God is Good to Save
NOTES FROM PASTOR DAN - GOD IS GOOD TO SAVE
Salvation begins and ends with God. Long before you heard the message of the gospel, God was working. Long before you were even born, God made the way of salvation. In fact, from the foundation of the world, the One through Whom the universe was created, has prepared a kingdom in heaven for all who are recorded in the Book of Life. Because God is good, He has saved to the uttermost those who believe and, in fact, it is because of His goodness that we need a Savior.
Imagine for a moment that goodness can be seen, felt, or experienced as light. A little bit of goodness would be like a flickering candle in utter darkness. Such a sight is warm, inviting, and reassuring as it chases away the frightfulness of darkness. Obviously, as the amount of goodness increases, so would the intensity of the light. A great goodness would completely eradicate the darkness and completely reveal everything that was hidden by the darkness. Fear would be greatly diminished because the unknown is now revealed by the light. I suppose some level of discomfort may also begin to surface because that which was comfortably hidden by the darkness would now be revealed. Now consider an infinite goodness; a perfect and complete goodness; the goodness that God alone exhibits. Such a goodness would be much more than blinding. It would be felt and excruciatingly experienced like flying directly into the sun. The Apostle John said it this way, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Such a goodness would not only dispel the darkness, it would also destroy anything and everything that was not also perfectly good. And so, we who are not perfectly good need someone to save us from His perfect goodness. Here we come to understand a foundational truth of salvation. God’s goodness and God’s wrath are intertwined.
In order to understand the interdependent nature of God’s goodness and God’s wrath we must always hold these two attributes in mind simultaneously. We must also guard ourselves from thinking in terms of human wrath and goodness by always being mindful of God’s perfection. To think of God as only wrathful without goodness would naturally devolve into seeing Him as unjustly and indiscriminately inflicting pain and punishment. In contrast, to think of God only as good and devoid of wrath would also devolve into a laxness toward holiness and righteousness, and therefore, injustice. Because God is both perfectly good and perfectly wrathful we are eternally in need of a savior. God alone is able to provide such a salvation for men who are described in the scriptures as “blind and hard hearted,” “dead in sin,” and “enemies of God.”
So, God acted first, and God acted alone in salvation. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). While we were dead in our trespasses and sin, God made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). While we were enemies of God we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Romans 5:10). God acted first in salvation, out of His great love for us. This is a wonderful reality of His goodness. God loves us before we deserve to be loved. We, in fact, will never deserve to be loved by God yet He loves us anyway. God is good to love and good to save. God is good to forgive and good to redeem. We can always count on Him to act in goodness toward us. In contrast, because of our deadness… because of our sinfulness… because of our weakness… we are utterly incapable of saving ourselves; therefore, God alone saves. Because of our sinfulness, only God can rescue us from utter holiness, pure light, complete goodness, and the wrath that accompanies these attributes. But holiness, light, and goodness are positive aren’t they? Why would we need rescue from them if they are good? We need rescue because the holiness, light, and goodness of God are too good… too intense… too pure for our impurity. His holiness reveals our unholiness. His goodness sets ablaze the wood, hay, stubble, and sinfulness of our lives.
The fire of God’s goodness reveals just how much we need a savior. Since we are utterly incapable of attaining salvation, we must place our faith in the One who has offered salvation from the start. Jesus alone was able to endure God’s wrath toward sin. Jesus knew no sin but became sin in order to give us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Only because of faith in Him as Savior can we stand in the presence of such goodness, holiness, and light. Such a wonderful salvation inspires Paul to extoll in Romans 11:33-36:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever.
Amen.
We too should join Paul in declaring that God is good to save.
Salvation begins and ends with God. Long before you heard the message of the gospel, God was working. Long before you were even born, God made the way of salvation. In fact, from the foundation of the world, the One through Whom the universe was created, has prepared a kingdom in heaven for all who are recorded in the Book of Life. Because God is good, He has saved to the uttermost those who believe and, in fact, it is because of His goodness that we need a Savior.
Imagine for a moment that goodness can be seen, felt, or experienced as light. A little bit of goodness would be like a flickering candle in utter darkness. Such a sight is warm, inviting, and reassuring as it chases away the frightfulness of darkness. Obviously, as the amount of goodness increases, so would the intensity of the light. A great goodness would completely eradicate the darkness and completely reveal everything that was hidden by the darkness. Fear would be greatly diminished because the unknown is now revealed by the light. I suppose some level of discomfort may also begin to surface because that which was comfortably hidden by the darkness would now be revealed. Now consider an infinite goodness; a perfect and complete goodness; the goodness that God alone exhibits. Such a goodness would be much more than blinding. It would be felt and excruciatingly experienced like flying directly into the sun. The Apostle John said it this way, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Such a goodness would not only dispel the darkness, it would also destroy anything and everything that was not also perfectly good. And so, we who are not perfectly good need someone to save us from His perfect goodness. Here we come to understand a foundational truth of salvation. God’s goodness and God’s wrath are intertwined.
In order to understand the interdependent nature of God’s goodness and God’s wrath we must always hold these two attributes in mind simultaneously. We must also guard ourselves from thinking in terms of human wrath and goodness by always being mindful of God’s perfection. To think of God as only wrathful without goodness would naturally devolve into seeing Him as unjustly and indiscriminately inflicting pain and punishment. In contrast, to think of God only as good and devoid of wrath would also devolve into a laxness toward holiness and righteousness, and therefore, injustice. Because God is both perfectly good and perfectly wrathful we are eternally in need of a savior. God alone is able to provide such a salvation for men who are described in the scriptures as “blind and hard hearted,” “dead in sin,” and “enemies of God.”
So, God acted first, and God acted alone in salvation. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). While we were dead in our trespasses and sin, God made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). While we were enemies of God we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Romans 5:10). God acted first in salvation, out of His great love for us. This is a wonderful reality of His goodness. God loves us before we deserve to be loved. We, in fact, will never deserve to be loved by God yet He loves us anyway. God is good to love and good to save. God is good to forgive and good to redeem. We can always count on Him to act in goodness toward us. In contrast, because of our deadness… because of our sinfulness… because of our weakness… we are utterly incapable of saving ourselves; therefore, God alone saves. Because of our sinfulness, only God can rescue us from utter holiness, pure light, complete goodness, and the wrath that accompanies these attributes. But holiness, light, and goodness are positive aren’t they? Why would we need rescue from them if they are good? We need rescue because the holiness, light, and goodness of God are too good… too intense… too pure for our impurity. His holiness reveals our unholiness. His goodness sets ablaze the wood, hay, stubble, and sinfulness of our lives.
The fire of God’s goodness reveals just how much we need a savior. Since we are utterly incapable of attaining salvation, we must place our faith in the One who has offered salvation from the start. Jesus alone was able to endure God’s wrath toward sin. Jesus knew no sin but became sin in order to give us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Only because of faith in Him as Savior can we stand in the presence of such goodness, holiness, and light. Such a wonderful salvation inspires Paul to extoll in Romans 11:33-36:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever.
Amen.
We too should join Paul in declaring that God is good to save.