72. Goodness
Romans 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shall be cut off.
God promises goodness and threatens severity: severity on those who fall, goodness on those who continue in his goodness. “Continuing in His goodness” means to maintain a solid faith in Jesus Christ, continuing to believe in the grace of God and receiving His mercy on a regular basis. We received goodness from God according to His promise when we believed in Christ. We continue to receive goodness when we continue in that faith.
Goodness includes everything that comes from God, for God is good, He gives good, and we continue to look to God for everything good that we need for the enjoyment of all His gifts and graces to live a good life. And God will not remove goodness from us for any reason, unless we choose to find goodness from another source, like from our own selves, our own reason, our own feelings, or from the world. Looking for goodness from any other source but God alone is unbelief and that is discontinuing in his goodness. This is a fearful threat and warning to which we do well to take heed: otherwise you, too, will be cut off. It would be an awful and terrible thing to come under the severity of God.
Even when we begin to trust things other than God for the goodness we need we can always turn back and look to God again in repentance and faith. The way back is always open. If we are not enjoying goodness it may be time to reflect on where we are placing our love and trust, and then repent and return to God alone through faith in Jesus Christ. God is good, all the time. Goodness is always ours.