In Matthew 25, Jesus tells his followers that if they do not show mercy to one another, God will not show mercy to them. He mentions that the sheep (mercy givers)will be separated from the goats, and that the sheep will go to heaven, and the goats to hell. Can you help me understand how this isn’t saying that our salvation is works related? If this parable is speaking of faith that leads to right actions, then my question would be, can a person truly be saved but not exhibit much mercy or right actions? How many merciful actions are enough to demonstrate true faith? Or does only God know this? I’m a little worried that I’m not demonstrating enough mercy and kindness to others.

I have questions about Luke 24:13-15, the Road to Emmaus. 1. What was happening in Emmaus and why were these men heading there rather than any other place? 2. What was the significance of Jesus breaking the bread and its coincidence with the opening of the eyes of these disciples? 3. The scripture gave us the name of the second disciple to be Cleopas, I never heard about this name in the Bible before, was there a reason for the scripture to give it to us?

Why does the Bible give the example of “It is easy to go to an eye of needle?” And why did Peter ask “Who can be saved?”

I have read the NIV and NKJV versions of the bible. Both versions in Matthew 6:12 state “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” When praying the Lord’s Prayer, why do people substitute the word debts with trespasses? Matthew 6:5 thru 6:13 is very clear to me on how we should pray. Luke 11:2 thru 11:4 is worded a little different than Matthew; but still does not contain the word trespasses. Why is that?

I just had a discussion with someone who claims that the Jews in Israel are impostors. Now I do not believe this for the simple fact, that God has brought those Jews back in the land. So if God considers them to be Jews, then they are Jews. I was just caught off guard by this as I had never heard of this. Can you help me understand this?

I have a question about Rev 4:10-11. Would you please explain to me about the practice of casting crowns? I’m just confused about why, after Jesus awards us with crowns, we would give the crowns back to Him? I read where we will do this because we are thankful for what He has done for us, but it just seems that there is some other significance to this ceremony that I’m missing.

I read about a preacher from South Africa who for some reason would not forgive his wife for something she had said or done. Sometime later this preacher died and when he appeared before God, he was asked, “Why should I let you in heaven?” By God’s grace, this preacher was brought back to life and definitely changed his attitude about forgiveness. This is a true story. It’s on the internet.

My son is a Jehovah’s Witness and he wants to talk about our differences. We have gotten on the subjects of Why Jesus is God and KJV Bible vs World Translation Bible. So far we just go round and round. I’m beginning to feel it is futile to do all of this. Is the Holy Spirit the only one who can convict him? Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do?

In Rev. 8:13, an eagle announces coming woe to the earth. I know the word can also be translated as angel, but Ray Stedman says that eagle is the preferred translation in that particular context. Why an eagle? If Stedman is corrrect, what is the significance of that particular beast to make that announcement? It seems “out of place” somehow.

I got married last May, and to my dismay, some of our friends started spreading rumors that the reason we were getting married was that my wife was pregnant. This hurt my wife and myself dearly. We were all part of Bible studies, group outings, and camping trips through a Christian organization. The question I have is this, out of the four friends that did this only one friend came to us and asked us to forgive him. We did. The others openly lied to us and only made excuses as to why they spread the rumors. What are we to do? I want there to be forgiveness here but unless there is some kind of want of forgiveness on their side how can I?