The Riddleblog

That's a Wrap! Last Episode of Season Three Posted! "Be Watchful! Stand Firm!” (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 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 and hostile culture. There is, perhaps, no letter in the New Testament which speaks as directly to the pressing issues we face as Christians as does 1 Corinthians.

Paul’s final words to the Corinthians are both poignant and straightforward. The Corinthians are people Paul knows well, yet who are struggling with the challenges of a new church in the midst of a city like Corinth–a thriving multi-national seaport, thereby ensuring that the temptations of the flesh are ever present. So too, Corinth was a thriving center of pagan religions and practices ensuring an inevitable collision between Christianity and pagan religion and philosophy. Corinth was a difficult place for a church to flourish, but of great strategic significance to Paul’s Gentile mission.

Paul concludes this letter by making it clear that he has not abandoned them, that he is sending help, he explains the situation regarding Timothy and Apollos, and he describes his plans to return when the Lord wills. The apostle details the offering he hopes to send from Corinth back to the Jerusalem church in order to provide relief during a severe famine. He extends a series of commands regarding the things which the Corinthians are to do in the meantime, before concluding with the apostolic benediction–Maranatha, Lord come! This is indeed a truly remarkable letter and should be studied carefully in churches today.

To see the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

"Christ's Victory Over Death and the Grave!" -- (1 Corinthians 15:35-58) A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast !

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 day, the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and his victory will become ours. Just as Jesus was raised in a glorified body of flesh and bones, so too shall we. But what will such a body be like? How is it both the same, yet different from the bodies we presently have? Paul answers this and related questions in his defense of Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead in the last part of 1 Corinthians 15.

Paul speaks of a spiritual body suited for eternal life in the presence of the holy God. It will be the same kind of body Jesus possessed after his resurrection. Such a body is unlike our present existence, in that once transformed, this body will reflect the glories of the new creation, the age to come, and the final consummation. It will be a body free from sin, sickness, and death. We will be raised to experience the unspeakable glories of the new heaven and earth, a renewed creation, and live forever in the presence of the Lord. Although we see dimly now, on that day we shall see face to face. We will experience the wonder of eternal life and receive all the blessings of our promised inheritance.

Paul ends this chapter in triumph, mocking death. When Jesus returns on the last day, we shall be instantly changed (in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye) and given that resurrection body which Paul describes as a transformation from the perishable (and therefore certain to die) to an imperishable body which is suited for eternal life. The sting of death gives way to the glorious victory earned and won for us by Jesus himself. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

To listen to this episode and read the show notes, follow the link below

"Christ Has Been Raised!" -- A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Posted! (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 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 a tomb near Jerusalem because Jesus was raised from the dead that first Easter, nevertheless, the question is an important one because it pushes us to face a more fundamental question. How do we know that Christianity is true? Why are you a Christian? And why does any of this really matter since faith is supposedly a subjective and merely personal thing often disconnected from a factual basis?

Paul’s response to Corinthian skepticism and confusion regarding our Lord’s resurrection is to declare that Jesus has been raised, bodily, from the dead. We know this to be the case because the evidence for it is overwhelming. The tomb in which Jesus had been buried was empty despite the fact that a huge stone sealed the tomb’s entrance, and that the Romans placed a guard at the tomb. We also know that Jesus was raised from the dead because the risen Lord appeared visibly to all the apostles, to over five hundred people at one time, and then finally to Paul, who considered himself completely unworthy of such an honor. Paul not only appeals to the fact that he himself saw the resurrected Jesus while traveling on the road to Damascus, Paul also appeals to the fact that most of the five hundred people who saw Jesus were still alive–the implication being that the Corinthians knew who many of these people were, and that the events associated with the gospel were not only true, they were common knowledge.

In verses 20-28 of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes Christ’s resurrection as the firstfruits of a great harvest yet to come. Death may have come through Adam, but Jesus (the second Adam) has been raised from the dead. And not only has Jesus been raised from the dead, so will all those who trust in him–all those “in Christ.” On the first Easter Sunday, Jesus defeated death and the grave, he destroyed our last and greatest enemy as death itself was vanquished, the new creation dawned, and we enter the final period of human history, awaiting our Lord’s return when all things are put in subjection under his feet. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

To read the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerMarch 24, 20251 Corinthians 15:20-34, Christ has been raisedComment

"The Gospel: Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection" A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

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 suffered on a Roman cross, died as a payment for our sins, was buried, and then was raised from the dead by God after three days as proof that his death turned aside God’s wrath toward sinners. And all this, Paul says, is in accordance with the Scriptures (the Old Testament). The gospel is a nonnegotiable and fundamental article of the Christian faith. To deny it is to reject the Christian faith.

When Easter rolls around, I often look at the flyers and social media from neighborhood churches to examine the sermon topics for Easter Sunday. I am amazed and saddened by how many local churches virtually ignore the biblical emphasis on the empty tomb and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, which is both a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith and an objective fact of history. Instead, many churches focus on the so-called “Easter experience” of the apostles. If the meaning of Easter is the experience and change of heart felt by Jesus’s apostles—who at first did not believe, but then later did so—then Easter is yet another experience that we can share with the early followers of Jesus. For these folks, Easter is a time of new beginnings, a time to change our life’s course. Sadly, it is not the account of a crucified savior raised from the dead who came to save us from our sins.

But to remove the resurrection from ordinary history and proclaim it as an example to follow, or to downplay or ignore the fact that Jesus was crucified, dead, buried, and was then raised bodily to life for the forgiveness of our sins, robs the resurrection of any redemptive-historical and biblical significance. The first Easter is not about an experience the apostles had in which we can share; rather, it is the apostles’s account of Jesus being raised bodily from the dead. The empty tomb tells us that Jesus’s death was the payment for our sins, the new creation has dawned, and God has conquered our greatest enemy, death, by overturning the curse. Easter is not an experience in which we share; the bodily resurrection of Jesus is both a fact of history and a biblical doctrine that we must believe.

To see the show notes and listen to this episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerMarch 10, 2025Christ's resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:11Comment

Paul and the Charismatics

In Chapters 12-14 of his First Letter to the Corinthians (recently featured on The Blessed Hope Podcast), Paul addresses a number of matters often associated with contemporary charismatics and Pentecostals. What follows are the issues covered in the five episodes of the Blessed Hope listed below.

Some of the Ground Covered In the Blessed Hope Episodes

Paul’s approach to properly understand spiritual things begins with an acknowledgment of Christ’s Lordship (1 Corinthians 12:3).
He addresses spiritual things (especially the Corinthian misunderstanding of them) before discussing spiritual gifts. It is clear that Paul’s concern is to correct the Corinthian’s erroneous views of spiritual matters (which, in Corinth, was often tied to pagan practices—like ecstatic religious experience, and conduct in the churches sadly reflecting what goes on in the pagan temples in and around the city).
Paul is not a strict cessationist, since chapters 12-14 of First Corinthians give practical instructions to the church about the use, function, and purpose of spiritual gifts. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to desire these gifts (especially the higher ones), since they build up the body of Christ, equip church officers for service, and enable us to better love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
But Paul does imply that the apostolic office is not a perpetual one (1 Corinthians 12:28-32—especially in light of of 1 Timothy 3:1-12), and those gifts typically associated with that office (miracles and healing) have ordinarily ceased. Extraordinary manifestations of these gifts certainly remains possible—but rare.
After enumerating a list of the various gifts given by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11), Paul is clear that love for our fellow believers is the glue which holds the church (unity) with its diversity of spiritual gifts together (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).

To read the rest, follow the link below

“They Will Think You Are Crazy” The Next Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Up! (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 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 read several passages from Acts 2 and from 1 Corinthians 12-14 and told us that these verses were proof that the gift is “biblical,” “for today,” and enabled you to by-pass the clutter of the mind to commune with God “in the Spirit.” He then told us, if you’d like to speak in tongues here’s what you do. You start by saying “kitty, kitty, kitty,” until the Spirit took over and gave you your prayer language. The room was suddenly filled with people speaking gibberish, swaying, acting as though under the influence, crying, and making contorted faces as they spoke. I wasn’t having it, and quietly slipped out.

Years later, after my biblical knowledge increased, I realized that the “afterglow” I witnessed that night was very much like what Paul was instructing the Corinthians not to do in the last half of 1 Corinthians 14. There was no interpretation of any of these tongues, though several attendees did offer exhortations of their own utterances, but which very much sounded like Christianese made up on the fly. Everyone spoke at once, and the whole room was filled with tongue-speakers, not merely two or three in order. I was a Christian and still thought these people were crazy. I can only imagine what an unbeliever would think.

Once TBN graced the airwaves (emanating from Orange County) tongue-speaking was now televised. This time, tongue-speaking was not done in a worship service but was part of the regular programming and often conflated with predictive prophesy– “the Lord will do this or that, and heal this one or that one.” The interpretation was almost always supplied by the tongue-speaker. The low point came during a televised “anointing service” held at Oral Roberts University in which three older Word-Faith evangelists (Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin Sr. and T. L. Osborn) anointed three younger Word-Faith evangelists (Kenneth Hagin Jr, Kenneth Copeland, and Richard Roberts). Once anointed, the men acted as though in a drunken stupor, spoke in tongues (one of which sounded like the Cab Calloway’s riff from the Blues Brothers–scubity-do, scubity-do--scubity-do). Not a known language. A VHS recording of this made the rounds and to no one’s surprise, the universal assessment was “these people are crazy.”

This is why a study of Paul’s instructions to the churches on 1 Corinthians 14:20-40 about the proper use of prophesy and tongue-speaking is about as practical a matter as one can find. Paul would have none of this. Neither should we.

To read the show notes and listen to the episode follow the link below

"Speaking in Tongues" -- a New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast (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 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) that tongue-speaking was the manifestation of ecstatic religious experiences from which tongues spontaneously came forth. Much of what he has written in chapters 12-14 has been to correct false Corinthian notions about the “spiritual,” informing the Corinthians that gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for the benefit of the recipient, but for the strengthening of the church. These gifts enabled Christians to love one another, and equip officers and others in the church for the building up of the body of Christ. Chapter 14 is the conclusion to Paul’s extended instructions about these matters.

But what exactly is “speaking in tongues?” Is it a language known or unknown to the speaker? Is it a heavenly or angelic language? Paul disabused the Corinthians of that notion in chapter 13. Is it some sort of ecstatic speech? Are tongues an untranslatable utterance (divine gibberish) which must be interpreted by someone with the Spirit enabled gift of interpretation? Given the inability of commentators across time to agree on just what exactly Paul is describing, we cannot be certain as to how the gift operated in the Corinthian church–especially since tongue speaking ceased in the churches by the mid-second century. There are plausible theories, but I am not confident anyone really knows. But then Paul does say, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” So the matter cannot be dismissed.

What we can say for sure is that when someone has a private, subjective, religious experience and speaks forth an ecstatic utterance, that person cannot then appeal to the New Testament and claim that what they are doing is what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14. Nor can they claim that their experience is how we ought to practice tongue-speaking today. Instead, we work from biblical teaching about tongues to explain what tongue-speaking is and how we ought to utilize the gift in both public and private settings. Paul assumes the Corinthians know what tongues is–they’ve seen it. But since he does not explain in detail what this gift is, we should be cautious and charitable in our assessments.

To see the show notes, recommended links, and listen to this episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerFebruary 10, 2025Speaking in tongues, 1 Corinthians 14L1-19Comment

"The Greatest of These Is Love" (1 Corinthians 13:1-13) A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Up!

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 powerful sense of brotherhood and unity when they join together for a worthwhile cause. Sadly, these images are far from the biblical meaning of love (agape)–an emotion which issues forth in action. Agape arises in our hearts not from romantic or sentimental feelings, but from reflecting upon the bloody cross of Good Friday through which God redeems unlovable sinners–people like us who are anything but worthy of the love which God showers upon us in Christ’s work of redemption.

Paul will make the case that love (agape) is the glue which holds the divided Corinthian congregation together during their current time of distress. Despite all the tensions present in the Corinthian congregation, the church’s members are the temple of the living God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and given gifts of the Spirit to equip them for service, and to enable them to properly and faithfully love one another.

This type of love, Paul says, will continue on in Christ’s church until the perfect comes. Paul is not a cessationist–the gifts of the Spirit no longer manifest themselves in the church when the New Testament is completed, or after God’s people reach a certain level of spiritual maturity. Those gifts enumerated by Paul in chapters 12-14 remain active in the church until Jesus returns. Granted, there are no more apostles (and those gifts associated with that office, miracles and healing, have ordinarily ceased), but there are ministers, elders, and deacons, who are equipped through the various gifts of the Spirit to rule and serve in Christ’s church until the Lord of the church returns.

Meanwhile, Christ’s church is to be a body of redeemed saints, who are to grow strong together and serve one another in love as equipped by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Tongues, prophecy, and knowledge will all pass away when the Lord returns (i.e., the coming of the perfect). Until then, faith, hope, and love will abide, but the greatest of these is love.

To see the show notes and listen to the podcast, follow the link below:

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerJanuary 27, 2025Love is the greatist, When the perfect comes, 1 Corinthians 13Comment

"Baptism in the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast!

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 of first century Corinth, we too struggle to find true unity in a world rife with division of all sorts. Because of human sin, the only way unity can be obtained is through force or coercion (“agree or else”), deception (like that of a false religion), or through a “kumbaya” unity (a superficial sentimentalism). The bad news is there will be no earthly utopia this side of Christ’s second advent. The good news is that God does provide us with a true unity based upon our common faith in Jesus Christ realized in the church through the person and work of the Holy Spirit. And while this unity is imperfectly realized in this life, nevertheless, in Christ’s church, God takes a whole host of diverse and different people and baptizes them in the Holy Spirit into one body, the church of Jesus Christ.

The root problem in the Corinthian church is that although many have come to confess that “Jesus is Lord,” they struggle to stop thinking and acting like the pagans they once were. Because factions have formed in the church, Paul must address the question of unity (that the body of Christ is one) while pointing out that the Holy Spirit gives a variety of gifts of the Spirit to the church’s members according to the will of God. God creates both unity and diversity by baptizing his people in the Holy Spirit when they confess that Jesus is Lord. He then signs and seals that baptism to believers and their children in Christian baptism. Where the sign is present (water), so too we believe the reality is present (union with Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit).

Paul also must deal with the fact that many of the Corinthians thought possessing certain gifts of the Spirit was a sign of their own importance and status. Paul corrects this misguided notion by connecting the “higher gifts” to God’s call of certain men to the offices of minister, elder, and deacon. He must also remind them that all of the members of the church are given at least one gift, making the least of them (in the eyes of others) an essential member of the congregation with gifts which are important to the whole. Every member and every gift they’ve been given is vital to Christ’s church.

There may be no utopia this side of the Lord’s return, but Jesus does establish a new society in his church–one in which there is both unity (their confession that Jesus is Lord) and diversity (each possesses gifts of the Spirit).

To read the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerJanuary 13, 2025Baptism in the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31Comment

"Gifts of the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast!

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 in the speaking with tongues, and those who thought such a thing was demonic and who did everything in their power to stamp out the movement before it could spread. Thankfully, that controversy has long since died down. It amazes me that I am able to tackle this now with little if any sense of controversy. What was once considered to be a very controversial subject is no longer–although we ought not allow the dormancy to make us complacent. These kinds of movements come in waves.

Throughout my years as a pastor, one of the most common questions from visitors and those checking out Christ Reformed Church was “do you think the gifts of the Spirit still operate today?” That sort of question is almost always asked by those who think the gifts do still operate and then head for the door if you say something like, “the gifts of the Spirit ceased at the end of the apostolic age, or at the close of the Canon of Scripture.” My answer often took inquirers by surprise: “Yes the gifts still operate today, but there are no more apostles.” That was to say that the more sensational (dare I say “spectacular”) gifts, like miracles and healing, were tied to the apostolic office. Once the Apostles gave way to ministers, elders, and deacons, these gifts were no longer normative in the church. But, yes, God still gives spiritual gifts to his people to build up the church and in service of others. A number of them are enumerated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

As Paul takes up the next question put to him by the delegation from Corinth beginning in 1 Corinthians 12:1, he addresses the matter of spiritual things (the pneumata) and spiritual gifts (the charismata). The apostle will do several things in the opening section of this chapter (vv.1-11)–he will address the Corinthian’s faulty view of spiritual things (often more pagan than Christian), as well as inform them of the nature, character, and proper use of spiritual gifts in the church. These gifts are given to build up the body of Christ and enable believers to properly love one another. The gifts were not given to allow some in the church to demonstrate their superior piety, their self-importance, or their willingness to disrupt the worship service. The Corinthians must correct the abuses of these gifts and that starts with the affirmation that “Jesus is Lord.”

To read the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

"The Lord's Supper" -- A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast! (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 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 the Supper was being celebrated in such an improper way that what was being done was not the Lord’s Supper and was actually doing more harm than good.

In this section of Paul’s Corinthian letter we find a description of how Christians in the apostolic age were to celebrate the Supper in Christian worship. Paul explains the words of institution given by Jesus just twenty years previously– “this is my body,” “this is my blood.” The Lords Supper is the new covenant fulfillment of the Passover meal centering upon eating the bread and drinking the wine wherein the signs (the bread and wine) are taken as though they were the thing signified, (Christ’s body and blood). And through faith what has been promised by Jesus, is actually received by his people.

Paul rebukes the Corinthians for the fiasco which the celebration of the Lord’s Supper had become, and he offers a number of common sense practical ways in which the Supper ought to be celebrated. Each member was to partake, they were to discern the body of Christ, and the service was to be conducted in an orderly manner when the church assembled on the Lord’s Day.

To see the show notes and listen to the podcast, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerDecember 9, 2024The Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34Comment

A New Episode of the Blessed Hope: “Head Coverings and Modesty in Worship” – 1 Corinthians:11:1-16

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 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. One obvious way to show this quest for personal freedom was for a woman to wear her hair down (long and flowing) in public or during pagan sacrifices, and not put it up in a bun or wear the traditional head covering. We think nothing about such things today, but for a woman to wear her hair down in public in Corinth was scandalous in Paul’s day.

This section of Paul’s Corinthian letter (the first half of chapter eleven) raises the question of style, fashion, and propriety in worship. Should the Christian women in Corinth seek to follow those pushing the envelope by exposing their hair in public? Paul’s answer is “no.” Christian women are to dress and wear their hair in ways which reflect the doctrine of creation. Adam was created first, so Christian men in Corinth were not to cover their heads in prayer or while prophesying, while women were to show submission to Christ and to their husbands by dressing modestly–in Greco-Roman culture that meant wearing your hair up or wearing a head covering when in public settings.

Paul could never envision a cultural situation such as our own where women are societal equals to men. Although the particulars of first-century culture and clothing cannot be made to fit current trends–given advances of women’s status and modern fabrics and clothing, the general principle remains binding across time–Christians are to acknowledge the distinctions between men and women, and are to wear nothing in worship which might identify the wearer as a devotee of any sort of pagan religion. For Paul, this means modesty in dress and in spirit.

To see the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerNovember 25, 2024headcoverings, propriety in worshipComment

"The Bread, the Wine, and the Glory of God" A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast (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–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 were still attending both the Christian sacrament as well as pagan sacrifices. To those claiming to worship Jesus but still engaging in pagan practices, Paul extends a very stern warning. You cannot partake of Christ’s body and blood and still participate in pagan sacrifices. If you do so, you will provoke the Lord to jealousy just as Israel did in the wilderness. Paul is emphatic in his warning to the Corinthians–flee from idolatry or face the consequences.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that since an idol is nothing, what benefit can people gain from eating at the pagan feast where sacrifices are offered to demons? The apostle’s concern is that for Christians, the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament of unity–one cup, one bread, one body. Christians all partake of the same elements together–bread and wine–as one body, which Paul describes as a participation in Christ’s body and blood. How can members of Christ’s body still offer sacrifices to imaginary idols while professing faith in Christ? They cannot.

In 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1, Paul deals with the very practical matter of buying meat or eating in another’s home. How do you know whether what you are consuming has been used in a sacrifice to idols? Paul offers a very practical solution–don’t ask. If the source of the food is unknown then go ahead and eat without so much as a twinge of conscience. But if you are told that the food had in fact been used in a pagan sacrifice, then do not eat it as a matter of conscience. His conclusion is simple and profound, whatever you eat or drink, says Paul, do all to the glory of God.

To see the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerNovember 11, 2024Bread and Wine, Do all to the glory to GodComment

"Christ Was The Rock" -- In This New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast, Paul Shows Us How to Read the Old Testament (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 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 wilderness on their way to the promised land of Canaan. For Paul, this is an important period in Israel’s history because it illustrates and foretells the future course of redemptive history–something with which all Christians (like those in Corinth) should be familiar.

In this section of his Corinthian letter, Paul reinterprets all of these events in Israel’s history in light of the coming of Jesus and the dawn of a new exodus to the heavenly city. Paul tells us that the exodus and Israel’s time in the wilderness is both an example and a warning to those in Corinth who seek to indulge their sinful urges, who seek to hang on to as much of their pagan past as they can, and who grumble at the fact that God calls them to leave behind any and all attraction to Greco-Roman paganism.

Paul realizes that the pagan temptation is great. But as the Corinthians are warned to separate themselves from the sort of pagan revelry in which Israel engaged, then so too are we. Unlike the ancient Israelites who remained Egyptians in their hearts, we must focus upon Christ and follow him as as he leads us through the wilderness of this present evil age to the glories of the age to come. Jesus has promised to rescue us from the temptations we face, and tells us that he will never give us more than we can endure. Jesus has given us his word and sacraments to sustain us, just as he provided Israel with water and the manna from heaven.

To see the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerOctober 28, 2024Christ Was the RockComment

"All Things to All People" (1 Corinthians 9:1-27) -- A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast!

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 myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

In this chapter, Paul defends his apostolic office and explains his methods and purposes to the Corinthians. Recall that Paul had spent a fair bit of time in Corinth, but has been in Ephesus for several years. During his time away, many in Corinth had fallen back into pagan ways and began challenging Paul’s authority and integrity. One thing Paul must do as he addresses the various struggles facing the Corinthians is to remind them of his own calling to share the gospel with both Jew and Gentile.

Paul is an apostle who has seen the risen Lord. Everything he has done has been to further the cause of Jesus Christ and the gospel. Paul has consistently put the needs of others first and foremost–something which Paul also expects of the Corinthians. Although entitled to financial support, Paul took nothing from them while in Corinth in order to set an example to the strong as to how they should treat the weak. Paul is concerned to run the race and win the prize so that by all means he may win more to Christ.

To see the show notes and listen to the podcast, follow the link below

"The Strong and Weak" The Latest Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast Is Up! What to Do About the Weaker Brother in 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 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 found it difficult to socialize with one another even within the body of Christ. But in this section of Paul’s Corinthian letter (chapter 8), we encounter yet another kind of division–that between the strong and the weak.

The strong were those who understood that if God created all things, then the idols invented by pagans were nothing but lifeless statues, with assorted trinkets and amulets, and pointless ceremonies and useless sacrifices. There is no occult reality behind these images and the temples which housed them. Therefore, why should Christians not be free to eat the leftover meat and food which the pagans sacrificed to their imaginary gods. The weak, on the other hand, were those who had trouble understanding how any Christian could eat food that had come remotely near a pagan feast or temple–seeing such food as possessing an occult reality.

Paul warns the strong (who are correct about the falsity of pagan religion) not to attempt to coerce the weak to violate their consciences, as that might destroy the faith of those (the weak) who have not yet advanced in their knowledge of the Christian faith sufficiently to leave such concerns behind. Until the weak Corinthian Christians gain sufficient knowledge to dismiss paganism as the mere superstition which it is, Paul challenges the strong to put the weak first and give up the freedom to eat all foods. In light of the harm the strong can bring upon those weak in faith, Paul tells the strong that just because they are free to eat all things, doesn’t mean that they should. This is not about food but about the circumstances in which it is eaten.

To see the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerSeptember 30, 2024The Weak and the StrongComment

Another Milestone!

The Blessed Hope Podcast feed on Buzzsprout has just passed 50K downloads! Not bad for a niche podcast doing a deep dive into the letters of Paul. Thanks to those of who listen, and please keep telling others about the pod because word of mouth recommendations really do work! And if you haven’t listened to the pod yet, give it a try — the Blessed Hope Podcast, available on your favorite podcast feed!

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerSeptember 17, 202450K downloads on Buzzsprout Comment

"You Can't Unscramble Eggs" -- A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Is Up! 1 Corinthians 7:17-40, and Paul's Instructions to Christians In Times of Trial

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 to end an engagement because the time of the end might be drawing near? What about those widowed, single, or divorced? Now that they are Christians, what are they to seek to do? Paul tells them all to “stay put.” What they’ve done, they’ve done. And as he cautions them, when a crisis is at hand, that is not the time to make big changes.

Paul is addressing a congregation in the midst of serious difficulties of some sort–a regional famine or the consequences of the divisions the church was then facing. Paul assumes his readers know to what he is referring, so he offers little clarification. But what he does offer is wise advice for those bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. Slaves ought not seek immediate freedom–in Christ they are free people. Gentiles ought not seek to be circumcised–now in Christ, the old covenant sign has been replaced by baptism. And for the time being, the unmarried ought not seek to get married–at least until the crisis has come to an end.

Paul tells the Corinthians to wait for the crisis in Corinth to be resolved before they make major life changing decisions. Christians would be wise to wait for things to sort themselves out, and then make an informed and not a rash decision about significant events in their lives. Paul’s instructions make plain that he’s not concerned with fixing all those things new converts may have done in the past, but rather with teaching them the traditions passed down so that they learn how to live the Christian life and become better able to move forward in their lives now set free from the guilt and power of sin.

To see the show notes and listen to this episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerSeptember 16, 20241 Corinthians 7:17-40, Stay Where You Are When CalledComment

“Mixed Marriages, `Holy’ Spouses and Children” A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast Covering 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, 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–problems which were not specifically addressed in the Old Testament or in the teaching of Jesus.

A number of such questions surface in Corinth–as we have seen. But one pressing matter facing the Corinthians is what should happen when one party to a marriage comes to faith in Jesus Christ, while the other spouse does not, creating a so-called “mixed-marriage.” Should the believer leave or divorce the unbeliever if they refuse to convert to Christianity? And what, exactly, is a Christian spouse’s status if their unbelieving spouse divorces them because of their new-found faith in Jesus Christ? Must they remain single and celibate until the deserting spouse dies?

And an even bigger question arises. What about the children of mixed marriages? What is their standing in the church and what is their status before God? Are they members of the covenant of grace, and therefore eligible for all of the benefits thereof, while assuming all the responsibilities of covenant membership? Are they eligible to receive the sign and seal of that gracious covenant, which is baptism?

Paul answers these questions by appealing to the “holy” status of a partner to a mixed marriage and applying that same status to the children of such a union. How can an unbeliever be said to be “holy.” How can Paul affirm that of children who are born in original sin? To make his case, Paul grounds this “holiness” in the Old Testament’s principle of covenant authority–the believing parent’s authority over those in the household and as seen in the five household baptisms found in the New Testament.

To see the show notes and listen to the episode, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerSeptember 2, 20241 Corinthians 7:14, Holy Children and spouses, Covenant authorityComment

New Devotional by Trevin Wax -- Reading Through the Letters of Paul in 30 Days

A new devotional based on the Letters of Paul, and prepared by Trevin Wax, is now available.

If you are a listener to the Blessed Hope Podcast you know that in every episode, I urge listeners to read through the letters of Paul (especially as we go through them), or listen to them read aloud. Trevin Wax has made reading all of Paul’s letters a bit easier to do. Wax has arranged Paul’s letters (along with several devotional elements) in short readings so that you can make your way through all the letters of Paul in but thirty days. I highly recommend this volume to you (albeit with a couple of minor caveats), if you are a listener to the Blessed Hope.

Caveat # 1: In order to make it through the body of Paul’s letters in 30 days, Wax suggests three readings per day (morning, noon, and evening). This is great for a disciplined reader or someone who is retired or works from home. This was done to achieve the goal of reading all of Paul in 30 days—a bit artificial. But I see no reason why you couldn’t set your own pace and do one reading per day and thereby read all of Paul’s letters in 90 days (Wax acknowledges this).

To read the rest, follow the link below