Monday: God Is Entirely Good and Righteous
Daily Lesson for Monday 3rd of February 2025
God does not simply claim to love justice and call people to love and do justice, but God Himself perfectly and unwaveringly exemplifies these traits. Scripture teaches that God is entirely holy, faithful, righteous, and loving. God only and always does what is loving, righteous, and just. He never does any wrong.
Read Deuteronomy 32:4 and Psalms 92:15. What do these passages teach about the faithfulness and righteousness of God?
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These and many other passages declare that God is just and loving—“there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalms 92:15; compare with Psalms 25:8, Psalms 129:4). God “will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame” (Zephaniah 3:5, NKJV). Notice the direct contrast of God’s character over and against that of those who love injustice.
God knows what is best for everyone, wants what is best for everyone, and continually works to bring about the best outcome for all involved.
Read Psalms 9:7-8 and Psalms 145:9-17. What do these verses teach about God?
The God of the Bible is “a just judge” (Psalms 7:11, NKJV), and no evil dwells with Him (Psalms 5:4). As 1 John 1:5 teaches, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (NKJV). Indeed, God is not only perfectly good, but according to James 1:13 (NKJV), “God cannot be tempted by evil” (compare with Habakkuk 1:13).
In all this, God’s goodness and glory are inextricably connected. While many idolize power, God is all-powerful, but He exercises His power only in ways that are just and loving. It is no coincidence that when Moses asked God, “ ‘Show me Your glory,’ ” God responded by saying, “ ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you’ ” (Exodus 33:18-19, NKJV).
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Why does such a good God allow for so much of the evil that is in this world? Discuss your answer in class. |
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I am a non-participant in the discussion about whether God kills or does not kill. I listen to the arguments of both sides, both the passionate and the logical. I read the Bible texts and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide my thinking and at the end of the day I become convinced that there is something we are missing. And so I must tell a story. It's a repeat story but it illustrates the missing bit.
When I was three years old, one of our sheep dogs, Towser, knocked me to the ground and bit me. My grandfather and I had been out moving the sheep between paddocks and I had stood beside Grandad waving my arms and telling Towser to round up the sheep as a mimic to him. Grandad told me to stop as it was confusing Towser, but in my 3-year old mind I was enjoying playing shepherd and kept on doing it. Suddenly Towser raced up to me, knocked me to the ground and bit me on the head. My grandfather took me back to the house, collected his Winchester 22, took Towser away and shot him. For many years I blamed myself for Towser's death and it was not until I was much older that I saw the necessity of my grandfather's actions.
I tell that story, not in an effort to justify killing for the sake of love, but to illustrate the limits of our understanding. I did not understand why the dog had to die when I thought that his actions were the result of my wrong doing. And it took a long time and a level of maturity to understand what was going on.
In the argument about whether a good God kills of does not kill, part of the issue is that we have a very limited understanding of the battle between good and evil. The more I read the Bible I become more convinced there is so much more to understand.
What am I convinced about? God is good, just and fair. Read the Bible texts given for any of the daily lesson studies to find evidence of that. Satan is evil and deceptive and muddies the picture of God as much as he can. He tries to paint a picture of God that is a grotesque caricature of his character. God uses, but does not cause, pain and suffering for our best good.
Apostate power-weilding Christianity has used a distorted view of God to instill fear into the hearts of people and frighten them into compliance and servitude. One only has to look at medieval Christian art of tortured naked souls surrounded by the flames of hell. Going to a church with those pictures on the wall must have been like experiencing Hell.
All of this leads to a very complex picture of God, both for those of us who believe and for non-believers who try and make sense of what they are seeing in Christianity. We see both history and the present, trying to make sense out of it and relate it to our picture of God. but there are still things that do not make sense because we have a limited view or are too immature to understand.
The argument that makes the most sense is to accept that God is love and it is our responsibility to share that love with one another. We may not have the ultimate argument about the actions of God, but we do have this:
When it comes to learning about God, I like this statement:
God does not change, but we do.
Maurice, thank you for your insightful comments on the issue that is central to the lesson these few weeks.
Even though our understanding of God is limited, God knows everything. In 1 Cor 12:4-11 and Ephesians 4:11-16, the bible explains that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to us, so that the church will be edified, grow to God's standard, lack nothing, not be tossed about by inaccurate doctrine, etc. Since all scripture is given by inspiration of God for correction in righteousness, how should we deal with issues that are difficult to understand but yet salient to our Christian experience? Doesn't God know that we as humans have limitations in our understanding of him and his methods? Yes he does! The bible addresses this in the texts I quoted above. In John 16:13, Jesus explained that the job of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth. So, the problem of our limited understanding is known to God and he has prepared a mechanism to deal with it. The solution is spiritual gifts.
The real issue is, are we embracing the provisions that God has prepared for us to deal with our limitations? The ultimate goal is not that we will or should understand everything as God understands it. Sin has made that impossible. Even perfect Adam and Eve did not understand everything, and in their quest to "be like God" they sinned.
So what does God expect of us today? God wants us to be completely reliant on him. He knows how much and what type of knowledge we should get and when we should get it. He also knows who to give it to. In the bible we see that God gave knowledge to Samuel, a little boy, to be delivered to an old man who was a high priest. God gave knowledge to a slave girl, to be delivered to a decorated military general who was infested with leprosy. God gave it to Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king, to be delivered to us today. God does the choosing. Are we willing and humble enough to accept his choices? Someone may ask, how do we know when God is using someone to speak to us? God took care of that by giving the gift of "discerning of spirits." That's why the bible says that spiritual gifts are given for us to edified each other. This means that I am reliant on you as you should be reliant on me for spiritual growth. Hebrews 10:24 says that we should provoke one another to love and good works and not to keep ourselves away from one another. Even though we may not be physically in the same room, but technology has allowed us to communicate.
So, the main point of this is that we should be constantly reliant on the Holy Spirit for knowledge and guidance as is reported in Proverbs 3:6. This will only come by prayer, the reading of the bible, meditation on the word, and most importantly asking the Holy Spirit to give us a humble heart. However, only those who hunger and thirst for it will get it, Matt 5:6.
The Bible attests that God is righteous and has no evil in Him. He is a perfect, just, and loving God. So, we believe. However, many are baffled and in great pain to reconcile the intensity and magnitude of evil in the world today. Why does such a good God allow for so much of the evil that is in this world? The “Problem of Evil” is an issue that even perplexed Job the righteous man. Like Job, we at times question God’s righteous justice. It is interesting to note that God did not provide a straight answer to Job’s questions about evil and justice. Trusting in God is more important than having all the answers regarding evil. On this ancient question, the Word of God tells us of the following:
1. The “Free Will and moral responsibility” – Humans were created as free beings to choose to obey or disobey. With freedom of choice comes consequences. The proliferation of evil in the world is a reflection of choices made by the inhabitants of this planet. We are not without knowledge of the outcome of the choices we make, so we sow, so we reap (Deuteronomy 30:19).
2. The “fallen world” – Our planet is contaminated with sin and its inhabitants have been corrupted so their deeds are evil (Genesis 3:17-19, Romans 8:22). The depravity of the human mind is shaped by the wicked environment in which we live.
Regardless of the genesis of the evil in the world today, God is not without a solution. Sin and its evil outcomes will finally be annihilated from the universe. Till then, He has given us a chance to make the right choices. He has promised to help us navigate this world of sin. He has sent us a Helper to comfort us and guide us into all truth.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him” – John 14: 16-17 (NLT)
According to Psalms 145 v 15-16
15-"The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season."
and especially verse 16
which says "You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing."
I felt very grateful that indeed God has ever been providing for me, not one day have I slept without food and I thanked Him for all the provisions. Then I thought of the hungry right now! Doesn't God love them? Yet the verse says He satisfies the DESIRE of every living thing, and He gives food to all who look expectantly to Him. My question; is this text being fulfilled to all?? Definitely not, there're many people who are hungry and poor, always looking expectantly to God for His provision but it is not happening, yet we believe that God loves everyone and unconditionally. How can such people read these verses and acknowledge that indeed this is true.
Helen you pose a good question and I'm not sure my answer is totally what you are looking for. Is it possible that we are God's hands and the reason there are hungry people is because we are not sharing but hoarding? Just a thought.
I have said it before and will reiterate it. God is a very patient God! That's a very good thing for it keeps this planet from being uninhabited. That will eventually happen when Jesus returns. Until then God see the big picture. It is almost a cosmic chess match that plays out between God and Satan with both taking losses and having "victories." Because of his Omniscience, God knows the final moves that Satan will make in this "cosmic chess match," and already has him in checkmate and Satan probably knows it and would have already upended the board, (destroyed the world) had God let him. Until the "end game" fully plays out the characters of each are on full display. The loyal angels are convinced of Satan's character since the cross. Sadly not all of humanity has come to that conclusion yet. So God waits, knowing that each day that passes he is both winning and losing souls for his Kingdom, his character of mercy and grace keeps him waiting to execute justice upon the devil and his angels, as well as those that side with the devil in this "Cosmic Conflict." Like the father of the prodigal son, each day he goes out and looks up that road to see if his wayward son is returning home at last. He will wait our entire life if he has to, but the loss will be our own each day we stay living with the hogs. 2 Peter 3:9
Romans 2:4 says that the goodness of God leads to repentance. May every bit of the prodigal son in each of us come to our senses and make our way for home. The Father will run out to meet us and welcome us home.
One day this Great Controversy will end. What a day that will be. The only question is which side of it will we be on when it does?
This is a difficult question, and for sure some may use this as an excuse to blame God for the suffering, or get Him out of the "picture" at all. But the fact is that the world is an imperfect place, and with sin came sorrow and death. God is not blind to what is happening, but eager to offer His peace to anyone; He is longing to unite us all in His love, and He is about to restore this planet, once and forever, starting with Jesus' return!
The question is a difficult one to answer, but remember, God has no hands and feet but ours. It is because of our selfishness why we have so much suffering in the world.
Until Jesus returns and sets all wrongs right, we have to be His hands and feet!!!!
Wow!! Powerful! Inspired to give and serve. Never thought it that way. I'm challenged indeed. Thank you
God’s precepts of Goodness and Righteousness are the foundation of all life — expressed to man as Love and Justice. If God is entirely good and righteous, and if He has placed all things under Christ’s authority, who in turn will be subject to the One who ordained it, then it is important for us to understand what it truly means for Him to be 'Good and Righteous' - 1 Cor. 15:27; Heb. 2:8; Eph. 1:22.
If we believe we are in Christ, and He is in the Father, then we, too, are in the Father with Him. Therefore, we are called to live according to God’s Way of Life and Light, revealed to us through Jesus Christ, reflecting His Goodness and Righteousness, as it is the evidence of our faith - 1 John 4:13; 2 Cor. 13:5.
Since all things are under Christ’s feet, our belief in Him and our willingness to follow His Path testify to our faith in the goodness and righteousness of our heavenly Father, that the world will see this God we believe in — the God of Goodness and Righteousness – Love and Justice.
“Why does such a good God allow for so much of the evil that is in this world?” Why do we ask this question when we do not know the answer for it? Should we speculate or trust the wisdom of God - His Goodness and Righteousness? His adversary waits for us to 'debate issues and choose sides’, but God wants us to focus on loving Him with all our heart and being and show gratitude for His Grace – Matt.22:36-39.
The lesson says: "God knows what is best for everyone, wants what is best for everyone, and continually works to bring about the best outcome for all involved."
The ability to orchestrate what is best for all people is truly remarkable and a skill that belongs only to God. The movie "Bruce Almighty" illustrates this comically. Bruce complains to God that He is not doing a very good job and should be fired, so God gives Bruce His own omnipotent powers. Bruce suddenly has millions of prayers coming in to his server "Yaweh.com". Finally he is so overwhelmed with the volume of prayers that he responds "Yes" to them all. Chaos ensues. For instance, people are irate because everyone won the lottery so the divided winnings are minuscule. As the problems pile up, eventually Bruce is happy to give God His job back and just be a man again.
One of the most difficult judgments for humans to make, I think, falls to those in the government offices of human services. Those professionals and judges who are tasked with justly deciding about the welfare of children have a constant need for God's wisdom and love. The children are obviously helpless victims in these cases so I'm sure it can be easy to feel anger, even, against the "grownups" these children are born to. Adults can make choices, after all, that children aren't privy to. One could judge that it is reprehensible to choose drugs or alcohol or whatever the vice is over your own children. And yet, it is more complicated than that. Here is a story from a social worker in her own words:
God tells us in Scripture that one day believers will join Him in judgment of the world and of fallen angels (1 Cor. 6:2-3; Rev. 3:21; 20:4; Matt. 19:28; 2 Tim. 2:12). This would be impossible to do righteously without having the mind and heart and compassion of Jesus (1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5-8 NIV; Matt. 9:36; Luke 19:10). Only God knows all the hearts and motives (Luke 16:15; 1 Sam. 16:7; Rom. 8:27; Acts 1:24; 15:8). I'm so grateful He's my Judge!
Powerful answer, very insightful and challenging, inspiring. This is a whole new perspective which I never thought about - we are the ones to satisfy the hungry through the blessings God has given, through us He executes all those things mentioned in the text (Ps 145v15-16). Thank you
I just read Maurice Ashton story about Towser their sheep dog. I know if it was me, I would have taken my son back to the house and tell him to obey me when I told him stop waving his arms and give him swat on the rear. I would not have shot the dog that was trying to obey its master. Thats just me. We have a daughter-in-law who is an athiest and has turned our son away from God. He was raised an Adventist but drifted away. Anyway she got stage 4 cancer and had very little time to live. We had a lot of friends and relatives praying for her and my son. Now all of a sudden she is making a recovery, it's like a miracle and our prayers have been answered. But she and my son just think it's the dr. and the treatments (chemo) that are helping her. Prayer had nothing to do with her getting better. We try to tell them that prayer worked but they just shrug it off. Any ideas how to get through to them? We are praying for the Holy Spirit to open their hearts to the Lord.
It wasn't the point of my story to raise the issue of discipline, and without going into a lot more detail the whole episode lasted less than 10 seconds - and in the long run, I had been disciplined enough. My point still stands that there is much we do not and cannot understand and it takes aging and experience for us to appreicate God's actions in the battle between good and evil.
As most or our readers know, I had a cancer diagnosis last year and many people prayed for my healing. I also had surgery and a good outcome. Rather than making it an either/or situation, I appreciate and give praise to both God and to my surgeon. I have thankful that so many of you prayed for me during this time and I am also thankful that I had a good surgeon. God does not oppose good science - he works with it.
We know that God is good and righteous. The last statement of the paragraph-he never does any wrong, does not mean that he can not use evil to accomplish his judgement. Kings 22 he is in council in how to put King Ahab to death for his evil empire. A lying spirit is found in the courtyard of Gods throne room and he gets all 450 prophet's to say that he will be victorious in battle all but one (Micaiah) told him the truth and Ahab died in battle as God commanded. God by allowing a lying spirit shows he can use both good and evil because he is sovran over all. We have to do the will of God or reject him and in so be rejected from heaven.