Last updated 5/27/15 this study is eight page long

Some say that when Jesus says "there is only one who is good" in Mathew 19:16-17 he is implying he is God,
specifically in the KJV.
On the face of it this might seem like a valid argument, however it is an incorrect conclusion.
Before analyzing the passage in question, and the relationship of Christ with God, I am going to provide some
evidence that has to be taken into account when interpreting our passage
Also in Mark 10:17-18 and Luke 18:18
Part 0
Part 1A
Part 1B
Part 2A
Part 2B
Part 3
Part 4A
Part 4B
Part 5A
Part 5B
Part 6
Part 7

Definitions
People Are Good
People Do Good
Jesus Is Good
Jesus Was Made Perfect
Good God
The Original Text in Mathew 19:16
Translation Comparisons for Mathew 19:16
Mathew 19:16-17 Analysis
Mathew 19:18-26
Mathew and Luke's Versions
Summaries and Final Conclusion

Part 0 Definitions
The definitions taken from Strong's and The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.
G18 Agathos. Strong's: 18. agaths, ag-ath-os; a prim. word; good (in any sense, often as
noun):benefit, good (-s, things), well.
G18 Agathos. TDNT: as an adjective it means excellent or fine or good. Applied to persons, it signifies the
excellence of the person in his existing position

Part 1 People Are "Good?"

Several people were "good" or "G18/agathos" in the NT.
Mathew 5:45 For he makes His sun rise on the evil and the good (G18/agathos).
Jesus tells us that God sends the Sun on "good" people
Mathew 12:35 The good (G18/agathos) man brings good (G18/agathos) things out of the good (G18/agathos)
stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
It is interesting that Jesus here describes the good person in a parable using the same Greek word G18/agathos as
Mark 10:17-18. So people could be described as good, even by Jesus who also said "no one is good."
Mathew 22:10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and
good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests
The "good" people came to the wedding as guests in this parable.
Mathew 25:21 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over
a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

Another parable where Jesus describes a servant as good and faithful.

Luke 6:45 The good (G18/agathos) person out of the good (G18/agathos) treasure of his heart produces
good (G18/agathos), and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of
the heart his mouth speaks.
G18 is written three times in this passage by Jesus regarding the good person who has good in his heart and therefore
produces more good!
1 Timothy 4:6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being
trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed
Paul is telling Timothy that he will be a good servant if he does certain things.
Summary:
Mathew 5:45 God sends the Sun on "good" people
Mathew 12:35 Jesus describes the "good" man in the parable
Mathew 22:10 The "good" people came to the wedding banquet
Mathew 25:21 The "good and faithful" servant in the parable of the talents
Luke 6:45
The same parable as Mathew 12:35 with Jesus describing the "good" man.
1 Tim 4:6
Timothy will be a good servant of Jesus Christ
There are several other passages that describe people as "good."
Luke 9:33, Luke 19:17, Luke 23:50, John 5:29, Acts 6:3, Acts 9:36, Rom 5:7, etc
Clearly Jesus and Paul describe other people as "good" using the Greek word G18/agathos which is the exact same
word as the one where Jesus says "no one is good except God" in Mark 10:17-18.

Part 1B People Do Good

Mathew 5:16 let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works
Mathew 7:11 if you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children
Mathew 12:12 do good deeds on the Sabbath
Mark 3:4
Jesus asked can you do good on the Sabbath
Mark 14:7
You can do good for the poor
Luke 6:9
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
3 John 11
Whoever does good is from God
People do good works and deeds and give good gifts according to Jesus and Peter
Mathew 7:17 The tree bears good fruits
Mathew 13:38 The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom
Jesus taught that in parables there were good fruits and good seeds
Luke 1:19
Luke 2:10
Luke 3:18

The angel brought good news

the angel brings good news
John preaches good news

The angel and John the Baptist brought good news to the people
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who
are called according to his purpose

All things work together for good

Summary:
People do good works and deeds and give good gifts
Jesus taught that in parables there were good fruits and good seeds
The angel and John the Baptist brought good news to the people
Jesus preached good news
All things work together for good

Part 2A Jesus is Good.

John 10:11-14 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and
leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
Vs11 Jesus says he is the "good" shepherd
Vs14 Jesus repeats he is the "good" shepherd.
Mathew 11:5 the poor have good news preached to them
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord anointed me to preach good news
Luke 4:43
The Spirit of the Lord anointed me to preach good news
Jesus preached good news
Summary:
Jesus has proclaimed himself to be good as the good shepherd, and he preaches good news.

Part 2B Jesus Was Made Perfect

Jesus made perfect
Hebrews 2:10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom
everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect (G5048 teleioo) through suffering.
G5048 Teleioo: To bring to completeness
Jesus was made perfect through suffering. Before he was made perfect, he was not perfect.
If before this happened Jesus was not perfect, the question is "was he good"?
Other people were good but not perfect, so perhaps Jesus was the same.
Perfect and good have different meanings
Hebrews 5:8-9 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him
If he learned obedience then he did not have it before this.
Would God need to learn obedience?
Who did Jesus learn obedience to? God? God would not learn obedience to himself.
If he was made perfect then he was not always perfect before this time.
Before this time he was not the source of salvation. God the only source before Jesus came to the earth, now it now
changed from God being the savior to Jesus also being the savior.

Summary:
Hebrews 2:10 Jesus was made perfect
Hebrews 5:8-9 There was a time before "once made perfect,"
These passages are about Jesus being made perfect, if Jesus was not perfect then he may not have been "good"
however, it is not certain. The point here is that if Jesus was "made perfect" through anything, then he is not God
who was always perfect.
To see an in depth study see section 18B Jesus was Made Perfect xxxx linked here coming soon

Part 3 Good God

Acts 13:32
Luke 1:53
1 Tim 4:4

And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers
he has filled the hungry with good things
Everything created by God is good

Summary:
God sent good news through people, he filled the hungry with good things, and everything God created is good!

Part 4A The Original Text in Mathew 19:16

What did the original Greek text say?
The UBS Critical Text

, ,

kai idou heis proserchomai autos epon didaskalos tis agathos poleo hena echo zoe alionios
and behold man came
him saying teacher what good deed
to have life eternal
Summary:
The original Greek text shows that the word agathos/good is only written once, after the word "teacher" and after the
word "what." The word "good" is in relation to the next word "poleo/deed." The translators have inserted a comma
after the Greek word didaskalos which confirms this theory. The original Greek text does not say that the
teacher/Jesus is good, rather the deed is good. This eliminates the theory of the "good teacher" being the "good
God."
It is interesting to note that the same passage in Mark 10:17 has the word tis/what after the word agathos/good.
Additionally the translators have placed the comma after the word agathos. These two differences make the passage
in Mark say "teacher good, what deed." I do not know how to determine if one is incorrect or not.

Part 4B Mathew 19:16 Translation Comparisons.

A comparison of the different translations.
The Good Deed.
These passages call the deed "good" and Jesus responds about the "good" deed.
ESV Mathew 19:16-17 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do
to have eternal life? Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is
good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
Darby, DR, ASV, ESV, GW, HCSB, ISV, LEB, NET, NASB, NCV, NIV, NIRV, NLT, NRSV, RSV, TNIV,
This group of translations including the ESV and NIV translations have Jesus as a "teacher" rather than a "good
teacher." The have the deed that is "good." Jesus responds why do you ask me about what is good referring to the
"good deed."

Good Jesus
These passages call Jesus "good" and deed/thing "good," and Jesus responds about him being "good."
KJV Mathew 19:16-17 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I
do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but
one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
AV, KJV, NKJV, YLT
This second group of translations including the KJV has the word good in front of master/teacher as well as the
"good deed." Jesus responds asking why they call him good. Jesus could not have responded this way if the
translators had not put an extra "good" in the sentence.
Summary:
The theory is that if Jesus was called "good," which Jesus does not either agree to or deny, and Jesus says that only
God is good therefore good Jesus must be good God.
There are two problems here
1/ The original text does not call Jesus good
2/ Jesus did not deny OR agree that he is good. The theory rests on an assumption, not proof, that he agrees.

Part 5A Mathew 19:16-17 Analysis

What does this passage mean? As stated in Part 4B it is my belief that the KJV translation is not as accurate as the
ESV in this instance, based on the original texts. However I have analyzed the KJV to show that even if we use that
translation, the passage still does not show Jesus as God.
ESV Mathew 19:16-17 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do
to have eternal life?
17 Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to
enter life, obey the commandments."
KJV Mathew 19:16-17 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I
do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but
one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
vs16 The man asks "what good must I do to have eternal life?" The question was about the man's eternal life, not to
do with whether Jesus was good or not. From the man's point of view, if Jesus could call people "good" there was
nothing wrong with calling Jesus good. The young man seems to have regarded himself as good (since he
professed to have kept all of the commandments that Jesus mentionedMark 10:20). Perhaps he simply wanted to
knowfrom one good man to another good man - what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, if there was any more
he could do. There is no indication that the young ruler considered Jesus to be the Messiah, or God.
vs17 Jesus begins regarding God being the only one who is good, this is not in harmony with the numerous passages
where Jesus calls men "good," and many more passages that talk of the good things people do.
Jesus' response asking "why callest thou me good" has three possibilities of understanding, either
A/ Jesus was offended at being called "good" and corrected the man.
B/ Jesus wanted to address the human understanding of good compared with higher levels of good
C/ Rather than coming right out and saying that he was God, by saying only God was good and not disagreeing with
the ruler that Jesus was good, he had coyly revealed that he himself was in fact God.
(We have to bear in mind the previous Parts where Jesus said others were good, and he is the "good" shepherd.)
In Favor of A:

A/ Jesus was annoyed at being called good. Because Jesus stated that only God is good, he is in fact completely
denying that he is God.
Against A:
This is a very valid viewpoint until considering the other information provided.
In Favor of B:
Jesus did not say "don't call me good," he wanted to call into question the concept which the rich young ruler had of
good. He was making the point that none of us human beings are good enough in ourselves to measure up to God's
perfect standard.
Quote: Jesus is not saying here that he isn't "good". The point Jesus was making here was that God is good
in the absolute and consummate sense. Jesus recognized God as the ultimate standard of what is good.
Though Jesus Christ had a quality of moral excellence, he would not accept Good as a title. So Jesus was
saying that no one is as good as God is, not even Jesus himself. God is good in a way that separates
him from
Jesus.
It seems there are at least these ascending levels of godly "good."
1/ The good ruler had kept all the commands but had earthly wealth
2/ the good disciples who had given everything away to follow Jesus
3/ God the ultimate good.
Against B:
When considering all other facts presented in this study, this is the most likely scenario. There are no arguments
against this possibility.
In Favor of C:
You say Im good? Well, theres only one who is good, and thats God. So what does that make me?
The argument in favor of this idea is "are we saying that Jesus is not good? We all agree Jesus is good, therefore he
must be God."
Against C:
Throughout the OT God was always extremely clear that he was God, so why not now? God had never previously
acted coyly or modestly by sending an implied signals about his identity.
This scenario is unlikely because the man gave no indication that he understood Jesus to be saying he was God.
Jesus did not deny OR agree that he is good. The theory rests on an assumption, not proof, that he agrees.
Summary:
The answer to our quandary is B.
Jesus wanted to address the human understanding of good compared with higher levels of good
Jesus did not say "don't call me good," he wanted to call into question the concept which the rich young ruler had of
good. He was making the point that none of us human beings are good enough in ourselves to measure up to God's
perfect standard.
It seems there are at least these ascending levels of godly "good."
1/ The good ruler had kept all the commands but had earthly wealth
2/ the good disciples who had given everything away to follow Jesus
3/ God the ultimate good.
The question is where does Jesus the good shepherd fit on the list? My guess is between 2-3!

Part 5B Mathew 19:18-27

The remainder of the passage.
Mathew 19:18-27 He said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not murder, You shall not
commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
20 The young man said to him, All these I have kept. What do I still lack?
21 Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.
22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the
kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter
the kingdom of God.
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
27 Then Peter said in reply, See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?
Summary:
The conversation continues in exactly the same vein, Jesus explaining how to get eternal life, through to vs27. There
is no discussion regarding Jesus being God, the man doesn't ask about it and Jesus doesn't bring it up.

Part 6 The Other Accounts

The account in Luke 18:18 is the same as that in Mark 10:17-18
In the ESV and most other translations of Matthew's account, Ch 19:17, the main focus is ethical ("What is good?")
rather than Christological ("Who is Jesus?"). God's unique goodness is affirmed, but there is no discussion about
whether Jesus shares that goodness. This suggests that we should also concentrate on ethics rather than Christology
in interpreting Mark 10:18.
Summaries and Final Conclusion
Part 1 Mathew 5:45 God sends the Sun on "good" people
Mathew 12:35 Jesus describes the "good" man in the parable
Mathew 22:10 The "good" people came to the wedding banquet
Mathew 25:21 The "good and faithful" servant in the parable of the talents
Luke 6:45
The same parable as Mathew 12:35 with Jesus describing the "good" man.
1 Tim 4:6
Timothy will be a good servant of Jesus Christ
There are several other passages that describe people as "good."
Luke 9:33, Luke 19:17, Luke 23:50, John 5:29, Acts 6:3, Acts 9:36, Rom 5:7, etc
Clearly Jesus and Paul describe other people as "good" using the Greek word G18/agathos which is the
exact same word as the one where Jesus says "no one is good except God" in Mark 10:17-18.
Part 1B People do good works and deeds and give good gifts
Jesus taught that in parables there were good fruits and good seeds
The angel and John the Baptist brought good news to the people
Jesus preached good news
All things work together for good
Part 2B Jesus has proclaimed himself to be good as the good shepherd, and he preaches good news.
Part 2B Hebrews 2:10 Jesus was made perfect
Hebrews 5:8-9 There was a time before "once made perfect,"

These passages are about Jesus being made perfect, if Jesus was not perfect then he may not have been
"good" however, it is not certain. The point here is that if Jesus was "made perfect" through anything, then
he is not God who was always perfect.
To see an in depth study see section 18B Jesus was Made Perfect
Part 3 God sent good news through people, filled the hungry with good things and everything God created is
good
Part 4A The original Greek text shows that the word agathos/good is only written once, after the word "teacher"
and after the word "what." The word "good" is in relation to the next word "poleo/deed." The translators
have inserted a comma after the Greek word didaskalos which confirms this theory. The original Greek text
does not say that the teacher/Jesus is good, rather the deed is good. This eliminates the theory of the
"good
teacher" being the "good God."
Part 4B The theory is that if Jesus was called "good," which Jesus does not either agree to or deny, and Jesus
that only God is good therefore good Jesus must be good God.
There are two problems here
1/ The original text does not call Jesus good
2/ Jesus did not deny OR agree that he is good. The theory rests on an assumption, not proof, that he
agrees.

says

Part 5A The answer to our quandary is B.

Jesus wanted to address the human understanding of good compared with higher levels of good
Jesus did not say "don't call me good," he wanted to call into question the concept which the rich young
ruler had of good. He was making the point that none of us human beings are good enough in ourselves
to measure up to God's perfect standard.
It seems there are at least these ascending levels of godly "good."
1/ The good ruler had kept all the commands but had earthly wealth
2/ the good disciples who had given everything away to follow Jesus
3/ God the ultimate good.
The question is where does Jesus the good shepherd fit on the list? My guess is between 2-3!
Part 5B The conversation continues in exactly the same vein, Jesus explaining how to get eternal life, through to
vs27. There is no discussion regarding Jesus being God, the man doesn't ask about it and Jesus doesn't
bring it up.
Final Conclusion:
There are four problems that make the theory that this passage says Jesus is God.
1/ Other people were also good which negates the idea that being "good" made you God.
2/ The original text does not call Jesus good
3/ Jesus did not deny OR agree that he is good. The theory rests on an assumption, not proof, that he agrees.
4/ The man talking to Jesus did not understand him to be claiming to be God.
The combination and totality of these three important issues are too overwhelming to allow for the theory that Jesus
is insinuating that he is God.
Because of the information shown here, nothing in Mathew 19:16-17 says that Jesus is God.