most HighPsalm 107:1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.Psalm 145:9-10The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you.Thankfulness and praise are some of the clearest expressions of appreciation for God’s goodness.

Question 6

How do I know if there is goodness in a person?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 1:31Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.When God created the heavens and the earth and all living creatures, he pronounced everything he had made as “very good.” So in one sense, every human being (created by God and in his image) is basically good.1 Corinthians 15:21-22So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.Through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, sin entered the world, and, consequently, every person born thereafter has been born a sinner, with a sin nature. Thus, although all humans are in some sense “good,” they all are also sinners and separated from God.Psalm 53:2-3God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!As fallen sinners, humans cannot do anything good in God’s sight without God’s intervening help.Ecclesiastes 7:20Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.Romans 3:23-26Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.2 Corinthians 5:21God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.All people are separated from God by their sin, but Jesus became the “offering for our sin,” making the way to be forgiven and reconciled with God by grace through faith. We are declared righteous, “good,” in God sight. We do good, not to be saved, but out of gratitude for being saved by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8–10).

Question 7

Can I be a good person and still struggle with sin?

Accepted Answer

Romans 7:18-25I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.Yes, even those who have been declared righteous in God’s sight still struggle with sin because we are still sinners with sin natures. But God, through the Holy Spirit living in us, frees us from the grip of sin as we submit to him.Ephesians 5:6-9Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.We need to avoid those who rationalize and make excuses for their sins.2 Thessalonians 1:11-12So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.Knowing that all believers still struggle with sin, we need to pray for our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Question 8

I don’t feel like a good person; how can I change that?

Accepted Answer

Romans 8:31-34What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.When we begin to feel as though we are terrible and unworthy of God’s love, we need to remember the truth of God’s Word: Christ died for us, and we are his chosen people. We belong to him and become righteous in and through him.1 John 3:20Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.We shouldn’t be guided by our feelings but by God and his truth as revealed in Scripture.

Goodness