GOODNESS 

MEANING

• divine goodness is a supernatural desire to do good things for others
• goodness (agathosune) occurs only four times in the New Testament (Rom 15:14; Gal 5:22; Eph 5:9; 2 Thess 1:11)
• the best way to determine the meaning of agathosune is to study it's opposite in the Septuagint:
kakia (wickedness) is the opposite of agathosune (goodness) in Psalm 52:3
• a contrast between loving wickedness and loving goodness occurs in a concrete historical context (Psalm 52:3):
Doeg's wickedness was murdering the priests of Nob—"both men and women, children and infants" (1 Sam 22:18–19)
• the bodyguards chose goodness (to let the priests live) and whatever punishment came with their disobedience to King Saul
• goodness seeks to do good things for people; wickedness seeks to do bad or wicked things to people—to harm them

SEPTUAGINT (15 TIMES) 

(1) of goodness as opposed to wickedness (Psalm 52:3; cf. 1 Sam 22:18–19) 
(2) of treating people and God well (Judg 9:16; 2 Chron 24:16) 
(3) of the good things in life—wealth, offspring, and long life (Eccles 6:3, 6; 7:14; 9:18) 
(4) of wages earned by a worker (Eccles 5:18) or profits earned by a business (Eccles 5:10) 
(5) of the good things money can buy (Eccles 4:8) 
(6) of generosity—money, good things, and rewards given to others (Neh 9:25, 35; 13:31b) 

A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT 

• goodness is one of the fruits of the Spirit—sixth in order of importance (Gal 5:22) 
• all divine goodness is produced in the hearts of Christians by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22; Eph 5:9) 
• goodness is a logical outgrowth of kindness: if you're kind you'll want to do good things for others 
• faithfulness is logical outgrowth of goodness: if you desire to do good for others, you'll be faithful to those you covenant with 
• with the passing of time your love for good things grows (like fruit), as does your loathing of things wicked 
• believers should be full of goodness (Rom 15:14) 
• goodness is present in the souls of believers in different amounts—from empty to full 
• you must be full of goodness and knowledge to admonish believers who are consorting with wickedness (Rom 15:14) 
• Barnabas "was a good (agathos) man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith" (Acts 11:24) 

THE ROLE OF PRAYER 

• as your goodness grows you will want to do more good things for others—even in times of persecution (cf. 2 Thess 1:4–5) 
• goodness produces a desire to do good works and these good works will be rewarded by God 
• we often desire to do good things for others but have no means of implementing them 
• goodness often expresses itself in generosity (thanksgiving baskets for shut-ins, a Christmas bonus for our missionaries) 
• prayer can fulfill all of your desires to do good things for others 
• God will intervene "with power" to help you do all the good things you want to do for others (2 Thess 1:11; cf. 2 Cor 9:8) 

GOD'S GOODNESS 

• goodness is an attribute of God; great goodness is infinite goodness (Neh 9:25) 
• Israel's inheritance (all the possessions of the Canaanites) came from God's goodness (Neh 9:25, 35). 
• rewards for good works come from the goodness of God ('Remember me…in Your goodness' Neh 13:31b; cf. 13:14, 22)