Goodness (Yangseon)

Biblical Text

Yangseon (良善) is a Sino-Korean word meaning "benevolent and good." In the New Korean Revised Version and the Korean Revised Version, it appears as the sixth of the nine fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. The passage reads: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22–23, KJV). Paul contrasts this list with the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21), presenting it as the character that appears in those who live by the Spirit. The New Korean Standard Version renders the same word as seonham ("goodness").

The Word and Its Background

The original term is the Greek agathōsynē (ἀγαθωσύνη), a noun derived from the adjective agathos, "good." It is reportedly almost absent from classical Greek literature and appears chiefly in the Septuagint and the New Testament. It occurs four times in the New Testament, and the New Korean Revised Version renders it differently in each place:

• Romans 15:14: seonham-i gadeukhago, "full of goodness" (KJV: "full of goodness")
• Galatians 5:22: yangseon (KJV: "goodness")
• Ephesians 5:9: chakham, in "the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (KJV: "the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth")
• 2 Thessalonians 1:11: "delight in all good" (KJV: "all the good pleasure of his goodness")

Meaning in the Whole of Scripture

The Old Testament speaks of goodness first of all as an attribute of God, as in "For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting" (Psalm 100:5). Jesus likewise says, "there is none good but one, that is, God" (Mark 10:18). For this reason, goodness in the New Testament is commonly understood not as a natural goodness inherent in human beings, but as a likeness to God's character that the Spirit produces in believers.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Distinction from kindness: The term immediately preceding it, rendered jabi ("kindness") in Korean and "gentleness" in the KJV, is the Greek chrēstotēs. Some commentary traditions distinguish the two, taking kindness as a generous and gracious disposition and goodness as an active goodness that puts the good into practice. On this view, such goodness can at times include correcting wrongdoing. Other scholars, however, regard the two words as largely overlapping in meaning and do not draw a sharp distinction.
• One fruit or nine? The Greek word for "fruit" (karpos) is singular. On this basis some interpreters read the nine qualities as aspects of a single fruit, although teaching the nine as separate virtues is also a widespread approach.
• Denominational emphases: The Reformed tradition regards goodness as a fruit that the Spirit produces in the process of sanctification following justification, stressing that it is not a matter of human merit. The Methodist and Holiness traditions, which stand in the line of Wesleyan theology, emphasize it as a visible mark of a holy life. The Catholic Church, following the text of the Vulgate, counts twelve fruits of the Spirit, among them "goodness" (bonitas).
• Popular groupings: Sermons and teaching materials commonly arrange the nine fruit into three groups of three: relationship with God, relationship with one's neighbor, and relationship with oneself. This is an interpretive classification rather than something the text itself states. In this scheme, goodness is usually placed under relationship with one's neighbor.

In the Korean Church

Yangseon is rarely used in everyday Korean. Sermons and Sunday school lessons therefore often explain it with plainer terms such as chakham ("being good"), seonham ("goodness"), or "doing good." Galatians 5:22–23 frequently serves as the text for sermon series that treat the fruit of the Spirit one by one and as a Scripture memory passage.