Hey Josheb, this is a very interesting point. Wouldn't this mean that under the idea of "you judge a tree by its fruit," then a tree that produces good fruit would be accurately judged a good tree because it was capable of good fruit, even if not all the fruit is always good? In other words, does a good tree need to be perfect (never have bad fruit) in order to be judged to be a good tree?
It would seem so, wouldn't it?
But the answers lie in the fact of Mark 10:18's statement
no one is good except God alone ?! How then can Jesus speak of a person being good if he already knows no one is good. None of his audiences were ever good. None of them ever possessed a single good person in any of them
if Mark 10:18 is taken literally. However, if Mark 10:18 is taken literally then not even Jesus is good ?. So, as with the aforementioned Matthew 12 and Luke 6 texts, there is a degree of hyperbole being employed by Jesus.
Next, I think it important to understand good-ness in terms of everyday or ordinary living versus that of salvation. This op occurs in the Bible Questions board and not in the Arminianism and Calvinism board so I'd like all the lurkers NOT to hijack and sabotage this op and this thread merely because of what I am about to post, but when it comes to salvation the historic orthodox position in Christianity is that unregenerate sinners are capable of doing good but no good work performed in the sinful state has any merit when it comes to salvation. That is a very important point to understand when discussing whether or not salvation and obedience are always and everywhere solely overlapping and never exclusive of one another.
Lastly, I'd like to note the subtle distinction between "
good" and "
perfect," along with the fact the English word "
perfect" in our Bibles has two different meanings in the Greek. The first time we read the use of the word "
good" in the Bible is during the creation account. Everything God made was
good. Even Adam and Eve were said to be good. They were the first and the last people to contradict the just mentioned Mark 10:18. God Himself declared them good. Yet they sinned. It is, therefore, possible for a good person to do not-good. Adam's act of disobedience screwed up things for us all! So egregious were the effects of his disobedience. So, the first point is that it is clearly possible for a good person to disobey God. The reasons for this pertaining to Adam will take up an entire post or two so I'll leave that point as is.
The matter of perfection is something other than goodness; overlapping but not always synonymous. Something perfect is good (not withstanding perfect evil ?) but something good may not be perfect. The two main words used for "perfect" in the Greek are different in meaning. One, "
epiteleo," means "
mature," and carries with it the connotation of something growing toward a fuller state, like grapes fermenting or maturing into a fine wine. The other term, "
teleios," is the term we tend to think of most often. It means an absence of any imperfection. God is absent any imperfection. We are not. It can be confusing because while the latter is denotatively an absence of imperfection it is sometimes used connotatively to mean "
mature" of in the process of completion. The point being the scriptures do not always mean an absolute absence of imperfection or defect when the word "
perfect" is used. In most cases a deep dive into Greek is not necessary because we intuitively understand we humans are not God. We're minions and He's sovereign ?.
No matter how "good" we may be on this planet we remain capable of further corruption. It is not until we, those who call upon the name of Christ as Lord and Savior, reach the other side of the grave that we obtain incorruptibility.
1 Corinthians 15:51-54 KJV
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Most translations use the word "
imperishable" but the Greek term means "
rot" or
decay." On this side of the grave, no matter how "good" we may be, we remain rottable, decayable, perishable, or corruptible. Adam was good and
sinless prior to Genesis 3:6, but corruptible. Jesus, and every single person in his Matthew 12:34-37 audience knew it, too.
