Reflection 15 - Calvin's Institutes; Goodness

We are all looking for the good. We either delight when good is done toward us or we delight when we see good come from us. But the truth is revealed in us when our delight is in God who is our only good from which goodness springs toward us or from us by his grace.

When a man knows “that you have all things from God: whatever good you have is from him; whatever evil, from yourself” , then the truth is in him. The man who thinks that all things are from self: whatever good is from the choices he has made; whatever evil, from the choices others have made, then he dwells in falsehood.

Man is to look for good from God. If good is to come to him in his wicked state then God must be gracious, and if good is to come from him then God must be gracious. This makes regeneration necessary. There must be a new nature given man if he is to confess his sins and wickedness before God and receive in Christ the forgiveness of sins and life in him. And there must be a new nature given man if he is to live in the good that God delights in. Therefore it is necessary for us to hear Jesus say, “you must be born again” , and David pray, “create in me a clean heart, O God,” and Paul say, “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” . A man who looks for good from self is a man searching in vain. He is like a man shucking oysters hoping to find a ruby. As Augustine said, “Nothing is ours but sin.” But a man who looks for good from God will find that God is good and does good to all who seek him by faith in Christ.

But what of the struggle that the man faces who is born again by the Spirit and alive in Christ Jesus to trust God’s goodness and to do good? This struggle is natural for the spiritual man being sanctified. As Paul says, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” You want to trust, praise, thank and obey God because the Spirit dwells in you, but your desires lead you to trust, praise, thank and obey man. As Paul says elsewhere, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” The man who has a new nature also retains a sinful flesh or “sin that dwells within” . Therefore throughout this new life in Christ a person with a new nature in Christ will continue to struggle to know, believe and trust God as good and to do the good that God delights in. But the answer for this struggle is not a better you, it is God who is good and does good. The struggle is met when man continually turns to him in repentance and faith for more of his grace in Christ Jesus (Rom.7:25) through the Spirit (Gal.5:18) that he might see more of his goodness toward him and live in his goodness from him. The good that man desires is God and the good that man seeks must come from God.