What Does It Mean That God is Good?

Greg

Yahweh is good and upright... (Psalm 25:8a REV).

No one should say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone (James 1:13 REV). 

As I understand things, in our universe, all things fall under the rules of physical necessity (essentiality, laws of nature) - or - the rules of moral action (free will, choices, laws of moral agency). The ability to do good falls under the rules of physical law (the ability itself is not chosen).  Actual goodness falls under the rules of moral action (it is freely chosen, it is volitional).

There are only two options for explaining how or why God is good. 

1. God's goodness is "physically" essential because of who/what he is.  Goodness is a part of his "physical" essence.

2. God's goodness is by choice; it is an active and free moral action.

Accordingly, there are only two options for explaining the fact that "God cannot be tempted by evil." It is due to:

1. A physical necessity

2. His firm determination to be holy.  In other words, it isn't about an inability, but rather an aversion to evil. 

I think the answer in both instances is number 2.  Otherwise there would be no virtue in God's goodness, because it would be physically necessitated, and not the result of moral agency.  Moreover, since human beings are moral agents like our Creator, the command to be holy as God is holy must be founded on moral principles rather than physical necessities, for we have no control over our physical constitution.  We do, however, have free will and we are expected to do good and eschew evil.  

I think it is important to understand that God is a free moral agent like his creatures.  God has the ability to do right or wrong, but God in his perfect holiness always chooses to do good.  This is why I take the phrase "God cannot be tempted by evil" as a volitional aversion to sin, not a physical necessity.  God could choose to be unloving or unholy, but he never has, nor will he.  There is nothing, to my knowledge, that could motivate God to be unholy.  Yet things are different for human beings, and this includes the Lord Jesus.  The scriptures teach us that Jesus was tempted in all ways that we are, though he never sinned.  Temptation itself is not sin.  It was not a sin for Jesus to be tempted.  Jesus had normal human appetites, due to the laws of physical necessity.  God has created all human beings with certain appetites, and they can be fulfilled lawfully or unlawfully, or even denied altogether.  The claim by some "Jesus is God" believers is that Jesus only faced "external" temptation and he didn't have real human appetites that would cause that which was forbidden to him to still appeal to his flesh, but that is just nonsense.  Jesus was resolute in his denial of that which was forbidden to him, but that doesn't mean he didn't feel the pull of temptation.  He was a real man, plain and simple.  Humans have appetites that God does not feel.  Jesus experienced the same appetites as all human beings.  Jesus could not be tempted by these appetites (in his human nature) and also not tempted by these appetites (in his so-called divine nature), as trinitarians claim - that just doesn't make sense.  This is one way that we know Jesus is not God in the trinitarian sense of the word. 

God's goodness is the result of choice, not physical necessity.  He is unable to be tempted in all ways that we are, but he does have the ability to be unloving or unjust (as we do), yet he always chooses what is good and right (we have not).  If his holiness is not the result of choice, it is not virtuous or praiseworthy.  Nothing less than volitional conformity to moral law can be holiness, or righteousness, and that is true of God, and of all moral agents. 

Goodness (and evil) is a moral matter, not a constitutional matter.