“The Sixth Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness”

By Mark A. Horne

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23

If someone were to ask you who the best person you have ever known in terms of “goodness,” who would you say? Why would you say that person is the epitome of what a good person should be? Usually one doesn’t think upon such things until the death of a friend or loved one. Often, we describe the person in this way as we are standing in line at the funeral home, or milling around at the wake, “Yea, yea, I agree. Joe was a nice person. He was a really good man.” I think it speaks well of a person when they can be remembered as such. However, we all know that no one is really that good.

When the rich and arrogant young man came to Jesus, he asked about what he must do to be good, “And someone came to Him and said, ‘Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?’” Do you remember how Jesus responded, “And He said to him, ‘Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments’” (Mt 19:16ff). It is interesting that Jesus replies to this young man in this way because He brings out two aspects of what good is. One is when the Son of God references what good is, He points to God, “only One.” No one else is good. Paraphrased, “Son, if you want to do good then the model is God.” The second facet is the model of good, God Himself, is found in “keeping the ten commandments.” To be good in peoples’ minds is one thing, but to be considered good by God is on a totally higher level. And when Jesus reveals to the arrogant man that to be really, really good – in fact the literal translation could be “made complete” – he should sell everything and give it all to the poor, that blows this young man’s mind. 

This is important for us to meditate on because Jesus as the Son of God confirms what Scripture teaches in all the Old Testament, God always uses Himself as the model of good. Paul picks up this teaching in Ephesians 4:17-24…

¹⁷ So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ But you did not learn Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Notice how Paul speaks of “putting off” the old person and “putting on” the new person. The new person is in the likeness of God, an imputed character that should be flowing out of the believer. Sanderson puts it this way, “…just as we were originally created ‘in his image and after his likeness,’ so once again God uses Himself as the model for our new character. Since God is good, the new man in Christ is good; goodness is part of the Spirit’s fruit in him.”[1] As stated on the previous page, “Goodness is an outgoing spirit. Men sometimes speak despairingly of ‘do-gooders,’ but what the world needs is many more of them.”[2] Therefore, let’s expand this thought of what it really means to have this gift of the fruit which is goodness manifest in our lives for the glory of God.

As we have learned in the previous posts, Paul is dealing with a unique situation with the Galatians. He loves them and wants the best for them. However, he is really upset with them. The letter is scathing, on one hand. Yet it is encouraging on the other. He is upset with the believers who are following the Judaizers – those who are adding extra-law rules to living for God such as having to be circumcised and eating according to Old Testament dietary laws. In their teachings, goodness wasn’t as Jesus stated following the ten commandments. No, it was doing things the Judaizers way. So evil fruit was manifesting from their lives. They were saying hurtful things to each other, dividing up among themselves into cliques (Paul even had to address Peter on this issue), and constraining themselves under nonsensical rules. And this evil can’t become overcome unless one is freed by the power of the gospel. If the fruit of goodness is going to be manifested in one’s life, then the power of the gospel is going to have to make one a “new person.”

The ultimate display of the goodness of God is when He works in the heart of a person and brings them into a relationship with Himself (Ro 5:5 & 6:17). Paul states in Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” However, God’s goodness to us encompasses more than salvation (Mt 6:28-30 & 10:28-30). Starke reminds us, “All nature to us is a mirror of kindness. For where there is a creature that does not serve and do good to man? For us the sun shines, for us the earth bears fruit, us does the heaven cover, to us does the air minister breath, everything stands at our command; should we then be the only ones not to practice goodness?”[3]  

When a person is not good then he/she expresses evil. Again, Sanderson states, “the fullest expression of evil in human history will be the ‘man of sins’ (2 Th 2:8ff).”[4] When a person doesn’t live out good in the means that God provides through salvation and the gift of the fruit of the Spirit, then the evil expressed is one of ruin, harm and ugliness. Whatever goodness that may come from such a person is none other than hypocrisy. Evil doesn’t appear evil in such cases. Rather, it is masked with something called good and still has the root of self-servitude and self-righteousness as the cause. That is what the Galatians were doing and Paul called them out for it. Therefore, when one’s heart is softened by the Holy Spirit, called into a relationship with God, and the “new person” of Jesus Christ is “put on;” then one will begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit more exclusively as an attribute of God.

What does this fruit look like? When we manifest the fruit of the Spirit of goodness that is exclusively God’s attribute, what does the Bible mean for us to understand and live out from our hearts? Through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, Paul uses a particular word for goodness in the list of the fruit to the Galatians. That word is agathosune, which comes from the root word agathos and means benevolent, profitable, to benefit others. It describes an active goodness, virtue, excellence, or generosity. It is a high moral character reflected in being good in both nature and effectiveness. It finds its fullest and highest expression in that which is willingly and sacrificially done for others. It is moral and spiritual excellence manifested in active kindness.

Barclay helps us understand this word as it is distinct from another Greek word that means goodness. He states, “agathosune is a particular Bible word and does not occur in secular Greek.” I’ll add that it only occurs four times in Scripture (Ro 15:14, Ga 5:22, Eph 5:9, 2 Th 1:11). Barclay continues, “It is the widest word for goodness. The other Greek word is chrestotes, which means that one can only help. [Goodness as the fruit Paul uses] might and could, rebuke and discipline…Jesus showed agathosune when he cleansed the Temple and drove out the moneychangers. However, He showed chrestotes when He was kind to the sinning woman who anointed His feet.”[5] Hendriksen helps us further when he writes that “goodness is a Spirit-created moral and spiritual excellence of every description. Perhaps in the present connection, being mentioned after kindness, it could refer especially to generosity of heart and action.”[6] Lange even states that this fruit is “not so generally as good dispositions.”[7] Therefore, when one shows goodness as an attribute of God gifted to him/her as a fruit of the Spirit then it is a moral quality characterized by interest in the welfare of others. There is an element of an energetic principle. It is a fruit that willingly springs into action, often sacrificially, for the benefit of others.

Paul’s desire was that this fruit of the Spirit not only be manifested in the Galatians who were having much trouble in this area as the context of the letter gives light upon, but that it be shown in all believers. He tells the church at Thessalonica, “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power” (2 Th 1:11). Paul prayed that this fruit be manifested in the Thessalonians. He was even convinced that the saints in Rome were showing this fruit in living out their salvation (Ro 15:14). Paul heard about their goodness, implying that the way they lived and interacted with others gave proof of their possession of the Holy Spirit and His fruit.

In the realm of the spirit, we lose what we keep and keep what we lose (Mt 16:25). In the fullness of eternity, the Father gave the Son, and the Son gave His life on the cross, that He might keep those who are His. That is the ultimate manifestation of goodness. Is this fruit abounding in your life? In your marriages? In your family? In your church? It may be that if we ponder on these things that our lack of goodness, our evil hearts, our hypocrisy could be that which we most repent. May we find our hearts truly rooted in Christ and manifest goodness to others as God has to us.

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[1] Sanderson, John W. The Fruit of the Spirit: A Study Guide. Philipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1985, p. 114.

[2] Ibid, p. 113.

[3] Lange, John P. Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal & Homiletical. Translated from German by Philip Schaff. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1968, p. 145.

[4] Ibid, p. 110.

[5] Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series. Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Pres.

[6] Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001, pp. 224-225.

[7] Ibid. p. 139.

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