“(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),” (Ephesians 5:9, NKJV)
Goodness signifies an honorable moral constitution that is borne as the Spirit’s fruit in the life (Galatians 5:22). In the absolute sense, God alone is essentially and consummately good; we have all defiled goodness through sin (Matthew 19:17; Romans 3:12, 23). Yet, in Christ, goodness is revived (Romans 12:2). Moral goodness is to be the character and conduct of Christians. Barnabas, for example, was a “good man” (Acts 11:24). He was morally honorable, possessing a nobility of character that was beneficent and charitable toward others. Like the other essential qualities of the fruit of the Spirit, goodness is not restrained (“against such there is no law,” Galatians 5:23). It is not selfish and self-seeking in its treatment of others. Moral goodness not only enlivens one’s soul to develop the moral likeness of Christ, it seeks to relieve and refresh others with righteous examples and exhortations of truth. Moral goodness is not prudishness, it is honorable before God and among men. Goodness benefits one’s own soul, and the general welfare of others. Therefore, goodness compels us to “cling to what is good,” and to then “do good to all” (Romans 12:9; Galatians 6:10).
Sword Tips 