The Good News
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 2 Timothy 3:3 NASB
Haters of good – What is the good news? Oh, did you think it was, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” Or perhaps you thought it was, “Jesus died to forgive my sins.” Think again. The good news is that God’s Kingdom has been established on earth. It is only a matter of time before the full Kingdom will alter forever the face of this world and His Kingdom will come here as it already is in heaven. The good news is about the whole purpose and plan of YHVH. The good news is that the entire universe is being restored.
That good news is described as agathos, what is “good.” In contrast, there are those who are aphilagathos. The Greek word combines the negative particle (a) with the word philos (friend or lover) and agathos (good). The combination yields “one who does not love what is good.” This expression is just the expansion of “lovers of self,” (philautos), Paul’s opening word in his description of the characteristics of men and women in the last days. So much for the vocabulary.
But what does it mean to be “haters of good”? From a biblical point of view, the answer must come from the prophets. Can Paul not have Micah in mind? “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). Could a rabbi think of “good” as anything other than what God ordained? If Paul is drawing on his Bible, the Bible of the prophets including Moses, then there can only be one conclusion, and Micah tells us what it is. Those who are haters of the good are those who reject, refuse and spurn the instructions of YHVH. What else can Paul possibly mean?
This presents us with an enormous problem. Up to this point, you and I may have been able to excuse ourselves from the list of despicable persons. We might be able to convince ourselves that we really aren’t self-absorbed, malicious, slanderers, boastful or arrogant (ah, but watch out for the seduction of the yetzer ha’ra). We might excuse some of those personal, addictive struggles as part of our inherited past. But now we are confronted with a clear rabbinic idea. “Good” is what God says is good. Nothing more. Nothing less. And if we are inclined to remove, alter or manipulate what God says in order to change the good to fit our desires, are we not aphilagathoi? How will we excuse ourselves? By claiming that Paul changed his commitment to Torah when he “converted” to Christianity? By claiming that Jesus did away with the “Law” on the cross? By claiming that all those old instructions are “Jewish” and don’t apply to us? Really? Now who is being manipulated by the yetzer ha’ra? A lover of good is a lover of what God says is good, and is therefore a lover of God. Someone who claims to love God but does not love what God says is, in John’s words, a liar. In the last days there will be plenty of them, I’m sure.
Topical Index: haters of good, aphilagathoi, agathos, good, Micah 6:8, 2 Timothy 3:3
Describe what the word ‘good’ is. Hmmm. Good assignment! I have asked this question of JW’s who knocked on my door, of my friends, who are all stripes and flavors of whatever, and of those who call themselves agnostics or atheists. And of Christians. The closer they were to Reformed Theology, the more I saw them struggle. The ones farthest away struggled least. What I hear back is all variations of The Ten. Except for the Reformed die-hards. Those seem to want the question re-framed!
Micah 6:8 is just another encapsulation of the Two Great Commands. The angel’s song to the shepherds; Gospel in a nutshell. Glory To God (first Four of the Ten) Good Will TO Men (last Six).
The tests of citizenship do not vary. You have to agree to abide by the laws of the land. Loyalty is always a test of obedience. YHVH’s Kingdom? Why would it be any different? But Reformed Theology folks seem to think it should be a test of Jesus’ loyalty! (Well, Yeshua did pass!) Obedience. To what? What else could it be?
Oh. Good Today’s Word.
Micah 6:8 sounds like a summary or abbreviation of Deuteronomy 10:12,13:
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD you God require from you, but to fear the LORD you God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?”
Question Skip…I know SO many people who love the Lord, have committed their lives to serving Him and are having an impact for his Kingdom, but yet, are clueless about following Torah. They genuinely believe it’s no longer a requirement.
So…will they be held accountable for their ignorance or will the leaders who started the lie be the ones who will have to answer to God…or both? If it’s the leaders, that could go back centuries. A handful of people could be responsible for leading millions astray.
It’s a struggle at times for me to comprehend how God will deal with this issue. Any thoughts?
The very same struggle I have. Remember, please, that I am NOT dealing with individuals. I know many, many real followers who have no idea about the reality of Christmas, Easter, the Torah, etc. They faithfully serve God with what they know. But I also know many pastors who don’t have any idea where their doctrines really started. Nevertheless, we are all, in some sense, expected to study to show ourselves approved, so there is some culpability. I just don’t know where or how much. But I do know that the early church fathers were deliberately anti-Jewish and they knew they were. That is another degree of culpability. God will sort it out. But we must try to help people get back to the basics.
Just to read your reply, I can sense the Lord’s heart in every word: spoken with compassion but with accountability. The key: God will sort it out, those who are called by his name, can get back to the basics. Thank you for those kind word that was spoken in love and not condemnation. Thank you Lord!
Perhaps it is a case of hunger and thirst for truth, seek and you shall find, when folks are discomfited in their spirits with what they hear, of what is being taught?
Shalom.
Let God be true and all men liars.
How can any of us say that we are exempt from this list of sins? And as important as it is to know and obey the commands in Torah, I daresay that there are believers who have been wrongly taught about the Torah but who are in fact being more obedient to it than some who claim loyalty to it. We will be judged not by how much we know or by how accurate our theology is, but rather by how obedient we are to what we do know. Blessed is the person who may have been wrongly taught, and therefore know little of the truth, but who is faithful and diligent with what they have, for they will be given more. Woe to those of us who think we can be teachers of others yet who are not living out all that we know.
“The good news is that God’s Kingdom has been established on earth. It is only a matter of time before the full Kingdom will alter forever the face of this world and His Kingdom will come here as it already is in heaven.” YES! Amein! What a day that will be!
The Good News is- NOT taking good for evil and evil for good! And that can only be found when a follower of Torah is rooted and grounded in the Word, from the original language, Hebrew.