
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
73 episodes
"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

"The Gifts of the Spirit" SeasonThree/Episode Twenty-One (1 Corinthians 12:1-11)
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 charisma...
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Season 3
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Episode 21
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1:22:06

"The Lord's Supper" Season Three/Episode Twenty (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
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 divis...
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Season 3
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Episode 20
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1:11:38

"Head Coverings and Modesty in Worship" Season Three/Episode Nineteen (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)
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 ...
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Season 3
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Episode 19
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51:00

"The Bread, The Wine, and the Glory of God" Season Three/Episode Eighteen (1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1)
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–desc...
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Season 3
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Episode 18
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50:20

"Christ Was the Rock" Season Three/Episode Seventeen (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)
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
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51:05

"All Things to All People" Season Three/Episode Sixteen (1 Corinthians 9:1-27)
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 ...
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Season 3
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Episode 16
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52:04

"The Strong and the Weak" Season Three/Episode Fifteen (1 Corinthians 8:1-13)
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 t...
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Season 3
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Episode 15
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57:41

"You Can't Unscramble Eggs" Season Three/Episode Fourteen (1 Corinthians 7:17-40)
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 “...
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Season 3
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Episode 14
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1:00:41

“Mixed Marriages, `Holy’ Spouses and Children” Season Three/Episode Thirteen (1 Corinthians 7:12-16)
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, Th...
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Season 3
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Episode 13
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51:37

"Sex and Marriage" Season Three/Episode Twelve (1 Corinthians 7:1-11)
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 i...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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49:27

"Flee From Sexual Immorality" Season Three/Episode Eleven (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)
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 fo...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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48:23

"Washed, Sanctified, Justified" Season Three/Episode Ten (1 Corinthians 6:1-11)
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...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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54:45

"A Man Has His Father's Wife" Season Three/Episode Nine (1 Corinthians 5:1-13)
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 m...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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48:21

"Shall I Come With a Rod?" Season Three/Episode Eight (1 Corinthians 4:1-21)
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 Cori...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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50:01
