DOCTRINE OF DIVINE GOOD

I do not think that the first portion of this doctrine is original with me. Portions of this doctrine were taken from James Allen (Divine good) but I think that I may have taken this from someone else. R. B. Thieme, Jr. developed the Doctrine of Human Good vs. Divine Good. L. G. Merritt did the second doctrine of divine good.

Although I say that this doctrine came from James Allen, it is not a complete match to his work. I don’t know if I got this from someone else or if I have edited his work.

I.        Preliminary considerations.

          A.       Divine good is the application of Bible Doctrine in the soul under the filling of the Holy Spirit, Gal.5:22,23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

          B.       It is divine good because God sponsors it as a part of His perfect plan for each believer, Eph.2:10.

          C.       The intake of Bible Doctrine is the basis for establishing the frame of reference for what is divine good production, 2Tim.3:16,17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God might be mature, equipped for every good work."

          D.       Greek vocabulary for the doctrine.

                     1.       The adjectives agathos: good, 2Tim.2:21; and kalos: good, Ti.3:8.

                     2.       The noun ergon: work, deed.

                     3.       The noun karpos: fruit.

                     4.       The noun, agape: love, Eph.1:15; cp. Heb.10:24.

II.       Divine good production must be distinguished from human good.

          A.       The unbeliever cannot produce divine good, Rm.8:8 "and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

          B.       Human works of righteousness cannot provide salvation, Ti.3:5 "He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit."

          C.       Satan sponsors human good as a part of his activity to deceive the human race, 2Cor.11:13-15 "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds."

          D.       Human good constitutes any activity that is not clearly mandated by the Word of God, and is a part of the cosmic system in its alienation from God.

III.      Divine good production is the will of God for every believer.

          A.       God has decreed that every believer, as a part of the normal Christian way of life, should engage in divine good, Eph.2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

          B.       Divine good production is essential to maturity, Lk.8:15 "And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with patience"; also, vs.14.

IV.      Ingredients necessary to divine good production as seen in the analogy of the vine in Jn.15:18.

          A.       Union with Christ (the true vine) provides the positional qualification, vss.1,3.

          B.       The imperative "abide in Me" refers to being in fellowship, vss.47.

          C.       The words "I in you" refers to having doctrine in the soul, vs.4; cp. vs.7.

          D.       Pruning is analogous to testing, which results in greater production, vs.2.

          E.       Failure to abide in Christ and to have His words in the individual believer (branch) is to suffer discipline and loss of reward, vs.6.

          F.       There is a promise for those who follow the way to divine good production in

          G.       Divine good production glorifies God and is conclusive proof of complete discipleship, vs.8.

V.       How God views the divine good of believers.

          A.       God knows our works, Rev.2:2,19; 3:15.

          B.       Divine good glorifies God, Jn.15:8a.

          C.       Our production is not in vain in the Lord, 1Cor.15:58.

          D.       God is not so unjust as to forget our divine good, Heb.6:10.

          E.       God impartially judges each one's works, 1Pet.1:17.

VI.      How we should regard divine good.

          A.       Be zealous for divine good, Ti.2:14 "who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people, zealous for good deeds"; 3:8.

          B.       Do not grow tired of applications in your niche, Gal.6:9 "And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary";

          C.       Stimulate others to apply doctrine, Heb.10:24 "and let us consider how to stimulate others to love and good deeds."

          D.       Do not neglect doing good and helping others in need, Heb.13:16.

VII.     The importance of Rebound with respect to divine good is seen in:

          A.       The passage on vessels of honor and dishonor, 2Tim.2:20,21.

          B.       The teaching on the isolation of the indwelling sinful trend of Adam (STA),

          C.       The two categories of good, 1Cor.3:12,13.

VIII.    Occupational hazards associated with divine good production.

          A.       Failure to be in fellowship, Jn.13.

          B.       Failure to know doctrine, 2Pet.1:5-8.

          C.       Pursuit of the details of life, Lk.8:14.

          D.       Faith minus works, Jam.2:14-20.

          E.       Religious reversionism, Ti.1:15,16.

IX.      The Pastor-Teacher's role in the divine good production of his congregation.

          A.       He is to teach so they can do the work of the ministry, Eph.4:12.

          B.       He is to pray for this end, Col.1:10; 2Thess.2:17.

          C.       He is to set an example in good works, Ti.2:7.

          D.       He is to exhort with respect to divine good production, Ti.3:8.

X.       Each believer's niche has great potential for divine good production.

          A.       Ladies in the Royal Family, 1Tim.2:10; 5:10; Ti.2:35.

          B.       The well-to-do in the church, 1Tim.6:18.

          C.       Young people, Col.3:20.

          D.       Church leaders, 1Thess.5:12,13.

          E.       Employers and employees, Eph.4:28,29; Col.3:22.

          F.       Older saints, Ps.92:12-15.

XI.      Surpassing grace blessings in Phase 3 (SG3) are the incentive for divine good, 2Cor.5:10 "For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad"; cp. 1Cor.3:1215.

XII.     There is a Phase 2 justification by works for the believer who puts the application of Bible Doctrine above personal security and interests.

          A.       Abraham, the patriarch, obeyed God and proceeded to offer up his only son Isaac, Jam.2:21-24.

          B.       Rahab, the prostitute, hid the spies in Jerico at great personal risk because doctrine was more real than the seemingly impregnable walls of the city, Jam.2:25.

1Cor.15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

L. G. Merritt’s Doctrine of Divine Good

1.       Divine good is production acceptable to God.

2.       Divine good is often described in the Scripture by the words “good works.”

3.       In most cases the word for works is the noun Ergon preceded by the adjective Agathos.

Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

Acts 9:36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1Ti 2:10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

1Pe 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

          a.       Technically speaking, divine good is any production of a believer done while filled with the Spirit and motivated by Bible doctrine.

4.       One reason for Scripture, according to 2Ti 3:17, is the production of divine good.

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

          a.       In 2Ti 3:17 the words translated good works are Agathos Ergon.

5.       James in Jam 1:25 by way of expanded translation tells us that works acceptable to God come from the consistent intake of the Word:"But the believer who consistently takes in the Word becomes a doer of divine good and as a doer he is happy in his production."

6.       God's grace apparatus for perception is designed for the production of divine good.

7.       The source of divine good is Bible doctrine:

Jam 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Jam 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Jam 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Jam 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Jam 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

Jam 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Col 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Col 1:4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

Col 1:6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

2Ti 3:17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

8.       In Rom 12:21 Paul indicates divine good is a means of overcoming evil thinking. Remember sin was judged on the cross but evil was not judged; evil is still an issue in the angelic conflict.

Rom 12:21 Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with divine good.

9.       We are left in time for the purpose of performing divine good, i.e., to cycle doctrine in the soul in order to produce divine good. A believer’s divine good was decreed in eternity past in order that it might be displayed in time.

Eph 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

10.     Divine good will be rewarded at the Bema.

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of w ‡hat sort it is.

1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

11.     Divine good is the direct result of doctrine being resident in the soul of the believer, where by faith doctrine taught by the Holy Spirit is believed and becomes Epignosis. A natural product of this occurrence is the production of divine good.

12.     The manifestation of divine good is part of the protocol plan of God (PPG). Our Operation Z chart and the mathematic equation Faith + Human IQ = Spiritual IQ + Intake and Metabolization of Doctrine = Protocol Plan of God perhaps best describe this grace phenomenon.

This was taken primarily from:

http://gracebiblechurchwichita.org/?page_id=73 (A defunct website today)

http://www.westbankbiblechurch.com/LGMerrittBooks/Human%20Good%20Versus%20Divine%20Good1012.pdf

accessed November 29, 2013.

This doctrine was taken from Lesson #047 of the Exodus Study (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

There is another issue here. There is this delicate interaction of natural consequences, man's sinful behavior, God’s discipline and God's ability to mix everything together for good to those who love Him (Gen. 50:20 Rom. 8:28). We tend to get these all mixed up, so we let’s take this in points:

God Produces Good from Man’s Free Will, Sin, and Failures

1.       God is able to take man’s free will, the natural consequences of man’s sin along with His divine discipline and produce divine good from mixing all of that together. 2.       What the Egyptians had done to the Jews was wrong. Enslaving Jews in the first place was wrong and increasing their burdens to a point of making their work requirements impossible was wrong. 3.       For committing those sins, Egypt will have to be disciplined. God will discipline Egypt. 4.       Today, even though we do not live in the Jewish age, the Jews are still God's peculiar people and we are blessed by God when we treat them with compassion and respect. On the other hand, we are disciplined (either individually or as a nation) when we commit acts of prejudice against them or when we bear mental attitude sins against them. Gen. 12:1–3           a.       Antisemitism always results in divine discipline. Now you may think, but what about all of those Arab nations? Aren’t they rich with great oil reserves? Some of the worst nations in the world to live in would be any of the Arabic nations, Pakistan or Iran. At any given time, there are 40–60 armed conflicts (= wars) occurring in the world. 80–90% of them are always happening in the Middle East. Some of the greatest humanitarian disasters of the 21st century are happening right now in Syria and Yemen (I write this in 2019). A 2019 graphic of these conflicts will be found below.           b.       We have seen, by means of YouTube, the brutality of ISIS. They have burned people alive, drown them in cages, and slowly cut off their heads. For many of us, their evil and brutality are difficult to even contemplate.           c.        Antisemitism, at any time in history, always results in far greater harm to its perpetrators.           d.       Large portions of the Middle East are severely upset with nation Israel, despite the fact that it takes up about 0.2% of the land mass of the Middle East. Some Arabic nations blame so many of their problems and failures on that tiny, postage stamp of a nation.           e.       In modern-day history, we have seen that the Arabic people are capable of marvelous building projects and improvements to their land which defy the horrendous weather conditions in which they live. For the past century or so, they could have been taking their oil profits and pouring them into projects to make conditions in their land more bearable—and some Arabic nations have done this. However, most of these nations have poured much of their money into war and terrorism, resulting in great self-induced misery. 5.       It was God's plan for the Hebrews to be under slavery to Egypt and to endure great suffering; otherwise, they would not have left Egypt as a unified whole and return to the land that God had given them. In fact, their lives in Egypt had to get so bad that, they will have no other choice but to exit Egypt. Egypt’s sinful and hostile actions towards Israel will cause the sons of Israel to leave. 6.       However, this does not mean that Egypt will be rewarded for enslaving Israel, nor is Pharaoh rewarded for making their work tasks impossible to complete. God uses the fact that Egypt enslaved Israel; but that does not mean what they did is good or right. The actions of the pharaohs towards Israel were evil. Nevertheless, God is able to use their actions to produce good.           a.       Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery to Egypt and he endured some difficult times as a result. But, that made Joseph tough and he rose to a high political position in Egypt. As a result, he was able to preserve the lives of many Egyptians and his family. He said to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Gen. 50:20, ESV).           b.       Paul assured the believers in Rome: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28, ESV) 7.       Because of the impossible pressure that Pharaoh places upon the people of Israel, they will move, en masse, out of Egypt. They will act as a unified whole to defy Pharaoh. They will choose to follow their God rather than obey the dictates of Pharaoh, because of the power the God reveals in Egypt. 8.       Even though God is able to take the evil actions of Pharaoh and producing good from them, this does not somehow cancel out his personal responsibility for doing evil against Israel. 9.       In this age, it is God's plan for the Jews to be scattered throughout the world; and regardless of the status of that little country in the mid-east; the Jews as a whole will remain a separate entity throughout all of the nations wherein they reside; and they will face attacks of prejudice from man and from Satan. This is God's plan for their lives prior to the second advent of Jesus Christ. 10.     God’s people, the Jews, are not the dominant factor in human history today; but God has not forgotten them; nor will He overlook evil done to them. 11.     Even though these things are all a part of God's plan, this does not relieve any individual or nation from the discipline that they will receive due to their anti-Semitism. 12.     God is able to take things which are wrong and combine them with motivations which are sinful and work these things into His plan so that it will all result in good. God is perfect and He is able to not only rectify, supercede and nullify the results of the sinfulness of man; but, at the same time, God is able to actually use those results to fulfill His perfect plan. 13.     Even though God is able to work all things together for good, we are not pardoned for our sinful behavior, even if our wrong actions are used in His plan. We cannot use God's abilities or our personal predilections to pardon us from sin. 14.     For those who want to deal with the what if's: if man did not sin, God's plan would still work all things together for good. God's plan will continue to work all things together for good to those who love Him even in the millennium, under perfect environment; and in eternity, where there will be no sin. 15.     For the believer, the smart thing to do is to remain filled with the Spirit and run our lives in accordance with the guidance and power of Bible doctrine. In that way, we produce divine good in the devil’s world. In that way, we participate in the plan of God in such a way that we will be rewarded for it.

Conflicts Across the Globe (a map), from Express.co.us; accessed December 4, 2018. There are a few websites with war/conflict maps; and they do not all agree, simply because there is no universal agreement as to when an armed conflict is taking place. However, what all of these maps agree upon is, there are always armed conflicts taking place in Middle East countries and in Pakistan and in Iran. These are unhappy places to live because they are ruled by Islam, Satan’s religion. Furthermore, nearly all of those conflicts shown above involve Islam.

Other sources for this doctrine:

Human Good and Moral Good vs Divine Good from Grace and Truth Ministries.

Divine Good vs. Human Good by R.B. Thieme, Jr. from Beebe News (I guess these are notes?).

DIVINE GOOD VS HUMAN GOOD from the Dictionary of Doctrine.

Joe Griffin on Divine Good versus Human Good.

Divine good vs. human good MP3 message by Pastor Joseph P. Sugrue.