The Blessed Hope Podcast -- with Dr. Kim Riddlebarger

Episode Synopsis: For those of us who regard Paul as one of the primary figures in all of the New Testament, it is hard to comprehend a time when the apostle was under siege to the extent we find in 2 Corinthians.  His authority was being challenged, and he was being compared to men whose rhetorical ability and charismatic gifts surpassed his own.  Paul must open his letter to the Corinthians by d...

Episode Synopsis: 2 Corinthians just may well be the most difficult of all of Paul’s letters.  2 Corinthians assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of the geography of the Greco-Roman world (a map really helps), as well as some understanding of the ongoing situation in the Corinthian church which leads Paul to compose this letter (the fourth in a series of letters which Paul has sent to...

" Life in the Midst of Death” An Introduction to 2 Corinthians When we wrapped up season three (our deep dive into 1 Corinthians), Paul was in Ephesus responding to reports from Chloe’s family about troubling things going on back in Corinth.  About the same time, Paul received a delegation from Corinth asking a series of questions about various matters which were disputed or required Paul’s i...

Episode Synopsis: Episode 29 of Season Three of the Blessed Hope Podcast brings our deep dive into 1 Corinthians to its conclusion.  As we come to the end of our study of this remarkable letter and take a moment to look back at the ground we have covered, it quickly becomes apparent how truly important this letter is for those of us living in the 21st century in the midst of an increasingly pagan...

Episode Synopsis: At the end of chapter 15 of First Corinthians, Paul describes what is truly the greatest triumph in the long history of the human race–Jesus Christ’s glorious victory over death and the grave.  Our greatest enemy (death) was defeated that first Easter when Jesus was raised bodily from the dead as the firstfruits of a great harvest yet to come.  And when Jesus returns on the last...

E pisode Synopsis: Imagine the shock you would feel upon hearing news that the body of Jesus had been found in a tomb somewhere near the city of Jerusalem and the remains were positively identified as those of the central figure of the New Testament.  What would your reaction be?  Would it even matter?  Would you still call yourself a Christian?  While no one is going to find the body of Jesus in...

Episode Synopsis: If someone walked up to you and asked, “What is the gospel?, what would you say?  If you cannot come up with the answer immediately, then please carefully consider what follows.  The definition is given us in a concise form by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5.  The gospel is called “good news” because it is the proclamation of a set of particular historical facts—Jesus su...

Episode Synopsis: My first exposure to tongue-speaking did not go well.  In an “afterglow” service which followed a mid-week Bible study at an Orange County megachurch, a large number of the faithful remained after the study to “experience” the gifts of the Spirit, including the “gift of tongues.”  A young pastor took over from the Bible teacher and explained how to begin speaking in tongues.  He...

Episode Synopsis: Speaking in tongues was causing chaos in the Corinthian church.  Tongue-speakers were speaking at the same time, and their tongues were not always interpreted as required by Paul.  Some acted as though tongues was the greatest of the gifts of the Spirit and were lording it over others who did not possess the gift.  Paul is also writing to correct the misguided (and pagan notion)...

Episode Synopsis: What the Bible says about love, and the way most Americans think about love, are usually two vastly different things.  Our contemporaries tend to think of love as a powerful emotion, most often associated with romance and intimacy.  Images of hearts and cupids on Valentine’s Day are ingrained in us from an early age.  Love is also tied to a utopian dream when people experience a...

Episode Synopsis: Almost all peoples and cultures seem to have some sort of utopian dream–a world of universal peace, prosperity, and harmony.  John Lennon’s Imagine anyone?  The problem with all utopian visions is that ours is a fallen race.  Because we are a fallen race we all too often find ourselves divided along racial, socioeconomic, political, and theological lines.  Much like the citizens...

Episode Synopsis: One of the most divisive theological controversies of my lifetime was the charismatic movement with its stress upon baptism in the Holy Spirit as evident in speaking in tongues.  Whenever the charismatic renewal spread to a new church, it immediately divided the church into two camps–those who experienced what they claimed was a new work of the Holy Spirit which manifested itself...

Episode Synopsis: One of the saddest indicators of human sinfulness is found in the last half of 1 Corinthians 11.  The sacrament of Christian unity (the Lord’s Supper) had instead become the occasion for further division in the Corinthian church.  Paul laments that in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper the rich were exploiting the poor, the body of Christ was not properly being discerned, and t...

Episode Synopsis: As a cosmopolitan city and home to many varieties of Greco-Roman paganism, Corinth was a cutting edge place for first century fashion and culture.  From what we know regarding the city’s ethos at the time, there was growing tension between traditional gender roles and a desire for women to express themselves in non-traditional ways long associated with polite Greco-Roman society....

Episode Synopsis: We’ve come to 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1, as Paul wraps up his discussion of idolatry.  In the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Christian believers drink the cup of blessing and eat the broken bread–described by Paul as a participation in Christ’s body and blood.  Since so many in Corinth were still hanging on to remnants of their pagan past, from what Paul says here it seems many w...

Episode Synopsis: If you have ever wondered what it would be like for Paul to teach you how to read and understand the Old Testament in light of the coming of Jesus Christ, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 , the apostle does exactly that.  The birth of Israel stems from deliverance from their bondage in Egypt, followed by the Passover, and then the Exodus through the Red Sea before heading into the Sinai...

Episode Synopsis: If we were to find Paul’s notes for an upcoming lecture on “my philosophy of ministry,” we would probably find the words of 1 Corinthians 9:19–23, "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myse...

Episode Synopsis: The church in Corinth was plagued by factions.  One source of division was ethnicity–the church was made up of Jews, Greeks, Romans, and likely a number of other nationalities.  Then there were the factions formed by church members who identified with Paul, Peter, or Apollos, as their favorite teachers.  There were also deep cultural divisions between the wealthy and the poor who...

Episode Synopsis: In 1 Corinthians 7:17-40, Paul teaches what I call the “you can’t unscramble eggs” doctrine.  What should a new Christian do when they come to faith in Jesus Christ?  Do they quit their current “secular” job to devote themselves full-time to Jesus Christ and to the work of ministry?  Should they rush into marriage to avoid the lusts of the flesh?  Or conversely, should they seek...

Episode Synopsis: Paul’s Gentile mission was a huge success.  A number of new churches were established throughout the eastern Mediterranean world–including fast growing churches in important cities such as Corinth, Thessalonica, and Ephesus.  But with the spread of the gospel into a previously unevangelized world dominated by Greco-Roman culture and religion, came a whole set of pastoral problems...

Episode Synopsis: Sex and marriage were pressing issues in Corinth.  Gentiles who came to faith in Jesus Christ during Paul’s Gentile mission were learning the biblical sexual ethic for the first time.  Grounded in the creation order, the Ten Commandments, and the teaching of Jesus, it did not take long for the Corinthians to understand that sex was not merely a pleasurable bodily function, but bi...

Episode Synopsis: It has been said that prostitution is the world’s old profession.  In reality, tending a garden and naming animals is.  But if you lived in first century Corinth you lived in a city well-known for its prostitutes and rampant sexual immorality.  This creates a difficult situation for Christians who live there and who have been taught by Paul that sexual relations are limited to ma...

Episode Synopsis: Corinth was a booming city with lots of new money and great stress upon the power and prestige that goes with it.  One way to enhance your public image was to take advantage of those who had something you wanted or needed, or to shame a rival or get a leg up on someone you didn’t like, was to sue them in civil court.  Corinth was a very litigious place with one citizen complainin...

Episode Synopsis: When passing through Ephesus, where Paul was living at the time, members of Chloe’s family informed Paul of a situation in the Corinthian church of such a serious nature that Paul is taken aback.  A man in the Corinthian church (presumably known to the church but unnamed by Paul) is cohabiting with his father’s wife.  Such conduct was scandalous to the point that even the sexuall...

Episode Synopsis: Paul expressed a fair bit of righteous anger in his letter to the Galatians–calling those taken in by false teachers foolish people who have been all-too easily bewitched by false teachers.  In 1 Corinthians 4, the apostle again expresses his frustration, speaking sarcastically of those who think of themselves as rich (when they are poor), and as kings who act as though they rule...