Wednesday in the Word

Being part of the “inside crowd” of God’s people is not the same thing as actually trusting Him.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 10:1–12, Krisan Marotta follows Paul as he recalls Israel’s wilderness story—people who all experienced God’s miracles, provision, and “baptism into Moses,” yet still fell in the desert because they would not believe. Paul uses their example to warn the Corinthians (an...

Real Christian freedom is not about clinging to our rights; it is about ordering our lives around the hope of the gospel.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 9:15–27, Krisan Marotta unpacks why Paul refuses financial support from the Corinthians and how that choice reveals what he truly values: not comfort or status, but finishing the race of faith and helping others do the same.  In this week’s epi...

Christian freedom includes real rights but love may lead us to lay some of them down.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 9:1–14, Krisan Marotta shows how Paul uses his own choice not to take financial support as a living example of the principle he’s been teaching about meat sacrificed to idols: it’s not enough to be right about what we’re free to do; we must also consider how exercising that freed...

True Christian freedom is not about proving how much we know—it’s about using what we know to love others well.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 8:4–13, Krisan Marotta traces Paul’s response to the “knowledgeable” Corinthians who proudly eat meat sacrificed to idols, showing that while their theology is correct (idols are nothing, there is one God and one Lord), their attitude toward weaker belie...

Paul opens his long discussion about food sacrificed to idols not by talking about idols or meat, but by talking about knowledge —and the danger of using it badly.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 8:1–3, Krisan Marotta shows how Paul confronts a group of believers who are “right” about idols being nothing, yet are using that truth to justify ignoring their brothers and sisters. He insists that kn...

Paul’s final words in 1 Corinthians 7 are not an argument against marriage—they’re an invitation to see both marriage and singleness in light of eternity.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 7:25–40, Krisan Marotta unpacks Paul’s counsel to the betrothed, clarifies what he means by “the present distress,” and shows how our decisions about marriage fit inside a much larger question: where is our ulti...

Following Christ does not require escaping your life. It calls you to be faithful in it.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 7:12–24, Krisan Marotta looks at Paul’s counsel to believers married to unbelievers and his broader principle that we are to serve God in the circumstances where he found us, whether in a mixed marriage, as Jew or Gentile, slave or free.  In this week’s episode, we explore: Ho...

Paul’s counsel in 1 Corinthians 7:7–11 is not a put-down of marriage or a glorification of a “higher” spiritual class of celibates. It is a call to see both singleness and marriage as good gifts from God and to stop treating sexuality as something inherently unspiritual.  In this episode, Krisan Marotta unpacks how Paul answers the Corinthians’ extreme views about celibacy, clarifies what he means...

What did Paul really mean when he wrote, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman”?  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 7:1–7, Krisan Marotta looks at the first of the Corinthians’ written questions to Paul and argues that he is responding not to people desperate to marry, but to believers flirting with an extreme, “super-spiritual” celibacy—even within marriage. Paul’s answer offers a balanced, p...

Sexuality is not a casual pastime or a private indulgence; it is a language God designed to express covenant love and belonging.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 6:15–20, Krisan Marotta explores Paul’s claim that our bodies are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit and why that makes our sexual choices inseparable from our allegiance to Jesus.  In this week’s episode, we explore: How G...

Christian freedom is not a license to do whatever we want; it is the fruit of being washed, sanctified, and justified so that our lives begin to change.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 6:9–14, Krisan Marotta looks at Paul’s sobering list of sins, his warning about those who “will not inherit the kingdom of God,” and his reminder that believers have been fundamentally changed by the Holy Spirit—e...

When a community makes peace with rebellion against God, it is not being kind—it is losing sight of what the gospel is for.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 5:6–13, Krisan Marotta unpacks Paul’s leaven and Passover imagery, his instructions about “not associating” with certain people, and his concern that the Corinthians are boasting in their tolerance instead of mourning a destructive pattern of...

When a church treats ongoing, defiant sin as acceptable, it is not being gracious—it is quietly undermining the very gospel it claims to believe.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 5:6–13, Krisan Marotta unpacks Paul’s leaven and Passover imagery, his instructions about “not associating” with certain people, and his concern that the Corinthians are boasting in their tolerance instead of grieving ov...

When a church proudly tolerates what even the surrounding culture finds shocking, something has gone very wrong.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 4:17–5:5, Krisan Marotta follows Paul as he confronts a case of blatant sexual immorality in Corinth—not only the man involved, but the community that refuses to grieve over it. Paul’s response raises hard but necessary questions about spiritual arrogan...

True wisdom will rarely make you look impressive. In this episode on 1 Corinthians 3:18–4:16, Krisan Marotta traces Paul’s closing appeal to a church that wants to be admired by the world more than they want to cling to the gospel. Paul exposes their pride, redefines what it means to judge Christian leaders, and invites them to embrace the strange, costly path of being “fools” for Christ rather th...

What should Christians expect when Scripture talks about “rewards,” “crowns,” and being judged according to our works?  In this second episode on rewards in heaven, Krisan Marotta revisits 1 Corinthians 3 and then walks through a range of key passages to argue that many popular teachings about heavenly reward rest on blurred categories and verses taken out of context. Instead of painting the Chris...

Many Christians have heard 1 Corinthians 3:10–17 used to teach levels of heaven, extra rewards, or “barely saved” believers. But what if Paul is actually talking about something else entirely?  In this episode, Krisan Marotta looks carefully at Paul’s building metaphor to show that his focus is not on individual believers racking up merit, but on how teachers and leaders build on the one true foun...

True spiritual growth is never the achievement of a gifted teacher or an impressive church—it is God’s work from start to finish.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 3:5–10, Krisan Marotta traces Paul’s planting and building metaphors to show how the Corinthians have badly misjudged both Paul and Apollos, and how we too can confuse style, numbers, and outward success with the quiet miracle of God gi...

When Paul calls the Corinthians “fleshly” or “carnal,” is he really teaching that there are two kinds of Christians—those who live in victory and those who do not?  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 3:1–4, Krisan Marotta examines the history and ideas behind “victorious Christian living” theology and challenges the popular use of “carnal Christian” language, arguing instead that Paul is exposing a...

What does it really mean to have “the mind of Christ,” and how does the Holy Spirit actually give us wisdom today?  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 2:6–16, Krisan Marotta unpacks Paul’s argument that true wisdom is not found in impressive rhetoric or private spiritual impressions, but in God’s once-hidden, now-revealed plan of salvation in Christ—entrusted to the apostles and received by believer...

What makes Christian teaching truly powerful isn’t polish or charisma, but a crucified Messiah and the power of God behind that message.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 2:1–5, Krisan Marotta traces Paul’s argument that he deliberately refused the rhetorical flash and philosophical prestige the Corinthians craved, so that their faith would rest not on clever words but on the reality of Christ cru...

Paul urges the Corinthians—and us—to “consider your calling” and remember the kind of people God usually chooses. In this episode on 1 Corinthians 1:26–31, Krisan Marotta shows how God deliberately undercuts human pride by rescuing those the world overlooks, so that our confidence rests not in status, intellect, or achievement, but in Christ alone, who becomes our wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica...

Paul insists that the cross of Christ is not a marketing problem to fix but the very center of God’s wisdom and power.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 1:18–25, Krisan Marotta contrasts the “wisdom of the world” with the message of Christ crucified, showing why Paul refuses to dress up the gospel to impress Corinth’s elites—and why any attempt to make Christianity more acceptable by softening sin...

Paul’s question, “Has Christ been divided?” opens up a searching conversation about baptism, discipleship, and what truly unites or divides the people of God.  In this episode on 1 Corinthians 1:13–17, Krisan Marotta explores why Paul is glad he baptized so few in Corinth, what it means (and doesn’t mean) to be baptized “in someone’s name,” and why the cross of Christ—not any ritual, leader, or st...

Paul turns from greeting to confrontation in 1 Corinthians 1:10–13, and it all centers on a church that loves gifted teachers more than it loves the gospel. In this episode, Krisan Marotta traces how the Corinthian believers slid from healthy appreciation of leaders into harsh judgment of Paul himself—and shows why their real problem was not personality clashes, but a distorted view of wisdom, aut...