Advertise on podcast: Bible Questions with Andrew Farley

Yes—if you’re in Christ, God has forgiven all your sins: past, present, and future. Jesus’ sacrifice was complete, not something that needs to be repeated each time you sin. You don’t have to earn fresh forgiveness; you can thank God for the forgiveness you already have and trust Christ as you learn to walk in His life.

Yes. Being divorced does not automatically disqualify someone from serving in ministry. A person’s marital history does not cancel their place in Christ or their ability to love and serve others. In Jesus, believers are fully forgiven and made new (Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

We’re called both the body and the bride of Christ because each picture reveals a different aspect of our permanent union with the risen Jesus.

God’s foreknowledge means that God knew and purposed His redemptive plan beforehand. It does not mean He arbitrarily preselected some individuals for salvation and left others without hope. In the New Covenant, God’s foreknown plan is centered on Jesus: salvation would be offered to the whole world, including both Jews and Gentiles. Anyone who calls on the Lord is welcomed and saved. Once a person believes, God’s purpose is to conform that believer to Christ and complete the work He began.

Yes. Spiritually dead people can call upon the Lord when they hear the gospel. “Dead” describes humanity’s separation from God and bondage to sin—not an inability to respond to God’s invitation.

To fulfill the Great Commission means participating in Jesus’ mission to make disciples among all nations — not by striving under pressure, but by sharing the good news of Christ as the Spirit opens opportunities.

Yes. There is a place for church discipline—but its purpose is restoration and protection, not punishment, condemnation, or making someone acceptable to God. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul addressed an extreme, public case of sexual immorality that was being tolerated and even celebrated. The church was instructed to remove the man from the congregation temporarily.  This was not because he had lost salvation or God’s forgiveness. Paul still expected his spirit to be saved, and the goal was ultimately restoration (1 Corinthians 5:5).

No—a Christian cannot be possessed by a demon. God’s Spirit has taken up permanent residence in the believer, and the devil has no legal or spiritual “right” to take over what belongs to Christ.

No. Not every temptation comes from a demon. In Scripture, temptation can come through different channels, and for believers it’s also connected to the world, the flesh, and spiritual opposition—but the Bible never reduces all temptation to demons.

Sin is total in its reach (it affects the whole person and reigns), but grace is total in its remedy: Jesus transfers us from Adam to Christ and makes us alive (Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 2:4–5). We don’t get rescued by self-improvement—we’re rescued by Christ’s finished work and received by faith.

Two thousand years ago, the Corinthians were getting drunk and eating up all the food at the Lord’s Supper. It was for this reason that Paul said they were partaking in an “unworthy manner” and needed to examine themselves. But the Lord’s Supper is to be done in remembrance of Jesus Christ and His finished work, not in remembrance of our recent track record of sins. So, we can keep the focus on Jesus and celebrate the Lord’s Supper with joy!

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 of Jesus Christ, once for all (Hebrews 10:14).

There are two primary verses which might seem to teach against women speaking in church: 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, and 1 Timothy 2:12. However, neither verse is presenting a universal restriction for all time. Paul was addressing situations in the early church, not forbidding women from speaking in church for all of human history.

There is no Scripture that forbids women from being pastors/elders or deacons. The two verses commonly used to argue against women in leadership (1 Timothy 2:12; see also 1 Corinthians 14:34-35), are addressing specific situations in the early church. There are various examples of women in leadership in the New Testament.

Witnessing (or evangelism) is often held up as the ultimate in Christian experience or duty. While witnessing (sharing the Gospel) can be a great thing, problems can arise when we make witnessing into a duty, obligation, or measure of spiritual maturity. 1 Peter 3:15 instructs us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” The key lies in simply being prepared to offer an answer to someone and to do so with gentleness and respect. (This attitude is very different from militantly seeking to persuade someone.) Experience shows that we can only spiritually help those who are truly seeking our help.