What is Good?

We all want things that are good. We don’t want things that are bad. It’s a simple concept, one that no one would dispute. It is basic common sense. But, in this life, we all must face things that we cannot help but label as “bad.” These “bad” things cannot be avoided; there are a part of living in a fallen world. But they make me wonder: who decided whether a thing is “bad” or “good”? And is there any real difference between these things, or is it all in our heads?

As Christians, should we not be protected from these “bad” circumstances? If, after all, “bad” is a result of sin, should not we whose sins have been atoned have release from these dire circumstances? Does not the Bible say, “God cause all things to work together for good…”? Yes, that promise is there. But what does the Bible mean when it says “good”? Is it what we would call “good”?

Ecclesiastes 6:12 asks the question, “Who knows what is good for a man in this life…for who can tell a man what will be after him?” The Hebrew word for “good” in that verse—tob—can have several meanings: sweet, beautiful, bountiful, better, or best. So, it is difficult for us to know what is good for us in this life. Many things that seem “good” can become bad, and vice versa.

So, now to the real question: what does God say is good? Well, Micah 6:8 tells us that God has “shown you, o man, what is good (tob).” But since I took Romans 8:28 out of context earlier, I would like to use that passage to answer the question.

When Scripture says that God cause all things to work together for good it puts a few stipulations on that promise. To begin with, the previous verses are talking about how we don’t even know what we should pray for, but the Spirit will intercede in accordance with God’s will. So, the context is not one of getting what we want, but of being informed of what God’s purpose is. So, if we do not even know how to pray as we aught, how can we claim to understand what is good for us?

Secondly, the last half of the verse puts a qualifier on the promise, “to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” So, this is meant for those who are called according to the purpose of God. But what is that purpose? What does He intend? The following verses explain; they list a string of events that take place in the life a Believer. We are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. All these things take place that we may be “conformed to the image of His Son.”

That is the goal. That is the purpose to which we have been called. That is the good toward which God will cause all things to work. So, those “bad” things we go through, they are put there because God wants to use them to make us more like His Son. That is the reason we were made: to be His image. That is the purpose we messed up with our sin. And that is the purpose Christ had in mind when He offered us salvation. God is ever striving to restore His image in us. And that is the greatest good we can find in this world.