BLESSED: Matt. 5:6

Small Group/Personal Reflection Questions

The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible says this about righteousness: “The concept of righteousness has a broad range of meanings…common to all is the idea that righteousness governs relationships and fundamental to all is the biblical conviction that righteousness is found in God…Human beings mirror God by being righteous themselves in their observance of God’s will and their behavior towards each other.” 

• What are some of the “range of meanings” of righteousness you have experienced and/or that you find in Scripture? 
• How do you respond to the statement “righteousness governs relationships”? What are some examples of that? 

Read Romans 3:20-24

• Why is it so important that righteousness is “apart from the law” (v.21) and “given” (v.22)? 
• What does it mean to be “justified freely by his grace”? What is the connection between receiving righteousness and being justified?

Read 1 Peter 2:2-3 & Hebrews 5:13

• How would you define “Spiritual milk”? 
• How, practically, do we grow and develop in righteousness? How would we know if we are more or less righteous now than we were before? 

How does someone “pursue righteousness”? (Proverbs 15:9)

Read through John 6:35 several times silently on your own. Take a few minutes for this and don’t rush. How is God speaking to you through this passage?