“Fruit of the Spirit - Goodness”  

**INTRODUCTION 

Hello and welcome to “Key to the Kingdom.” My name is Bret McCasland. No matter where we live in this world. We encounter all kind of people. We really do not enjoy being around some of them for various reasons. On the other hand, we do like to be around those who bless and encourage us in many ways. One of the characteristics that stand out in some of those people who encourage us is that they have really good hearts. They're committed to living good lives and to doing good things for other people. Today on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will look at the Fruit of the Spirit called Goodness. It is number six in the list of nine, which the Apostle Paul includes in his letter called Galatians. Goodness is another quality of those who are part of God's family. It is a character trait of those who are following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. For the next few minutes, we will consider some ways how goodness can be demonstrated in our relationships with other people. We will look at some Bible passages and examples from people who we read about in the Bible, and we will think about what those displays of goodness can look like in our lives. Thank you in advance for joining us for this Bible study. I invite you now to open your heart and your Bible as we study together.

**LESSON

When studying the nine character traits of Christians, called the Fruit of the Spirit, it is interesting to notice how one Fruit seems to lead to the next one. In other words, they seem to build upon each other. The first three Fruit, Love, Joy, Peace, form that first triad, and it seems that most everything else builds upon those three. In fact, those three are the most commonly mentioned aspects or characteristics of Christians in all of Scripture. Well, the next three, Patience, Kindness and Goodness also have something in common. When we develop patience, then it is easier to practice kindness and goodness. In the Bible, those last two are very similar as they both display generosity. We recently looked at the Fruit called Kindness. Today, in our lesson on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will focus on Goodness. In Matthew chapter 20, Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard owner who hired several workers to work for him at various times during the day, and at the end of the day all of them receive the same amount of pay. Well, as you can imagine, that did not sit very well with those who worked the entire day, while others worked only a few hours during the day. And as the master-owner was making the distribution of the day's pay, represented by Jesus, he responded to them by saying these words in verse 15, “Are you envious because I am generous?” The master was generous in giving pay to the people. Well, that word generous is the same word in the original language that Paul uses in Galatians chapter 5, where we read this list of nine Fruit of the Spirit. He lists Goodness as Fruit of the Spirit number six. It represents a quality that goes beyond being fair. And that is what we find in that story about Jesus back in Matthew chapter 20, an attitude of generosity. Oftentimes we refer to people as being a good parent or a good teacher or perhaps a good coach, and the idea is they do things which are beneficial for others. They are good people. It is a character trait that is seen in those who are walking by the Spirit of God. Good Christians do what they do because it is the right thing to do. In fact, Jesus would describe the characteristic trait of goodness in the Beatitudes as being pure in heart. Well, as we have seen with the other five Fruit, this is another quality that generates, that originates, with God. Oftentimes we hear the phrase God is good all the time and all the time God is good. And indeed, that is true. The goodness of God is displayed in so many and various ways. That is a fundamental characteristic of the Lord. In Psalm 136, verse 1, and also in Psalm 118, verse 1, we find these words: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.” Oh, the goodness of God is displayed in various ways throughout Scripture. When Moses was on the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from the Lord, Moses made a request of God; and that is, “Show me Your glory.” And God responded with these words, in Exodus 33, verse 19: <“I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim My name, the LORD…;”> God is, He always has been, and He always will be full of goodness. You know, that was a characteristic trait of a man by the name of Daniel. He was a man of God who also served as a political officer in the country called Babylon. This is what was written about him in Daniel 6, beginning with verse 3: <“He had a spirit of excellence and his enemies could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and no error or fault was found in him.”> You know, nobody, whether that be a friend or an enemy, could find anything wrong with Daniel. In other words, he was filled with goodness. He was trustworthy. There was nothing wrong with him. There was no error found in his life. You know still today, good people are those who do the right thing, even when it is hard to do. They resist the temptation to take the easy way out. They do good even when it hurts or even when it comes at great cost to themselves. Think about Jesus and His public ministry. He was filled with goodness. The apostle Peter described Jesus as going about doing good, in Acts chapter 10, verse 38. And Jesus did good things for many people. He was a man of integrity. He was a man who was filled with righteousness. He always did what was right. He ministered to people who were overlooked and neglected. He showed kindness and goodness to those that were not shown kindness and goodness by anybody else. Jesus displayed goodness in all of his relationships. And no doubt, He did that because He had come from the Father, who was good all the time. Yes, Jesus was a good person. Well, Jesus also had many opportunities to do just the opposite. While fasting in the desert, as He was preparing for His ministry, Satan appeared to Him and tempted Him three times. He wanted Him to take an easier route, but Jesus didn't go down that road. He held fast to His convictions. In the Garden of Gethsemane, prior to His death, Jesus prayed that this cup of suffering would pass and something else would happen. But that did not take place, and He went ahead with God's plan for Him. When the authorities arrested Jesus and put Him up on the cross to die, He could have called down thousands of angels to rescue Him from the cross. But instead, He chose to stay the course and He did what was good for all people, for all time. You know, in those and in many other ways, the goodness of God was found in His son, Jesus Christ. When Paul included goodness among the Fruit of the Spirit, perhaps he had in mind the teaching of Jesus back in Luke chapter 6, beginning with verse 43. <“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”> Now according to that Bible passage, according to Jesus’ teaching, goodness comes from the inside. Our goodness is a condition of our heart. As God's Holy Spirit becomes more evident in the lives of His children, we then begin to display the character of Jesus and goodness is one of the Fruit which is demonstrated in our daily lives. Another man who displayed the Fruit of goodness was Barnabas. We read part of his story in Acts chapter 11. There we find that the church was spreading into the Gentile world. And upon hearing that good news, he went to a place called Antioch to check out what was going on. He wanted to see for himself how the Good News message was expanding beyond the Jewish world into the Gentile world. And this is what we read there in chapter 11 of Acts, beginning with verse 23. < When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.> You know, Barnabas did not criticize the work being done among the Gentiles. He did not tell them they could not be Christians simply because they were not Jews. But rather, he was happy that the Good News of salvation had spread to the Gentiles, and he encouraged them in their faith. By looking at that whole story, we recognize that Barnabas was a man filled with goodness. He did good things. He said good things. He was a man of encouragement. You know, all of us today know people who are filled with goodness. Your church where you attend is probably filled with some very good people. And there are those who go the extra mile. They do something good for somebody else all the time, oftentimes without even drawing attention to themselves. Perhaps you are someone who volunteers your time at your particular church where you attend. Maybe you give your money to help those who are in need. Maybe you are one that we were describing today, who is filled with goodness and you are demonstrating that specific Fruit in your life; and that's good. You are the kind of person whom Jesus spoke of when He offered these words in Matthew chapter 5: <”You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”> When Jesus talks about one's light, He is referring to the life that individual lives. And He calls His followers to live such good lives so that other people will see us bearing Fruit for His sake, and to be glory to Him and not to ourselves. There are some people who might say at this point, “Well, it sounds like to me that a person is to do good works in order to receive salvation.” Well, that is not the message at all. Such teaching is not found in the Bible. No one can do enough good deeds to buy their way into an eternal life with God. No one can do enough good deeds to say to God, “Well, I deserve to be rewarded with a home in heaven.” It doesn't work that way. Jesus finished the work of our salvation when He died upon the cross and rose from the grave. When we try to add to what Jesus did by putting our faith in our good deeds, it says, “Jesus, what you did for me is not good enough.” It says, “I need to add something to what You did to make sure I am right with God.” Well, that is like saying to someone who offers to us a gift, “How much can I pay you for that? What is it that I can do to offset the gift you gave to me? What do I need to do to earn this gift?” You know, throughout his writings, Paul was very clear: We cannot be saved by our good deeds, but we are saved by Jesus’ sacrifice and by our belief in Him. And that means so much to us then we want to do good. We do good things. We live a life of goodness because of the salvation we have already received in Jesus Christ, our Lord. So we are saved by God's grace in order to live that transformed life, and demonstrating goodness is part of that transformation. As Jesus put it, we do good and we let our light shine so others will see Him living in us. We don't have a specific record of the Apostle Paul and a man by the name of Titus working together on the island of Crete, but we know they did. At some point they were there together and Paul left, went on his way, and he left Titus to be in charge. And later on he wrote a letter back to him, encouraging him with his rather difficult and challenging task. We know that the residents there on that island had fallen into a sad state of affairs. Their immorality was deplorable. And Paul, in his letter to Titus, even included a familiar saying that was out there among those people who lived on the island. He wrote in chapter 1, verse 12, “One of their own prophets said, ‘Christians are always liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons.’” What a sad commentary on someone's life. And yet, everyone knew that's the way it was on that island. Well, the Christians living there were no doubt tempted to fall into that same kind of lifestyle. And so in his letter, Paul emphasized the importance for them to live a different kind of life, and that life was to be based upon goodness. At least four times in the text, Paul tells Titus to remind those who belong to Jesus to live differently than the world around them, and to live a life of goodness. Let’s notice those four examples. We begin in chapter 2, verse 7: <”In everything set them an example by doing what is good;” chapter 3, verse 1, Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good;” chapter 3, verse 8, “I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves

to doing what is good;” and then one more, back in chapter 2, verses 13 and 14, “While we wait for the blessed hope or the promise of seeing Jesus, be eager to do what is good.”> At least four times, Paul instructs Titus to instruct the Christians, no matter what is happening on the island of Crete all around you, do what is good. Focus on what can be a blessing to other people. Focus on allowing the Fruit of the Spirit of Goodness to be displayed in your life; again, not for the sake of your salvation. But for the sake of having already received that salvation, you do what is good, you live a good example, you live a life that honors God, that represents Jesus Christ to everybody else. Those inspiring words left for Titus to put into practice are left for us to put into practice, also. We are to set a good example to those who have perhaps fallen into a sad state of affairs. One of the most familiar passages that emphasizes the importance of goodness is found in Ephesians chapter 2. Notice beginning with verse 8, these words: <“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”> Oftentimes, we use that passage to focus on the grace of God that saves us through our faith in Jesus Christ. And no doubt that was the primary point Paul was trying to make. At the same time, we cannot overlook the last phrase; we were created in Christ becoming part of God's family for the purpose of doing good works. Here's one final passage for our consideration: Paul closes out his letter to a group of Christians throughout the area called Galatia, and he does so with these words, in chapter 6, beginning with verse 9. <“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers...”> From Jesus doing good every where He went to Barnabas being a good encourager of other believers, from Daniel living such a good life to the point not even his enemies could find anything wrong with him, and now to Titus, teaching the Christians on the island of Crete to be good examples to those who are not, Goodness is a Fruit that is to be displayed in the lives of those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. That cannot happen, however, if we are not walking and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit of God. It cannot happen if we are not allowing God's Spirit to take control of our life. A few minutes ago I mentioned the fact that kindness and goodness seem to have one thing in common, and that is generosity. A person who continually demonstrates kindness and goodness is a person who is generous. I want to encourage us to think, today, about those people whom we know who are generous and full of goodness. Who do you know, who generously gives of their time, their energy and their money? Who do you know who does some good things for the sake of the Lord and the Kingdom of God? Who do you know who does good as they help those who are in need or who visits those who are sick and having a difficult time? Who do you know who does something good by praying for people who are struggling spiritually or in their relationships? You know, those, along with many other things, are good things to do. They represent the goodness of the Lord. They are displays of one’s salvation. And those good deeds come from people who are filled up with the Fruit of Goodness as they are walking according to the Holy Spirit. If you had the opportunity, you might even offer a word of thanks to those people, acknowledging the goodness in their lives. And by doing that, it also might remind us of the importance to do the very same thing. I want to end our lesson today by offering a final challenge, and I'm going to do so in the form of a question. How will I demonstrate the Fruit of Goodness as I am led by God's Holy Spirit, this week?

**VIDEO CLIP

Perhaps there is a store like this where you live. This place is called Goodwill. It is a place where people come in to donate or to sell their clothing or other household items, and then they are purchased by people who cannot afford clothes or who need some new clothes for a special occasion. But basically, it serves those people who are destitute, who don't have much money to buy clothes or the things they need; and that's important. And I appreciate people willing to donate and to give their clothes to such a place as this. And that just demonstrate that, indeed, there are some good people in this world. And that's what God calls upon us to do and to be. He wants us to be good people. He wants us to demonstrate goodness and to minister to and bless the lives of other people. When I think about that, I'm reminded of God's goodness to us. He loves us so much. He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. And He demonstrates His goodness on a regular basis. There will be times and opportunities in your life today and almost every other day to do something good for someone else. There'll be opportunities to display the goodness of God through your actions and through your statements, through the contributions you make or the donations you give. And I hope that you will demonstrate God's goodness in your life. Be a blessing to someone and allow them to see the goodness of God at work in your life. Remember, goodness is one of the nine Fruit of the Spirit, and I pray that you will demonstrate the goodness that you have in your life.

**CONCLUSION

Thank you for joining us for today's Bible study. I trust the message was a blessing and that it encouraged you to live out the Fruit of Goodness in your daily life. This message can be found on our website, at keytothekingdom.com. It along with many other lessons is there, and they are all available at no cost. There is no obligation attached and you are welcome to download any of them in a variety of formats. On the website, you can also find one-minute devotional thoughts and short two-minute messages, and they are designed to encourage you in your daily walk with the Lord. You are also invited to download a free app onto your smart-phone. Additional Bible studies, summaries of various books of the Bible and detailed information about this media Ministry are available. It is always a pleasure to share these Bible lessons with you from week to week. I hope they bless you. Thank you again for tuning in to today's program, and I invite you to join us again next time as we continue to study the Bible on “Key to the Kingdom.”