what is beneficial, because He has utilitarian advantage,
because He serves a purpose. If "God is good" because He
serves a purpose, then the purpose is higher than God. If
"God is good" because He conforms to a moral standard,
then the standard is higher than God. God's goodness is
thus relative to something else and not absolute in Himself.
This would posit an object, idea or activity outside of God,
objective to God and by definition superior to God, by
which "goodness" is established and determined. It is an
idolatrous attribution of an attribute of God to something
other than God.
Another subtle mistake is to say that "God is good"
because He does good. Divine activity then becomes the
objective basis of determining God's character. God's
goodness would then be based on His performance. The
Psalmist writes, "Thou art good and doest good" (Ps.
119:68). Notice that the statement is not "thou doest good
and therefore art good."
God does what He does because He is who He is! His
doing springs from His being. His conduct flows out of His
character, and He always acts "in character." Christian
theology must commence with who God is, not with what
God does; not His plan, His purposes, His decrees, His
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