Good - Better - Best

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

In yesterday’s Anonymous Asks post, we considered Adam and Eve. One was deceived into sinning, the other was not, but neither had much more to work with than a simple, unambiguous command: do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The penalty: “you shall surely die”.

They were given the “what” but not really the “why”.

Some might say that’s not much to work with, but it’s more than enough provided you trust God. Adam and Eve had yet to learn that most important lesson.

Good Questions and Bad Ones

Many of our readers have had the experience of raising children, but even those who have not are probably familiar with the question parents hear more than any other: Why? Almost every instruction you give a child prompts the same response: Fill me in on the details, please, Mom and Dad. I’d like to hear the reasoning behind the instruction.

Some of that is legitimate curiosity. “Why?” may simply mean something like “Could you please explain that a bit more so that I can understand how the world works?” On the other hand, “Why?” can be a challenge to authority. It may mean something more like “If you can’t back that command up with an explanation that satisfies me and that I can agree with, I refuse to obey it.” That’s a lot less healthy, not to mention insulting and out of order. It assumes facts not in evidence, things like ill will or ignorance on the part of the parent. It also assumes the child is sufficiently mature and intellectually developed to comprehend the answer. Sometimes that may be the case. Often it is not.

Because I Said So

Secular experts tell parents that “Because I said so” is an insufficient answer to give a child. That is simply untrue. Sometimes it’s God’s answer.

In the Garden of Eden, our race was in its childhood. Adam and Eve were far from unintelligent beings. For all we know, they may have been superintelligent. They were unfallen, their genetics impeccable and undegraded. But they also lacked experience. There was no end of things they did not know and could not yet be taught. So God gave them clear moral direction, but he did not fill in all the blanks for them.

When God gave Moses the law to govern his people, the situation was similar. There were undoubtedly good reasons for every single one of those 613 laws (or thereabouts), but few of them were revealed at the time. Israel’s understanding of the “Why?” behind the law was incomplete. Over time, the reasons would become evident, but those were lessons learned the hard way. “Why can’t all God’s people be priests?” asked Korah. The answer was something like “Because I said so”, but it came with severe and memorable judgment. God had said, and that should have been sufficient.

A New Way of Thinking

In Romans, Paul tells us this will not always be the case. With the new birth comes a new way of thinking about the will of God. The Lord’s object in renewing the minds of his children is to produce understanding and agreement on our part. It’s not his desire to simply issue a list of rules with which Christians will comply, but to have us enter in to the Lord’s own thinking about what pleases him.

The tree provided the knowledge of good as distinct from evil, a basic contrast between binary moral positions. The new birth comes with a more sophisticated package: good, better and best. We are not simply trying to find out how to avoid judgment. That matter was dealt with once for all at the cross. If we stray into that territory in error, a simple confession restores fellowship. No, what ought to interest the believer as he seeks to display his likeness to his Father in the world through a life of worship and service is finding the very best sacrifices.

1/ Good

“There is only one who is good,” said the Lord Jesus. To be good and do good, then, is to be God-like, since all good originates in him. The good man keeps God’s commandments not out of fear but out of love, trusting God knows best and recognizing the Father will never give a serpent to a child asking for a fish. In choosing good things, the child demonstrates his likeness to his Father.

2/ Acceptable

When we speak of acceptability, we mean that a choice is acceptable to God. It may please me. It may please others. The important thing is that it pleases the Lord. We may judge the value of any choice by that standard. Cain offered that which was good. Nothing wrong with the fruit of the ground. However, it was not acceptable as an offering. It had no worship value. It could not cover over sin. Abel offered that which was both good and acceptable.

3/ Perfect

The Greek word translated “perfect” carries the idea of completion. It speaks of that which has achieved the end for which it exists. That which is perfect lacks nothing desirable. It stands in contrast to that which is partial and on-the-way-to-becoming. That which is perfect is both good and acceptable as well.

A People Transformed

What a wonderful God we serve. He could, if he wished, expect his children to simply trust him blindly into eternity and simply do whatever he tells us. We’d still have a great existence in which all our needs are anticipated and met in Christ. But he’s doing something greater than that in teaching us to think his thoughts after him, to understand what he’s doing and why, and to delight in it with him. That’s fellowship.

To come to know Christ as Savior and Lord is to begin a journey that has no conceivable ending. For every “What I am doing you do not understand now”, there is a “but afterward you will understand” to balance it. Our Lord will not leave us as children. For every “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”, there is a “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” to balance it.

We do not make that process happen so much as we simply surrender to it and allow the Lord to work in us. Intellect and study alone will never get us there. But the Spirit and obedience will. And isn’t that worth waiting for?