Fruit of the Spirit: GOODNESS

This past Saturday morning I continued our Fruit of the Spirit series, preaching on the fruit of "Goodness." Below are my main sermon notes...

Goodness
Galatians 5:22-23

Question: What is goodness?

You ever heard the expression, “I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” Usually I respond with “give me the bad news.” My logic behind this is that I want the bad news first, so that the good news is highlighted. Hearing the bad news first magnifies the “Goodness” of the good news! So as we talk about goodness this morning…I have bad news and good news…and I’m going to start with the bad news…

Titus 3:3-7
a)Our condition before OR without Christ

Titus 3:3 = For we ourselves were once (OR apart from Christ we are...)
Foolish = unwise (without wisdom), unintelligible
Disobedient = unable to persuade, noncompliant
Led astray = to be deceived, to be led aside from the right way
Slaves to various passions and pleasures = owned by; to give one’s self up to; in total bondage, unable to free yourself
Passing our days in malice and envy = wasting our lives, passing our time in
Malice = ill will, wickedness, and a desire to injure
Envy = a grudging regard for the advantages that others seem to enjoy; a sorrow that others have that we don’t
Hated by others = hated, detestable
and hating one another = to pursue with hatred, to detest
=you are hated by others and you hate back (you hate yourself)

b)Our salvation through Christ

Titus 3:4 = But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared
Goodness is “love in action” – Warren Wiersbe

I. God’s goodness for us
The Cross screams the goodness of God. The Cross is truly God’s love in action. We need to remind ourselves daily of the Cross. We need to have a “day to day interaction with Calvary.”

Why? Because the Cross reminds us that God is for us. The Cross screams that God is good and God is for us.

Otherwise we might doubt the fact that God is good…all the time, and all the time…God is good!
Let’s think about this. I am newly married. I love my wife. Let’s just say that she started noticing some health issues and goes to the doctor to get things checked out. Let’s imagine that the doctor tells us that it might be cancer and that further testing is needed. We go in for the tests and then have to wait several days for the results. Let’s say that when we go in for the results the doctor says that she is cancer free. When we find out that she is cancer free, we might exclaim, “God is good!”
However, what if we find out that she has cancer? Would we still exclaim that “God is good?”
God is good all the time. And all the time God is good right?

That means that God’s goodness does not depend on life circumstances, but rather God’s goodness is based upon who He is…God’s character.
God’s goodness is based on who He is. His greatest demonstration of His goodness is at the Cross = God’s love in action.

II. God’s goodness through us

(1)We speak of His goodness

Psalm 145:7; Isaiah 63:7

“As endless as God’s blessings are,
So should my praises be
For all His daily goodnesses
That flow unceasingly!” —Adams

(2)We show His goodness

the fruit of the Spirit are the “beautiful graces of the Spirit”

We have come to know and experience God’s goodness in Saving us, and His gracious Holy Spirit in us that gives us the ability to extend His goodness to others!

God’s goodness has changed our eternal destiny, given us a radical new identity in Christ, and His Holy Spirit now lives in us, therefore we are now able to have the desire to extend God’s goodness to others.

Goodness = God’s love in action
Through Christ we have the opportunity to put on display the “beautiful graces of the Spirit”

Good works or deeds = fruit – acts of Christian love that inevitably accompany a genuine faith

Titus 2:14 = who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works

Are we zealous to show acts of Christian love?

Question: Do our neighbors know that we love them? Have we shown them goodness, God’s love in action? The people that we long to see transformed must know that we care deeply for them.

God is good—make sure the people in your world know what He has done in your life.