What is a good man according to the Bible?

"For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith"

He was a good man- that is: he was upright, honest, honourable, without unjudged sin in his life. God Himself is described by the Lord Jesus as good (using exactly the same Greek word), and for a man to be described in the Scriptures as good is a very great honour- the only other person in the New Testament given this designation, I believe, besides Barnabas, is Joseph of Arimathea.

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. Would to God we had a few more men like that! What kind of a man is a good man? The man who is occupied with evil, even if he is bent upon putting it right, is not a good man, because every man becomes affected by that with which he is occupied. The good man is occupied with good. He will look for what is good in his brethren and rejoice when he sees it, and he will help to produce it in them by ministering Christ to them and praying for them. The one who is occupied with good is a good man. We are so constituted that the mind affects the whole person, and if the mind is affected by the things of the world we become worldly in ways and walk. I may not know it, but others will know it. If I am occupied with Christ and good, that will come out; I may not know that it is coming out, but others will see it. Moses when he came down from the mountain wist not that his face shone, but the Israelites beheld it. Poor Samson got into sad company, left the service of Jehovah to dally with sin, and in consequence he lost his Nazariteship, and wist not that his strength had departed from him, but the Philistines knew it. Christians, that with which the mind is occupied is that which affects and forms our character; it comes out in our lives, and others take note of it, whether it be good or bad.

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. Would to God we had a few more men like that! What kind of a man is a good man? The man who is occupied with evil, even if he is bent upon putting it right, is not a good man, because every man becomes affected by that with which he is occupied. The good man is occupied with good. He will look for what is good in his brethren and rejoice when he sees it, and he will help to produce it in them by ministering Christ to them and praying for them. The one who is occupied with good is a good man. We are so constituted that the mind affects the whole person, and if the mind is affected by the things of the world we become worldly in ways and walk. I may not know it, but others will know it. If I am occupied with Christ and good, that will come out; I may not know that it is coming out, but others will see it. Moses when he came down from the mountain wist not that his face shone, but the Israelites beheld it. Poor Samson got into sad company, left the service of Jehovah to dally with sin, and in consequence he lost his Nazariteship, and wist not that his strength had departed from him, but the Philistines knew it. Christians, that with which the mind is occupied is that which affects and forms our character; it comes out in our lives, and others take note of it, whether it be good or bad.

He that is good in his measure (Rom. 6:7) has been so formed by his faith in Jehovah's loving-kindness, and obtains fresh favour, whereas He condemns the man who yielding to his evil nature lives in spiteful devices.

A good man and a man of wicked intentions are put in contrast in verse 2, the first obtaining favor with the Lord, the second only earning God's condemnation. Certainly, therefore such a man cannot be established, but flounders in his folly, while the righteous has allowed his roots to go deep, so that he cannot be moved (v. 3).

"Whoso loves correction loves knowledge, but he that hates reproof [is] brutish. "A good [man] obtains favour of Jehovah, but a man of mischievous devices will he condemn. "A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall never be moved. "A woman of worth [is] a crown to her husband, but she that makes ashamed [is] as rottenness in his bones. "The thoughts of the righteous [are] judgment, the counsels of the wicked deceit. "The words of the wicked [are] a lying-in-wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them. "Overthrow the wicked, and they [are] no more; but the house of the righteous shall stand." Prov. 12:1-7.

The Lord shortly answers them. He lets the awakened, enquiring ones learn what is "good" and what is "required." That which is "good" is shown to them. God reveals it, as we know, as belonging to Himself. "There is none good but one, that is God." The gospel reveals this in its fulness. That which is "required," or demanded, is nothing of man's cattle for offerings; it is not rivers of oil, or the fruit of his body: it is that only which is morally fitting, that we should do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. (Ver.8)

Verse 8. The prophet gives the answer of Jehovah. "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Where has God made the demand? In the law. There is no more deadly error than to hold up this verse as the essence of the gospel and the one true, saving religion. Yet this we hear today on all sides. But the most loud-mouthed advocates of this "saving religion" practise what the Lord demands the least. And there is a good reason for it. Israel did not act in righteousness, nor did they love mercy, nor did they walk humbly in fellowship with the Lord. Why not? Because they were uncircumcised in their hearts. To do right, to love mercy, to walk in humility with God is impossible for the natural man; in order to do this there must be the new birth, and the new birth takes place when the sinner believes and expresses his faith in true repentance. Only a blind leader of the blind can say this verse is the gospel, and that faith in the deity of Christ and in His atoning, ever blessed work on the cross is not needed. Israel never has been anything like this which Jehovah demands. The day is coming when the Lord in His grace will give them a new heart and take away the stony heart, and fill them with His spirit. (See. Ezek. 36.)

It is quite true that some well-known names have contended that in vv. 6-8 we have the preservation of an actual dialogue between Balak and Balaam. In their view God's people are exhorted, in v. 5, to "remember" - as indeed is the case - "what Balak king of Moab consulted," that is, the questions he asked; and these, it is affirmed, are given in vv. 6, 7; and then, that in v. 8 Balaam's answer is recorded - "What Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal." It is hardly necessary to say that we can in no wise accept this interpretation. In the beginning of the chapter "the Lord hath a controversy with His people, and will plead with Israel"; and He proceeds by the mouth of the prophet to appeal to them in the most touching manner: "O My people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against Me." Then He reminds them, in order to enforce His entreaty, that He had brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed him out of the house of servants; that He had sent before Him Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and, furthermore, that He had rescued His people from the designs of Balak by the answers which He had caused Balaam to give. All this was brought to the recollection of His people, that they might know the righteousness of the Lord - that they might learn that if they had been unfaithful He could not deny Himself, that He was still faithful to His word. In response to this it is, according to our interpretation, Israel enquires, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?" etc. (vv. 6, 7.) They had wandered so far away as to have forgotten the path of return; and it is in reply to their questions that the prophet says, "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Thereby the lesson is taught - a lesson valuable at all times and in all dispensations, that no rites or sacrifices, even if divinely instituted, are of any avail without a right state of heart before God. In substance, indeed, it is the answer of Samuel to Saul, "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22.)

But nobody does so until he is brought in as a converted soul and receives the grace of God in Christ. It is impossible to act justly and to be really humble before God, until we have turned to Him in faith, though we may not yet have seen our sins covered by His grace, nor by any means clearly know that He will not impute iniquity to us. There is a real repentance wrought in the soul first; and Israel will be brought into this. It is faith which produces real repentance and true humility; where faith was not, we find to the end of the chapter the solemn proof of evil manifested in both people and king. Then the prophet takes the place of intercession. "Woe is me!" says he, "for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first-ripe fruit. The good man is perished." It is a plaint of the prophet which passes at length into a prayer. Then he describes in the most striking manner the fearful rupture of all bonds and the treachery prevalent among the Jews. "Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lies in thy bosom. For the son dishonours the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house." It is a solemn thought that these are the words that Jesus applies to the effect of His message of the kingdom. What an awful proof of man's evil that the state of things which will bring God's final judgment of the Jew at the end is that which the Lord prepares the disciples to expect as the effect where this gospel is preached now. Nothing brings out the malice of the heart so much as the pressure of God's grace on men; nor does anything else expose a man to so much contempt or hatred; yet it is returning evil and nothing but evil for the greatest good that God ever gave man on the earth. Thus then the Christian ought to know all through his course on earth, as the godly Jew will know in the last day, what Micah shows us here. We anticipate everything as having Christ. We know the good in God and we know the evil in man even now. The Jew will have to learn it by and by, waiting a special time; the Christian knows it at all times, if faithful to Christ and the truth,