Bible Questions with Andrew Farley

Fellowship with God is synonymous with salvation in the New Testament. When we believe the Gospel, we are invited into an intimate and unending fellowship with the Trinity (1 John 1:1-3; John 17:21). 

Repentance for salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief in Jesus (Acts 19:4; John 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:8-9). After salvation, repentance becomes about maturing in the faith through an exchange of sinful mindsets and behaviors for righteous mindsets and behaviors (Romans 6:2, 12, 18). For the believer, repentance from sins doesn’t make us more forgiven by God, but it does help us to ex...

James 5:16 states that confession of sins to other believers is an important part of the Christian life. Admitting wrongdoing helps us support one another in prayer. However, it is important to remember that we do not confess our sins to other people in order to get more forgiveness from God. He has already forgiven us – past, present, and future (Hebrews 10:14).

Some teach that Christians should recite the Lord’s Prayer, but Jesus warned against meaningless repetition of the same prayers (Matthew 6:7). Furthermore, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus describes a forgiveness from God that is conditioned upon us forgiving others first. Here, Jesus wants the Jews of His day to imagine what it would be like if they received from God the same treatment they’ve been do...

In the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15), we see a forgiveness from God that is conditional and based upon forgiving other people first. But when we read the passage in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, we discover that Jesus is wanting His Jewish audience to imagine receiving only the same type and degree of forgiveness that they’ve given to others. In this way, Jesus is pointing out their hyp...

James 5:15 does express the believer’s forgiveness using future tense. However, James is simply presenting a hypothetical situation (“if he has committed sins”) and assuring his readers that such a person will be forgiven in that scenario. This passage is intended to be comforting for anyone who might be afraid of a future struggle. Any sin committed will be forgiven because of the finished work o...

Many have wondered whether a believer is capable of committing the “unforgivable sin” (Matthew 12:31-32) or the “sin unto death” (1 John 5:16). Both of these refer to unbelief in Jesus or rejection of the Gospel message. Therefore, these warnings are not for believers. We have already received the Gospel, and we are completely forgiven of all our sins (Hebrews 10:14). In addition, we possess etern...

Some believe that teaching total forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ will lead believers to sin more. But 2 Peter 1:9 says the opposite: We will sin more if we forget our total forgiveness! So, teaching believers their total forgiveness of sins will promote godly living, not sinfulness. In Luke 7:47, we see Jesus affirm this reality as He tells us that whoever is forgiven much will love much.

Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. To forgive someone is to release the offending person of any relational debt they might owe you. This happens as you assess the damage (how they made you feel), cancel the debt against them (releasing them from anything they “owe” you, even if they do it again), and then, going forward, counting on the choice you made to forgive them.

No, a believer does not need to ask for forgiveness for each sin they commit. The phrase “ask forgiveness” or “ask for forgiveness” is not found in any New Testament letter, and for good reason. Remember that Jesus announced from the cross: “It is finished.” Christians are not being forgiven progressively when we ask for it (after all, what if you forget a sin?). No, Christians are totally forgive...

No. While some might hold the erroneous view that believers can be deleted from the Book of Life, the point of Revelation 3 is to assure us of the exact opposite: God will never blot us out!

In Matthew 7, Jesus is not addressing Christians who lose their salvation. He is talking about people at the final judgment who never knew Him. They’re seeking entrance into the kingdom because of their religious works instead of by the finished work of Christ. They have missed the Gospel entirely, and they are unbelievers. For this reason, Jesus says to them, “Depart from Me.”

The expression “fallen from grace” does not refer to loss of salvation but loss of perspective when a person (even a believer) shifts away from looking to Jesus for righteousness and seeks to establish their own self righteousness.

“Once saved, always saved” is absolutely biblical. Our sins have been completely forgiven – past, present, and future (Hebrews 10:14). We have received the gift of eternal life, not temporary life. And God has given us many promises assuring us that He will never leave us. For these reasons, we believers are saved completely and forever (Hebrews 7:25).

We know that God is faithful to people in a general sense, but what about to individuals? Will God ever give up on you? No, God never gives up on you. God will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). No one can snatch you out of His hand (John 10:28). Even when you are faithless, He remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). Nothing separates you from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38).

God has promised to never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). But that’s God’s end of the bargain, right? What if you walk away from God? Many Christians worry about this perceived possibility. If you’re the new self with a new heart, then you’re a “slave of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). You have an undying love for Jesus (Ephesians 6:24), and you’ll never want to walk away from God. Even if...

The term “backslide” is really an Old Testament concept related to being under the Law. It implies you were climbing, making progress, then your strength failed, and you slipped and started to slide back. Jeremiah 3:6 (KJV) says: “The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, ‘Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?’” In Jeremiah 8:5 (KJV), it appears as well: “Why the...

Some overstress the importance of water baptism even to the point of believing it to be necessary for salvation. You may even be asking yourself, “Should I be baptized again?” However, baptism is simply a symbolic expression of the salvation that occurred within us when we believed (1 Peter 3:21). So, if you’ve been baptized and desire to do so again now that you understand the Gospel better, you...

No, Hell is a place for fallen angels and those who have rejected the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 25:41, Revelation 14:10). Christians are already raised and seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6) and nothing separates us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39).

Scripture only lists one unforgivable sin: the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit or the sin that “leads to death” (1 John 5:16; Matthew 12:31-32). This sin is simply unbelief in the Gospel and has nothing to do with suicide. The false idea that suicide is an unforgivable sin stems from Catholicism which holds that a last confession is necessary in order to be forgiven (and someone who dies by suic...

No, a Christian cannot forfeit or give up their salvation. This is because God has changed them from the inside out and given them a desire to always believe in Him (1 John 3:9, 23; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Romans 6:17). Believers love Jesus Christ with an undying love (Ephesians 6:24).

What exactly is the purpose of baptism? While some teach that water baptism is necessary for salvation, Scripture makes the opposite claim – that it is not water baptism but spiritual baptism into the resurrection of Christ that actually saves (1 Peter 3:23). Furthermore, the Apostle Paul states that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the Gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17) – an odd statemen...

The word “Christian” was first used in Acts 11:26, and it refers to people who believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for forgiveness and eternal life (John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:1; Romans 10:13). We become Christians by believing the same message about Jesus Christ and receiving Him into our lives.

To understand why Christ died, we don’t need to look further than the Law which states, “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus’ death was required for our forgiveness, and His death brought perfect forgiveness to all who believe (Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 10:14).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves His divinity – that He has power over sin and death. But the resurrection is also important to the believer, as it is the means by which we have received new, resurrection life and new identity in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:17; Colossians 3:1).