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The God of the Bible is just, which means he does the right thing in all circumstances. But he does not simply do the right thing, God’s character and actions define what is right. The word for “righteousness” and for “justice” in the New Testament is one and the same. So to act out justice is to 1. Do what is right in God’s eyes, 2. Not do what is wrong in God’s eyes, and 3. Right the wrongs that we see happening around us. But how do we know what is right to do, and what do we do when our definition of justice in a certain circumstance seems to conflict with other Christians’ definitions of justice? Proverbs 28:5 tells us “evil men don’t understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.” This does not mean every Christian who is seeking the Lord has a perfect understanding of justice, rather those who have had their mind renewed by God know where to look to understand what is truly right in a given circumstance- we look to God’s revelation throughout Scripture. A great starting point when the waters of justice seem muddy is Proverbs 1:7, which tells us only through a deep, sincere reverence of the Lord can we begin to have any knowledge of what is right. As Christians we must continually grow in our ability to define justice biblically, which means growing in our knowledge of God’s revelation in Scripture, and we must be willing to enter into the often messy and difficult talks about justice in our culture today with reverence toward God first and humility toward others second.

For Group Leaders

1. Begin in prayer. Welcome the Holy Spirit to the group and invite Him to lead, guide, and convict your group as you meet together.

2. Reflect on Sunday’s sermon as a group. What were some highlights? Was anything particularly helpful, convicting, or confusing?

3. Consider the following questions and pick a few to focus your discussion.

Examine the Word

• Read Psalm 82:3-4.
• Read Isaiah 58:1-14.
• Read Matthew 23.

For Discussion

• What do you think God’s definition of justice is according to Scripture?How does the fact that “righteousness” and “justice” are the same word in the New Testament impact our thinking of both?
• Talk about some of the tensions in our culture with justice today.
• What do you think it looks like to act out Psalm 82:3-4 today?
• Consider the seemingly right things being done in these passages in Isaiah and Matthew that are still wrong in God’s eyes because of how they are done. What does this tell us about righteousness/justice?
• What matters of justice are most important to you today?

Practice

• Rescue the needy:

  • (1) Put together some bags with basic-need items: water, food, hygiene products, new socks, etc. Seek out some homeless in your area and supply them with these basic needs. Ask them how you can pray for them.

  • (2) Volunteer with the one of the many Christian refugee ministries in our local area, consider For The Nations led by local missionaries from our church. Visit www.forthenations.com for more information and to sign up to volunteer.

  • (3) Serve in the Soup Kitchen with Cornerstone Baptist Church in South Dallas. Visit cornerstonedallas.org/what-we-do for info on how to volunteer.

• Defend the weak:

  • (1) sign up to volunteer with our partner ministry, the Poiema Foundation, and battle against human trafficking. Visit poiemafoundation.org for more information.

  • (2) Volunteer with ACT, which helps equip underserved residents to fight crime on their streets. See actforjustice.org for more information.

For Family Discussions

• Take some time to talk about the sermon together. What did you learn that was new? Were there any parts that were confusing?

• What are some examples of ‘wrongs’ you have seen happen at school or when you are around your peers?

• When you see something wrong happening (perhaps to one of your friends), how does it make you feel?

• Where do we look to know what is the right thing to do? Who defines what is right for us?

• Sometimes our personal opinion of what is right is different than what God tells us in the Bible. Who do we listen to when this is the case? Why?

• Why do you think God cares about us doing what is right?

• How can we help in a situation where we see something wrong happening?