Wednesday in the Word

When Jesus speaks of an unclean spirit leaving a man, wandering through waterless places, then returning with seven spirits worse than itself, it sounds like a strange and unsettling exorcism story. In this episode on Matthew 12:43–45, we place this teaching back into its context, explore why it is best read as an allegory rather than a literal case study, and see how it exposes the deadly danger...

The podcast is on study break before we start a new series. During my study break, I will randomly offer single podcasts that illustrate good Bible study methodology. Or you can listen to any of over 500 previous episodes. Most people fail at Bible study because no one ever taught them how. Bible Study Boot Camp fixes that: one short email a day for a week, plus a worksheet you can use on any pass...

Paul ends 1 Corinthians not with abstract theology, but with travel plans, personal greetings, and one last urgent call: stay awake to the gospel, stand firm in the faith, and let everything you do be shaped by love.  In this final episode on 1 Corinthians 16, Krisan Marotta walks through Paul’s “business end” of the letter and then steps back to reflect on the whole book—its warnings about worldl...

Death is not just the end of earthly life; it is a doorway to judgment—and in Christ, even that last enemy will be swallowed up in victory.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:50–58, Krisan Marotta explores Paul’s climactic conclusion to his teaching on resurrection: our present “flesh and blood” existence cannot inherit the kingdom of God, so God himself will transform mortal, perishable bodies...

Resurrection is not an optional extra in the Christian story; it is the future God is actually preparing for His people.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:29–49, Krisan Marotta follows Paul as he exposes the contradictions of denying bodily resurrection and then answers a mocking question: How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body ? Through vivid images of seeds, flesh, and heavenly g...

The Christian hope is not just that our souls float off to a better place, but that God will end history well —by raising His people from the dead and putting every enemy, including death itself, under Christ’s feet.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, Krisan Marotta unpacks Paul’s sweeping vision of where the story is headed: from Adam’s failure and universal death to Christ’s resurrectio...

If the dead are not raised, the entire Christian story collapses—but Paul insists the resurrection of Jesus is a real event at the very heart of the gospel.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:1–19, Krisan Marotta revisits the message the Corinthians first believed, shows how it includes both Christ’s death and bodily resurrection, and explains why denying resurrection empties faith of meaning an...

When a church gathering turns into a noisy contest of voices and personalities, it stops looking like the work of a God of peace.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 14:26–40, Krisan Marotta walks through Paul’s closing words on tongues, prophecy, and order in worship, showing how his simple principle—“let all things be done for edification”—speaks directly into the chaos at Corinth and our own assu...

True spirituality is not measured by dramatic experiences or ecstatic speech, but by whether our words clearly build others up in the truth.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 14:1–25, Krisan Marotta traces Paul’s contrast between tongues and prophecy, showing that while both are genuine works of the Spirit, one serves mainly the individual and the other serves the whole church by communicating und...

Love is not a sentimental extra in the Christian life; it is the essential thing God is doing in us, more important than any gift, role, or achievement.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 13:1–13, Krisan Marotta situates the “love chapter” inside Paul’s larger argument about spiritual gifts, showing that he is not pausing for wedding poetry but confronting a church that is obsessed with tongues and...

Real love is not sentimental feeling or vague niceness; it is a hard-won, Spirit-shaped way of treating other people as just as important as ourselves.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, Krisan Marotta walks slowly through Paul’s famous list of love’s attributes, showing how each one confronts the Corinthians’ pride over tongues and spiritual status—and exposes our own deep tendency toward...

Paul compares the people of God to the unity and diversity of the human body. In this rich analogy, Paul teaches us how we should view ourselves, how we should view each other and where we should find our worth. Most people fail at Bible study because no one ever taught them how. Bible Study Boot Camp fixes that: one short email a day for a week, plus a worksheet you can use on any passage for the...

The Holy Spirit’s most important work is not giving us dramatic experiences or spectacular gifts—it is creating one people who share one faith in Jesus.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 12:11–13, Krisan Marotta explores Paul’s body metaphor and his language of being “baptized in one Spirit” and “made to drink of one Spirit,” showing why these verses cannot support the idea that every truly spirit...

Spiritual gifts are not spiritual “superpowers” that prove how advanced we are—they are gracious ways the Spirit uses ordinary people to serve one another.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, Krisan Marotta explores Paul’s teaching on unity and diversity in the body of Christ, showing that the same Spirit gives a wide variety of manifestations on purpose —for the common good, not for person...

True spirituality is not measured by dramatic experiences, public gifts, or “higher” callings—it is revealed in a heart that says and means, “Jesus is Lord.”  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 12:1–3, Krisan Marotta shows how Paul begins his discussion of “spirituals” by correcting the Corinthians’ assumptions about tongues and ecstatic experiences, grounding true spirituality instead in the Spirit...

Taking communion “in an unworthy manner” is not about achieving sinless perfection; it’s about whether our actions fit the very meaning of the Lord’s Supper.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 11:27–34, Krisan Marotta explains how the Corinthians’ behavior at the Lord’s table flatly contradicted the message of the cross they claimed to celebrate, and why Paul calls them to examine what they truly b...

The Lord’s Supper is not a mystical ritual we perform by habit; it is a memorial meal that keeps the cross at the center of our story.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, Krisan Marotta walks through Paul’s account of Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, tracing how the Lord’s Supper intentionally echoes the Passover to remind us of judgment spared, slavery broken, and a new covenant relations...

The way we share the Lord’s Supper can quietly reveal what we really believe about the gospel.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 11:17–22, Krisan Marotta looks at a church meal in Corinth that had gone so horribly wrong that Paul says they’d be better off not meeting at all. Instead of a celebration of unity in Christ, the Lord’s Supper had become a display of social status, self-indulgence, and i...

Paul’s language of “head” and “body” is not about power plays—it is about responsibility, love, and shared life.  In this second episode on headship, Krisan Marotta traces how Paul uses “head” across Ephesians and Colossians to describe Christ and the church, then applies that pattern to husbands and wives. The picture that emerges is not of a domineering “boss,” but of a husband entrusted with re...

What does Paul mean when he calls Christ the head of every man, the man the head of a woman, and God the head of Christ?  In this episode—the first of two on “headship”—Krisan Marotta turns to Genesis and the broader sweep of Scripture to unpack this much-debated word in 1 Corinthians 11:3. She argues that Paul is not teaching male superiority, but describing an asymmetrical set of responsibilitie...

Is 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 about a timeless command—or about cultural symbols that no longer mean the same thing today?  In this episode, Krisan Marotta steps back from the text itself to explore the cultural world behind head coverings in Corinth, explaining why this passage is both unusually difficult and often misunderstood, and how we can take Paul’s reasoning seriously without insisting that hi...

Paul’s teaching on head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 is often experienced as confusing, controversial, or even hurtful—but this episode approaches it with patience, humility, and a clear focus on what Paul is actually doing.  Krisan Marotta walks through the whole passage as a unified argument, showing how Paul connects creation, marriage, cultural symbols, and worship practices in Corinth t...

The podcast is on break for the holidays. In the meantime, please listen to a previous episode or series. May I suggest one of these: Most people fail at Bible study because no one ever taught them how. Bible Study Boot Camp fixes that: one short email a day for a week, plus a worksheet you can use on any passage for the rest of your life. Sign up for Bible Study Boot Camp

Christian freedom is never an excuse to flirt with idols or to ignore how our choices affect others.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 10:14–11:1, Krisan Marotta traces Paul’s conclusion to the whole “idol meat” discussion, showing that the real issue is not just what we’re allowed to eat, but which table we belong to and what our behavior says about the God we claim to worship.  In this week’s ep...

Our struggles with sin are real—but 1 Corinthians 10:13 is not a secret “escape hatch” we’re supposed to find if we’re spiritual enough.  In this episode on a single, much-quoted verse, Krisan Marotta places Paul’s words back into their context and argues that he is not promising sinless success in every moment of temptation, but reassuring believers that God will not let the trials of life destro...