Questionbox: What Does "Good" Mean in 1 Tim. 4:4?

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Question: I have a question regarding things that are "good."  I was reading 1 Timothy and I got to chapter 4 verse 4 where Paul says, "For everything created by God is good..." Can you expound on that for me?  We are sinners, and therefore evil from birth, so is that saying we are good only because we were created by God, going back to Genesis where it talks about man being very good when created?  Or is it speaking of just other creations by God that are good?  Also, some might use this passage to defend human goodness, how can we say that's not what it's saying here.  Thanks! 

Answer

[4:1] Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, [2] through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, [3] who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. [4] For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, [5] for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

(1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV)

When seeking to understand a particular word, we always want to look at the context to see what the author is talking about.  Often, context is one of the major determining factors for how we know what the author meant.  In this case, Paul is discussing false teachers who “forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods…” (v. 3a).  So, these false teachers are saying things created by God as good should be avoided as evil.

Paul, contrary to the false teachers, says that these things were created by God, “to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (v. 3b).  He supports this statement in verse four, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”  So, every created thing is good because it was made by God.  In Genesis one, God declared all His creation “good” (which is what I think “the word of God” refers to in verse 5).  All creation is good.  This does not negate the truth that we can and do use these good things for sinful purposes, but the problem is in our sinful heart and fallen world and not the creation itself.  All these good things are affected by the fall, but that doesn’t mean they are inherently bad.

So, does this mean people are naturally good?  No.  First, that isn’t what Paul is talking about here.  Remember, in the context, we are talking about marriage, food, and other things God created for humans.  We are not discussing the nature of humanity (see Romans 3 or Ephesians 2 for Paul’s discussion of human nature).  Even if you include physical, human bodies as part of Paul’s description, we still aren’t saying that fallen humans are morally good.  We are simply affirming that all the created order is good and to be used for God’s glory.