The Blessed Hope Podcast -- with Dr. Kim Riddlebarger
Interested in taking a deep dive into the biblical text? Join host Dr. Kim Riddlebarger for each episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast as we explore the Letters of the Apostle Paul. In each episode, we work our way through Paul’s letters, focusing upon Paul’s life and times, the gospel he preaches, the law/gospel distinction, the doctrine of justification sola fide, Paul’s two-age eschatology, and a whole lot more. So get out your Bible and join us! Oh, and expect a few bad jokes and surprise episodes along the way.
Episodes
87 episodes
"God Justifies the Ungodly" A Preview of Season Five of the Blessed Hope Podcast -- An Exposition of the Book of Romans
Lord willing, Season Five of the Blessed Hope Podcast will launch later this spring. I am hard at work preparing new episodes. In this brief introductory podcast episode, I hope to whet your whistle as I speak to the importan...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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7:14
"Your Restoration" Season Four/Episode 16 (2 Corinthians 12:14-13:14)
Episode Synopsis:Paul has written a long letter dealing with on-going controversies in Corinth–his fourth letter to this congregation. We know this letter as 2 Corinthians. Among other things, Paul’s first Corinthian l...
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Season 4
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Episode 16
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35:54
"The Fool's Speech" Season Four/Episode 15 (2 Corinthians 11:21b-12:13)
Episode Synopsis:Paul’s “Fool’s Speech” is a masterpiece in ancient rhetoric. Under constant criticism from false teachers and apostles who thought of themselves wiser and superior to Paul, the apostle responds to their accu...
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Season 4
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Episode 15
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1:05:20
"Satan's Diguise -- An Angel of Light" Season Four/Episode 14 (2 Corinthians 11:1-21a)
Episode Synopsis:After completing the first 9 chapters of the letter we know as 2 Corinthians, and even as he was preparing to leave Macedonia and head south to Corinth, Paul received word from Corinth that a group of men whom he ...
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Season 4
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Episode 14
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40:40
"Every Thought Captive" Season Four/Episode 13 (2 Corinthians 10:1-18)
Episode Synopsis:Paul is in Macedonia preparing to head south to Corinth. So far, he has written to the Corinthians about his office and authority and he has encouraged them to wrap up their efforts to collect an offering to...
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Season 4
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Episode 13
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45:18
"The Inexpressible Gift" -- Season Four/Episode 12 (2 Corinthians 9:1-15)
Episode Synopsis:Paul expressed concern that the Corinthian church would not have their offering ready upon his upcoming visit to Corinth. As we saw last time, this offering had two important purposes. The first was th...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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30:56
"This Act of Grace" -- Season Four/Episode 11 (2 Corinthians: 8-1-24)
Episode Synopsis:About the time Paul began his second missionary journey, a serious famine swept through Palestine–greatly impacting the Jerusalem church. Those who lived in the region knew how serious such things could be a...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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41:00
"Godly Grief" -- Season Four/Episode 10 (2 Corinthians 7:4-16)
Episode Synopsis:When Paul left Ephesus to visit Corinth in what is known as the “painful visit,” he became the object of a personal attack from an unnamed party. This was bad enough, but what made the matter worse was the f...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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36:31
"The Temple of the Living God" Season Four/Episode Nine (2 Corinthians 6:3-7:3)
Episode Synopsis:Paul continues his defense of his apostolic ministry and office. In chapter 6, verses 3-10, he lays out an incredible catalog of those hardships which he has endured so as to preach the gospel, along with ev...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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48:52
"God Was in Christ" Season Four/Episode Eight (2 Corinthians 5:14-:6:2)
Episode Synopsis:I am reluctant to say that one portion of Scripture is more important than others. But there are biblical passages packed with theological content and which have stirred much debate among the people of God a...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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52:37
"The Weight of Glory" Season Four/Episode Seven (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10)
Episode Synopsis:C. S. Lewis brought a biblical expression from Paul into the broader evangelical world in his influential 1941 sermon “The Weight of Glory,” based upon 2 Corinthians 4:17. Lewis points out that glory, as use...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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34:38
"Jars of Clay" Season Four/Episode Six (2 Corinthians 4:1-15)
Episode Synopsis:In chapter 4 of 2 Corinthians, Paul addresses a subject no one likes or wants to talk about–the frailty and weakness of the human body. We have all seen images of great athletes with robust and fit bodies–th...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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32:42
"The Glory of the New Covenant" Season Four/Episode Five (2 Corinthians 3:1-18)
Episode Synopsis:As Paul finds himself facing a serious situation with challenges to his apostolic authority and attacks upon his person and reputation, he defends himself and his apostolic office by pointing to God’s saving work ...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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56:33
"The Aroma of the Gospel" Season Four/Episode Four (2 Corinthians 1:23-2:17)
Paul is under attack by some in the Corinthian church who question his intentions and his ability–he will later identify them as “super” or “false” apostles who are agents of Satan. These men claim to exercise charismatic gifts but which ...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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44:47
"The God of All Comfort" Season Four/Episode Three (2 Corinthians 1:1-22)
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 authori...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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46:40
"The Theology of 2 Corinthians" Season Four/Episode Two
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 ...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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1:04:42
"Introduction to 2 Corinthians" Season Four/Episode One
"Life in the Midst of Death” An Introduction to 2 CorinthiansWhen 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...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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1:01:18
"Be Watchful! Stand Firm!" Season Three/Episode Twenty-Nine (1 Corinthians 16:1-24)
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 t...
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Season 3
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Episode 29
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40:52
"Christ's Victory Over Death and the Grave" Season Three/Episode Twenty-Eight (1 Corinthians 15:35-58)
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 28
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55:21
"Christ Has Been Raised" Season Three/Episode Twenty-Seven (1 Corinthians 15:20-34)
Episode 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 ...
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Season 3
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Episode 27
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58:47
"The Gospel: Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection" Season Three/Episode Twenty-Six (1 Corinthians 15:1-19)
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 definitio...
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Season 3
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Episode 26
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1:07:49
"They Will Think You Are Crazy" Season Three/Episode Twenty -Five (1 Corinthians 14:20-40)
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 25
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46:38
"Speaking in Tongues" Season Three/Episode Twenty Four (1 Corinthians 14:1-19)
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 ...
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Season 3
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Episode 24
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52:46
"The Greatest of These Is Love" Season Three/Episode Twenty-Three (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
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 wi...
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Season 3
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Episode 23
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45:53
"Baptism In the Spirit" Season Three/Episode Twenty-Two (1 Corinthians 12:12-31)
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 i...
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Season 3
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Episode 22
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58:55