Did Jesus say that God is “ALL GOOD”? No. When Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Matthew 19:17; Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19) it means that, although human beings can do good things, only God is WHOLLY GOOD.
Jesus was pointing out that no human can claim to be good because only God is good. Good is grounded in the very nature of God, and what He wills is good because He is good. God always acts in accordance with what is right, true, and good. Goodness is part of God’s nature, and He cannot contradict His nature. Holiness and righteousness are part of God’s nature; He cannot do anything that is unholy or unrighteous. God is the standard of all that is good. “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). God invites everyone to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). God can create only what is good, because He is fully good.
Goodness is only one of God’s attributes and qualities. God is love. God is also holy, righteous and just and his judgments are good. What we are talking about here is DIVINE goodness, not the stuff that mere mortals think is “goodness.” This is the definition of “good” according to The Collins English Dictionary, published in 1979:
Better, best; having admirable, pleasing, superior or positive qualities; not negative, bad or mediocre; morally excellent or admirable, virtuous, righteous. Goodness = virtue, righteousness, piety. “Good” = the force that controls or effects positive moral qualities or virtue.
The Bible shows that God is so much more than just that. Yes, God is good and only God is good and goodness is one of God’s attributes – goodness is part of the very being of God, just as God is love.
Did Jesus say that God is “OMNIBENEVOLENT”? No. This is the definition of “benevolence” according to The Collins English Dictionary, published in 1979:
Intending or showing good will; kindly, friendly; an inclination or tendency to help or do good to others. Omnibenevolence comes from the Latin omni = all and bene = well and velle = to wish.
Benevolence is not the same as goodness, and that is why I struggle with the theological concept of God being “omnibenevolent.” God is not some sort of Santa Clause figure who dispenses good will to all and sundry as the mood takes Him.
God's revelation of Christ is called the appearing of “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior” (Titus 3:4, ESV). It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), goodness is one of the results of His indwelling Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and He brings goodness to fruition in our lives through faith (2 Thessalonians 1:11).
Rather than cobbling together Latin words to come up with describing God’s goodness as omnibenevolence, I think it is more accurate to simply acknowledge that God is WHOLLY good, FULLY good, DIVINELY good.