"He Was A Good Man"

Using the word "good" to describe someone is somewhat relative. You may have heard the story about the town reprobate who died. It seems his just-as-immoral brother approached the local preacher and offered him $1000 to say in the funeral message that the deceased was a "good" man. The preacher got up to preach the funeral and began detailing the reprobate’s life. "He was a drunkard and a wife beater. He did not support his family. He cheated almost everyone in town." The preacher brought up every no-account thing the town miscreant had done. As he was finishing, he said to the audience gathered at the funeral home, "As unholy, ungodly, and immoral as this poor excuse of a human being was, he was a good man compared to his brother standing over there." Nowadays, if someone is fairly moral and provides for his family, his friends and neighbors would probably describe him as a "good" man. Not only would they describe him as a "good" man, they would most likely agree that he will probably go to heaven.

However, God’s view of what constitutes a good man is somewhat different. In Acts 11:19-26 we read of Barnabas, a disciple of Christ, who had been sent by the church at Jerusalem to go and learn of what was occurring concerning the conversion of Gentiles in Antioch. God describes Barnabas in this inspired letter as, ". . . a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith" (Acts 11:24 NKJV). God calls Barnabas a "good man." He goes on to elaborate that Barnabas was "full of the Holy Spirit." We are told in Acts 2:38 and 5:32 that the Holy Spirit was given to those who had repented and been baptized for the remission of sins, those who were obedient to God. Barnabas must have done these things if he was full of the Holy Spirit. Next, we notice that Barnabas "full . . . of faith." This means he was rich or abounding in faith with nothing lacking. Obviously, this was a complete faith in Jesus Christ. This complete faith was a working faith. He had sold personal property and given the proceeds to the apostles to help those in need (Acts 4:36). He accompanied Paul to Jerusalem and back to Antioch, as well as accompanying the apostle on his first preaching tour (Acts 11:27-30; 13:1-3). We must conclude that a "good man" – in God’s point of view – is one who has complete faith in Jesus Christ, one who has repented of sin and been baptized for the remission of past sins, and one whose faith is a working faith.

With humans beings, the term "a good man" is relative. When compared to the scourges of society, most of us would qualify for the designation of being a "good person." But what about when we use God’s criteria? Would we still be designated as a "good" person by His standards?