"Why call Me good?" Discovering the Source of Goodness

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Mark 10:18 (KJV).

In the text above, Jesus asked a rhetoric question, “Why do you call me Good?” And then He went on to drop the bomb, “Only God is good!”

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we shall examine these statements, so we can understand and live in the light of what our Lord is trying to pass across to us. 

1. What is goodness?

  • In this context, good is an adjective describing a person, who is acting in the interest of what is beneficial toward His creation.

  • Other words we can use, especially when applied to God’s acts and works: pleasant, dependable, capable, effective, satisfying, enjoyable, favorable, worthwhile, adequate, sufficient, reasonable, decent.

     

2. “Why call me Good?” (Meditation)

Jesus challenged the young ruler, “Why do you call Me good?”

  • Any ideas why the ruler called Him good? 

    • Why do we call people good?

  • Why did Jesus ask this question? 

    • What was He driving at?

  • Is Jesus good? 

    • Was He denying His own goodness? 

 

3. “There is none good but One, that is, God.”

Only God is good! What a statement! Only God!

  • The Goodness of God from the scriptures: 

    • He is good by nature. Psalms 119:68 (You are, and you do). 1 Samuel 2:2. I believe good is from the word God!

    • All He created were good. Genesis 1:31.

    • He is good to all His creatures. Psalms 145:9.

    • He works things that are not good for good! Even when things deviate from good, he wants to bring them back to conformity with His nature! Romans 8:28. Hebrews 12:10.

  • Don’t we have good people?

    • The goodness in people is only reflecting the image of God in them - Genesis 1:27. The goodness is of God, not of them. It’s pride to think otherwise.

    • This goodness has been corrupted by sin, the nature we inherited from satan. Romans 3:23. The goodness of God is part of His glory.


4. Implications - what is Jesus expecting from us?

  • Never let anyone (including you) call you good, but return the glory to God.

  • Meditate on the fact that God is not only good, but He is the only One that’s good - the Source of goodness!

  • Praise the Lord continually for all the goodness that you enjoy every day! Psalms 107:31.


5. Final thoughts:  Ephesians 2:10, Acts 10:38

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