The Reformation of the Church — The True, the Good, and the Beautiful

The Reformation of the Church—Part 17: Renewing our Mind—Part 13

2026-07-05 | Philippians 4:8 | The Reformation of the Church

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In this Sunday School lesson in our series on The Reformation of the Church — The True, the Good, and the Beautiful, we considered the question: What is goodness?

Goodness is not whatever man desires, culture approves, or the age finds useful. True goodness is grounded in the holy, wise, righteous, gracious, and beautiful character of God Himself. God is the supreme Good, and all created goodness is good only insofar as it conforms to Him, reflects His created order, obeys His revealed will, and leads us toward communion with Him.

The lesson traced goodness from creation to redemption. God made the world good, but sin has corrupted man’s mind, heart, will, conscience, and affections. Fallen man often calls evil good and good evil, confusing goodness with pleasure, usefulness, niceness, affirmation, self-expression, or cultural approval. Against these false definitions, Scripture teaches that goodness is holy, truthful, loving, obedient, just, merciful, pure, disciplined, and pleasing to God.

We also considered how God’s law reveals the good, exposing our sin while teaching the redeemed how to walk in grateful obedience. Yet the law ultimately leads us to Christ, who is not merely a teacher of goodness but Goodness incarnate. In Jesus Christ we see perfect goodness in flesh and blood: holy love, faithful obedience, mercy toward sinners, zeal for God’s house, and sacrificial love for His sheep.

True goodness is then produced in God’s people by the Holy Spirit and cultivated through the ordinary means of grace: Scripture, preaching, prayer, confession of sin, the sacraments, worship, catechesis, discipline, fellowship, and obedience. The Church must therefore recover goodness not only in doctrine, but also in worship, discipline, family life, manhood, womanhood, childhood, mission, and the whole ordering of life before God.

If the Church is to be reformed, she must rediscover goodness. A corrupt Church cannot rebuild. A sentimental Church cannot discipline sin. A pragmatic Church cannot preserve truth. A cowardly Church cannot defend what is holy. Therefore, we must repent of the false goodness of the age and learn again to love what God calls good.

The renewed mind must not only know the truth; it must love the good. And the reformation of the Church must begin not only with renewed minds, but with renewed loves—so that we may love what is true, love what is good, love what is beautiful, and love the God in whom all truth, goodness, and beauty dwell eternally.