The Standard of Goodness

I have a friend in Cincinnati. Every time I see him and I say, “Hi, Gil, how are you doing?” he gives me the same response: “Compared to what?” I said, “You know what I mean when I say, ‘How are you doing?’ I’m just inquiring about your health and how life is treating you at this moment. I don’t need a detailed autobiography in response. It’s just a mere courtesy.” He said “Compared to what?” because my friend Gil understood that “How are you doing?” is a relative question. Now, I’m not a relativist. He’s not a relativist. But there are certain terms that can only be understood as they relate to an objective standard. And the term “good” is one such term.

When I say that somebody is good, I have to add “compared to what?” What’s your standard of goodness? I have a good dog. Now, what does it mean when I say my dog is good? Here’s what it means. She comes when I call her. She’s housebroken. And she doesn’t bite the mailman on the leg when he comes to the front door. Because what I’m saying is, as far as dogs go, this is a good one.

Now, if I say that you are a good person, what am I saying? You come when I call you? That you’re housebroken? And you don’t run around and bite the mailman on the leg? Of course not. I’m using a whole different standard now of goodness when I’m describing human beings than the standard I use when I’m describing canines. But what is the standard for goodness? When God called a nation to Himself, He said to them, “You shall be holy as I am holy.” The standard of righteousness is God’s own character. Now, who in this room is good compared to that?

And this is one of the main reasons for the very existence of the law of God. The first function of the law is to be a mirror that reflects to us the character of God. The law reveals the righteousness of God Himself because the law is an expression coming forth from God’s own character. Why did the Old Testament psalmist have an affection for the law when he would say, “O, how I love Your law”? When’s the last time you heard a Christian say, “O, how I love Your law”? And even when the Apostle Paul rejoiced in being brought out from under the curse of the law, not being beneath the law anymore, he still would say, “The law is holy,” and never disparaged it. Because the first function of the law is to reveal the righteous character of God, which is the mirror in which we examine ourselves for the standard of righteousness.

And if you’ve ever looked into that mirror, what did you see? You not only saw the righteousness of God, but instantly your unrighteousness became apparent. We have every imaginable psychological technique to distance ourselves from the guilt of our sin. We are masters at rationalization. We are masters of suppressing our understanding of sin. But if we look once in that mirror of the righteousness of God, if we stare at the law even for a second, it exposes us to the core of our being. And like Isaiah, we cry, “Woe is me. I’m undone.” One glimpse of the character of God reveals to me who I am and what I am. Because when the law reveals the holiness of God, at the same time it reveals my unholiness and drives me to the gospel.