There Is No God; So Just Be Good, for Goodness Sake

In order to benefit from this article, one must believe the Bible.

Earlier this month, there were city buses being driven around Washington D.C. with an atheistic advertisement stating, “Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness sake.”

Now how is that possible? That is like saying, “I believe in rain, but I don’t believe in clouds.” Or “I don’t believe in the left, but I believe in the right.” Don’t men know if there is no God, there can be no evil? And if there is no God, there is no goodness?

In the beginning, God made a distinction of what was good and what was evil (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31; 2:17). God is the source of goodness, and man has no way to understand that without God making it known (James 1:17; Luke 18:19; Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 10:23-24; Proverbs 20:24).

Defining goodness is clearly set forth in 2 Timothy 3:17 where Paul writes that the scriptures furnish men with knowledge which leads to all good works. Notice, not some good works, but all good works! In Romans 2:4, we read that the goodness of God leading men to repentance. This means that when men understand what God has said—that information which is good—this information shows what men must do to save their souls. In Matthew 7:21-23, we read of those attempting to debate their entrance in heaven, arguing about the good works which they supposedly had done. Take notice, however, that Jesus didn’t define their works as good, instead He said it was iniquity or lawlessness. The reason for that is because only God can say what good is, and if there is no God, there can be no goodness. In Psalm 119:66-72, David asks that God teach him what goodness is through His word. So ask yourself, why did David make that request of the Lord? Once again the answer is that David didn’t know what goodness was, therefore he consulted God. Romans 11:22 speaks of the goodness of God which the Jews experienced and also the opportunity for others to have the same.

Peter spoke rightly in John 6:68, “to whom shall we go? only you Lord, have the words of eternal life.”
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So the scriptures, not atheistic thinking, defines goodness. One cannot be good for goodness sake if God doesn?t exist. If God doesn’t exist, there is no way that you can know what goodness is because goodness itself doesn’t exist.

​~James Baker