Salvation

By Al Felder Forgiveness is not only a personal issue. It is also a church issue. Every local congregation is made up of people who need mercy, people who struggle, people who sometimes sin against God, and people who sometimes sin against one another. Because of that, every church must learn how to handle forgiveness biblically. However, this is where many churches struggle. Some churches emphasize mercy in a way that avoids truth. Sin is ignored, repentance is assumed, disc

By Al Felder Forgiveness is one of the most comforting truths in Scripture, but it is also one of the most often misunderstood. Many people want forgiveness without change, mercy without repentance, and peace without truth. They want the blessing of a canceled debt while continuing to live as though the debt never mattered. But biblical forgiveness is never separated from the truth about sin. God’s mercy is real. His grace is abundant. The blood of Christ is sufficient. Yet S

By Al Felder Many people want forgiveness to mean that everything goes back to normal immediately. Once the words “I’m sorry” are spoken, they expect consequences to disappear, trust to return, relationships to reset, and accountability to end. But Scripture gives a more careful picture. Biblical forgiveness is real, powerful, and beautiful. When God forgives, He truly releases the sinner from guilt. When Christians forgive others, they release personal vengeance and bitterne

By Al Felder Guilt can be heavy. It can follow a person into quiet moments, interrupt sleep, weaken prayer, and make worship feel distant. Even after a person knows what Scripture says about forgiveness, the heart may still ask, “If God has forgiven me, why do I still feel guilty?” That question matters because many sincere people confuse the feeling of guilt with the fact of guilt. They assume that if they still feel the burden, then God must still be holding the sin against

By Al Felder Debt is a word everyone understands. A debt stands against a person. It must be paid, released, or carried. It can weigh on the mind, limit freedom, and create fear about what is coming. That is one reason the Bible’s language of forgiveness is so powerful. Scripture often describes sin as a debt. When we sin, we do not merely make a mistake or experience a personal struggle. We become guilty before God. Something stands against us. Something must be addressed. T

By Al Felder Many people think of forgiveness as something simple. If someone is loving, they assume forgiveness should be easy. If God is merciful, they may wonder why sin could not simply be dismissed. Why did forgiveness require the cross? Why did the Son of God have to suffer? Why does Scripture speak so often of blood? Those are not small questions. They reach into the heart of the gospel. The Bible never presents forgiveness as God casually overlooking sin. Forgiveness

By Al Felder Forgiveness is one of the most beautiful words in Scripture, but it is also one of the hardest commands to obey. Many people talk about forgiveness as if it were simple: “Just let it go.” “Move on.” “Don’t think about it anymore.” But anyone who has been deeply wounded knows forgiveness is not that shallow. Forgiveness is difficult because sin is real. Wrongdoing leaves wounds. Guilt leaves a burden. Betrayal damages trust. Hurt can settle into the heart and temp

By Al Felder Few truths in Scripture are more sobering and more hope-filled than the return of Jesus Christ. The same Lord who came in humility, lived among men, died for sin, rose in victory, and ascended into heaven will come again. That promise is not a side note in the Christian faith. It is one of the great anchors of the believer’s hope. For the world, the return of Christ will mean judgment, exposure, and the end of false security. But for believers, it means something

By Al Felder Grace is one of the most cherished words in Scripture, but it is also one of the most misunderstood. Many people think of grace only as pardon. They think of it as God overlooking guilt and giving salvation to those who do not deserve it. That is certainly part of grace, and a precious part of it. But grace does more than forgive. Grace teaches. Grace trains. Grace reshapes the daily life of the believer. If grace is understood only as comfort for the conscience,

By Al Felder Many people often think about the birth of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the cross of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ. All of those deserve deep attention. But another question matters greatly and is sometimes overlooked: What is Jesus doing now in heaven? The answer is not that He has simply finished His work and withdrawn into inactivity. The risen Christ is not absent in the sense of being uninvolved. He is alive, exalted, reigning, interceding, and s

By Al Felder The empty tomb is one of the simplest facts in the gospel record, yet it carries some of the deepest meaning in all of Scripture. The stone was rolled away. The grave clothes were left behind. The body of Jesus was not there. That is not a small detail in the Christian message. It is one of the great declarations of heaven. Many people speak of the empty tomb as a moving symbol of hope, and it certainly is that. But it is more than a symbol. It proves something.

By Al Felder If Jesus died and remained in the grave, then the cross would be only a tragic ending. It might stir emotion. It might inspire sympathy. It might even leave behind the memory of a righteous sufferer. But it would not save. It would not conquer death. It would not secure hope. The resurrection is what changes everything. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not an added detail to the gospel. It is at the very center of it. It is the Father’s public declaration that

By Al Felder When John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), he was not using a random religious image. He was identifying Jesus with one of the deepest themes running through all of Scripture. From the earliest sacrifices to the Passover in Egypt to the offerings under the law of Moses, the lamb was associated with innocence, sacrifice, blood, and deliverance. So when John called Jesus “the Lamb of God,” h

By Al Felder Few scenes in Scripture are more solemn, more powerful, or more revealing than the cross of Jesus Christ. At Calvary, we do not simply see a good man suffering unjustly. We see the heart of the gospel. We see the holiness of God, the seriousness of sin, the love of Christ, and the only hope for guilty man all brought together in one place. Many people speak of the cross only in terms of love, and certainly it does reveal love beyond measure. But the cross does mo

By Al Felder Jesus’ parable of the sower is one of the clearest explanations in Scripture for why people respond so differently to the same message. Some hear the gospel and dismiss it instantly. Others respond with joy, but disappear when the cost shows up. Others begin well, but slowly drift away as the world chokes the Word. And then there are those who truly hear, understand, and bear fruit (Matthew 13:1–23). This parable is often called the “Parable of the Soils,” becaus

By Al Felder Jesus told two back-to-back parables in Matthew 25 that press the same urgent question from two different angles: Will you be ready when the Bridegroom comes, and will you be found faithful when the Master returns? (Matthew 25:1–30). These are not parables aimed at atheists who openly reject God. They are aimed at people who identify with the kingdom—people who expect the Lord’s return and who would say they belong to Him. That’s why they are so searching. They w

By Al Felder Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son…” (Matthew 22:2–14). That parable is more than a story about a banquet. It is a picture of God’s invitation, man’s response, the consequences of rejection, and the only way someone can be accepted at the King’s table. What Makes the Invitation So Shocking? In Jesus’ day, it would have been unthinkable for subjects to ignore a royal invitation. Yet the parable begins

By Al Felder “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28) Some questions reveal where people truly stand. One of those questions is this: Is church membership required? Scripture answers with clarity: yes. There is no biblical category for a saved person who is disconnected from Christ’s body. If a person is in Christ, they

When Genesis 6 opens, the world is almost unrecognizable compared to the “very good” creation of Genesis. 1. Humanity has multiplied, but so has wickedness. “And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth…But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”—Genesis 6:7–8 In a world overflowing with violence, corruption, and rebellion, one man stands out—not because he was sinless, but because he found grace. Through Noah’s story, God gives us a

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, the consequences were devastating. Paradise was lost. Suffering entered the world. Death became a tragic reality. Yet even in that moment of judgment, God spoke a promise that would echo through all of Scripture—a promise that would lead humanity from Eden… to Calvary. In Genesis 3:14–19, God pronounced judgment on the serpent, the woman, and the man. But embedded in His words was the first prophecy of a Redeemer—the One who wou