What is good?

[gregoryfl]

I note that Yeshua did not say to the man, 'I am not good', but instead he said 'Why do you call me good?' He was getting the man to think.

We cannot isolate this verse from the rest of the testimony of the writings, which do speak of people as good:

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.
(Pro 13:22)

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
(Luk 23:50)

Concerning Barnabas...
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
(Act 11:24)

The sense in which God is good in a way different from anyone or anything else is that his goodness is not because of anything outside of himself, whereas anything and anyone that is good is only truly so because of his insertion.

Ronen

[Tom]

I think the Hebrew concept of insertion makes sense because I think God inserted light into the darkness, and I think spirit is the power inside all matter that holds it together and keeps it moving, the nuclei, electrons, and protons. It is God's spirit inside every living thing that gives it life and keeps it alive. God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of the living, and he became a living soul.

[gregoryfl]

If so nobody is bad only satan is bad. :dunno2:

I know most will disagree with me, but I believe hasatan is good, as defined by the original Hebrew word...not in a moralistic way, for that is an added nuance to the word, but in the sense that he is functioning as God intended, as an adversary to man.

Ronen

I know that he is called the evil one, and that is true, because his acts amount to a disjointing of what is inserted. I do not personally have a problem with that tension, of the one sense of him being evil, and also the other sense of him being good...anymore than the concept of both good and evil coming from the mouth of God, and yet he is only good, not evil.

[Tom]

I agree, and he will eventually lose his power that he was given to do so and will be reconciled to God through Christ's blood on the cross when all on earth and in the heavens are at the consummation of the eons.

[WhiteWings]

I note that Yeshua did not say to the man, 'I am not good', but instead he said 'Why do you call me good?' He was getting the man to think.

I can agree with that. But He also said that He Himself isn't good because only the Father is good.

We cannot isolate this verse from the rest of the testimony of the writings, which do speak of people as good:

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.
(Pro 13:22)

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
(Luk 23:50)

Concerning Barnabas...
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
(Act 11:24)

The sense in which God is good in a way different from anyone or anything else is that his goodness is not because of anything outside of himself, whereas anything and anyone that is good is only truly so because of his insertion.

I can see your point, but still am confused. Very often He just pointed out flaws (Pharisees, srcibes).
He does so in that verse too. But the main difference is that He includes Himself in in the group that does wrong.

[WhiteWings]

If so nobody is bad only satan is bad. :dunno2:

I know most will disagree with me, but I believe hasatan is good, as defined by the original Hebrew word...not in a moralistic way, for that is an added nuance to the word, but in the sense that he is functioning as God intended, as an adversary to man.

I'm aware of that view. On an Orthodox Jewish site satan is described as
an almost robot like creature following orders. They don't think satan will be saved but willingly gets destroyed when his tasks are completed.   

[dajomaco]

17 And He having gone out into the highway, running up and kneeling down to Him, one questioned Him, Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 But Yahshua said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One, YAHWEH.

Up until the death of Jesus no one could be called Good unless
they had observed every Law to perfection.

The man called Jesus the good teacher ,Jesus taught the Law.
A man could only be considered good once he was dead.
While alive a man could still break the Law.

The man would die because he broke the Law.
If the man died and was not risen it would be prove that he was not Good.


But if the Man dies and he is risen then that proves he was good.
At that time no one could be called Good.

But after the death burial and resurrection of Jesus

Man is called to be perfect as our father in heaven.

Now through the power of the Holy Spirit Good and perfect are Do-able

[gregoryfl]

In BDB I find Teth/Tet is to " avoid." Found nothing for "waw or beth/bet" But that is me just looking. The word for good again in BDB is "excellent" which certainly has a high or low grade, highest when God said it.

I found that from a book on the Qabala..... tet/tayt as the female energy; vaw/waw as the male agent; bayt/bet everything that exists. I can see an excellence in that.

I find your insert and coil interesting as well.

You will not find the information I am sharing from any of the western source materials, as far as concordance, lexicon, etc. The Qabala is more into the spiritual mystical meanings of the letters, while I deal explicitly with the concrete actions of those letters.

[dajomaco]

Several times in the OT we read nobody is good.


Jesus was sinless, cared for people, healed people and still was not good.

Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

So what does it take to be good?

To be Good you have to start by being Dead.
Then you have to have been made alive by the Spirit.
Then you can become one with God who is Good.
IMO

[WhiteWings]

Several times in the OT we read nobody is good.


Jesus was sinless, cared for people, healed people and still was not good.

Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

So what does it take to be good?

To be Good you have to start by being Dead.
Then you have to have been made alive by the Spirit.
Then you can become one with God who is Good.
IMO

Didn't have Jesus the full force of the Spirit in Him?

[rosered]

17 And He having gone out into the highway, running up and kneeling down to Him, one questioned Him, Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 But Yahshua said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One, YAHWEH.

Up until the death of Jesus no one could be called Good unless
they had observed every Law to perfection.

The man called Jesus the good teacher ,Jesus taught the Law.
A man could only be considered good once he was dead.
While alive a man could still break the Law.

The man would die because he broke the Law.
If the man died and was not risen it would be prove that he was not Good.


But if the Man dies and he is risen then that proves he was good.
At that time no one could be called Good.

But after the death burial and resurrection of Jesus

Man is called to be perfect as our father in heaven.

Now through the power of the Holy Spirit Good and perfect are Do-able

  That is just beautiful Bro Daj!!      Thanks for that! :flowerred:

I want to thank you all for the things I never  ever considered before   pretty enlightening    :thumbsup:

[dajomaco]

Several times in the OT we read nobody is good.


Jesus was sinless, cared for people, healed people and still was not good.

Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

So what does it take to be good?

To be Good you have to start by being Dead.
Then you have to have been made alive by the Spirit.
Then you can become one with God who is Good.
IMO

Didn't have Jesus the full force of the Spirit in Him?

I am not sure what you mean by full force of the Spirit.

Did rising from the dead add anything to his force of Spirit?

[dajomaco]

The full force of the Spirit was given to the believers after Jesus Died. IMO

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper[a] to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come.

I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am

I will send you the Helper from the Father; he is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me, 27

[Tom]

Several times in the OT we read nobody is good.


Jesus was sinless, cared for people, healed people and still was not good.

Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

So what does it take to be good?

To be Good you have to start by being Dead.
Then you have to have been made alive by the Spirit.
Then you can become one with God who is Good.
IMO

Didn't have Jesus the full force of the Spirit in Him?

"For He Whom God commissions is speaking God's declarations, for God is not giving the spirit by measure." (John 3:34)

[eaglesway]

I note that Yeshua did not say to the man, 'I am not good', but instead he said 'Why do you call me good?' He was getting the man to think.

We cannot isolate this verse from the rest of the testimony of the writings, which do speak of people as good:

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.
(Pro 13:22)

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
(Luk 23:50)

Concerning Barnabas...
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
(Act 11:24)

The sense in which God is good in a way different from anyone or anything else is that his goodness is not because of anything outside of himself, whereas anything and anyone that is good is only truly so because of his insertion.

Ronen

:goodpost:

[micah7:9]

In BDB I find Teth/Tet is to " avoid." Found nothing for "waw or beth/bet" But that is me just looking. The word for good again in BDB is "excellent" which certainly has a high or low grade, highest when God said it.

I found that from a book on the Qabala..... tet/tayt as the female energy; vaw/waw as the male agent; bayt/bet everything that exists. I can see an excellence in that.

I find your insert and coil interesting as well.

You will not find the information I am sharing from any of the western source materials, as far as concordance, lexicon, etc. The Qabala is more into the spiritual mystical meanings of the letters, while I deal explicitly with the concrete actions of those letters.

The concrete, got it.

[WhiteWings]

Several times in the OT we read nobody is good.


Jesus was sinless, cared for people, healed people and still was not good.

Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

So what does it take to be good?

To be Good you have to start by being Dead.
Then you have to have been made alive by the Spirit.
Then you can become one with God who is Good.
IMO

Didn't have Jesus the full force of the Spirit in Him?

I am not sure what you mean by full force of the Spirit.

Did rising from the dead add anything to his force of Spirit?

No, but it's proof He had the spirit whole His life.

[WhiteWings]

Several times in the OT we read nobody is good.


Jesus was sinless, cared for people, healed people and still was not good.

Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

So what does it take to be good?

To be Good you have to start by being Dead.
Then you have to have been made alive by the Spirit.
Then you can become one with God who is Good.
IMO

Didn't have Jesus the full force of the Spirit in Him?

"For He Whom God commissions is speaking God's declarations, for God is not giving the spirit by measure." (John 3:34)

What does that verse mean? Not what it seems to mean at first reading because I think everybody knows at least one person that has the spirit, but my guess is that nobody would claim it's present as prominent as it was in Christ 2000 years ago...

[eaglesway]

john 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

acts 2:33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

I personally believe Jesus did not receive the "Spirit without measure" until He was glorified and ascended, seated at the right hand

[ed]

I was riding my bicycle contemplating this thread, and this verse came to mind.

James 1
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Why do you call me good?  Because you are the perfect gift from above.  There is none good but God, and every good and perfect gift is from God.

[rosered]

I was riding my bicycle contemplating this thread, and this verse came to mind.

James 1
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Why do you call me good?  Because you are the perfect gift from above.  There is none good but God, and every good and perfect gift is from God.

:thumbsup:         :HeartThrob:

[dajomaco]

john 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

acts 2:33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

I personally believe Jesus did not receive the "Spirit without measure" until He was glorified and ascended, seated at the right hand

:iagree:
I.am not sure what measure of Spirit was added to the ascended Christ
But Jesus became MORE. 

[anti_nietzsche]

It's more of a figure of speech. A human can be good, but compared to God our goodness is nothing. Because, did we ever bring life into the world? Did we create this world? Do we bring the change of seasons, feed all the animals, make peace and repel the desires for war? Every comparison of human goodness to God's goodness is bound to fail.

But we can speak about human goodness on our level. That would mean, not hating anybody, helping the common good, not being cruel to men or animals, not being greedy, the whole slew of what can be said about the virtues.

Lastly, I would not base a theology just on something that is said in the bible somewhere. Many of the speeches of Jesus were held in arguments and debates between him and the jews who always wanted to catch Jesus in something that he said. These were not civil discourses. When someone came to Jesus and began with "Good master", this was the innocent introduction to something evil, the bait that Jesus had to swallow so He would have to "like" the speaker and speak nice to him instead of getting to his prophetic points. So Jesus uses the hyperbole of saying that nobody is good except God to end the argument.

Of course you can be a good human person. Just break no laws and be kind to everyone. That's all that is needed.

[RaiderGonzo]

What is good? I have that thought every time I read Genesis. Rather than say "good" question I will say swell question. I have no answer. :dsunny:

I would say in Genesis good means "as intended", "good for the purpose in mind".

Isaiah 45:7King James Version (KJV)

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

How can you know good without evil? Does evil serve good? And if so, is evil really a part of the good?
But then if evil is good, but good can do no evil, and if evil rises up against evil, how can evil survive?

How does UR answer the question of evil?  :declare: :Peace2:

[eaglesway]

Evil can't survive, and won't.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. 1 Cor 15:25-28

For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Col 1:19,20

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. John 12;32

That's why Jesus told us not to return evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good. That is what He did, once and for all, at the cross. :o)