The Blessed Hope Podcast -- with Dr. Kim Riddlebarger

Episode Synopsis:In chapter two of Paul’s first Thessalonian letter, Paul defends himself against accusations raised by those who had driven him from the city.  Paul is not just another itinerant philosopher who wanders throughout the land seeking to tickle ears and gain a following.  Paul’s conduct in Thessalonica was blameless and it should be clear to all that Paul not only labored among them but took nothing from them.  The gospel Paul preached was revealed to him by Jesus Christ and through that gospel, God’s calls his people to faith in the Son of God and includes them into his kingdom and glory.  But Paul then says a number of harsh things about those who sought to hinder him from preaching the gospel–the Jews.  These are some of the most controversial words in all of Paul’s letters.  In this jam-packed episode, we’ll discuss Paul’s example in Thessalonica, his doctrine of “calling” and its connection to the “kingdom of God,” and then we will address the charge that Paul was an anti-Semite, because of his harsh words about those who sought to prevent him from preaching the gospel.  For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Episode Synopsis:There is one thing a congregation dislikes even more than stewardship Sunday–a sermon on the wrath of God.  To proclaim that the wrath of God is coming upon the whole world (and it is) is be thought of as some sort of fundamentalist with the misguided faith of a snake-handler, or the mind-set of a Jihadi terrorist.  Any one who believes such a thing is considered a kooky zealot who probably carries around a sandwich-board sign which reads, “Repent, for the end is near!”Since Paul ties Christ’s second advent to the coming day of wrath, he creates very difficult problems for all forms of premillennialism–those who insist that Jesus’s Christ return will usher in a thousand year reign of Jesus upon the earth with the final judgment not occurring until the millennium comes to an end.  How does this fit with Paul’s declaration in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 that deliverance from the coming wrath of God occurs when Jesus returns?  (Hint, it doesn’t).  What does what does this say to those engaged in the “pre” and “post” trib debate, and to the dispensationalist expectation of a future seven-year tribulation period?We’ll tackle these issues and more in this edition of the Blessed Hope PodcastFor show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Synopsis of Episode Three:In the opening verses of his first Thessalonian letter, Paul sends warm greetings to those from whom he has recently departed.  This departure was not of his own doing.  After spending three Sabbaths in Thessalonica with this newly organized church, Paul was driven from the city by a “rentamob” organized by Jews in the city who saw the Christian missionaries, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, as a threat to the religion of Israel.  But Paul does something unexpected in the opening verses, speaking of the new and largely Gentile church as the “assembly of the Lord”–which is another way of speaking of this congregation as a fulfillment of God’s promise to redeem Israel in the messianic restoration foretold by Israel’s prophets.  Perhaps even more unexpected, Paul speaks of those who have turned from idol worship as “chosen by God,” another image drawn from the Old Testament.  A Gentile church in Thessalonica is depicted by Paul as the “assembly of the Lord,” composed of those “chosen by God,” included in true Israel.For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Synopsis of Episode Two:  “Paul’s Theological Categories”Paul was converted about 33 AD when Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus Road, revealing to Paul the content of the gospel he was to preach.  Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians was written around 50 AD, just short of twenty years after his conversion.  By this time, Paul has a settled theology–his basic theological categories are in place.  He applied these categories in Galatia in opposition to the Judaizers, and he now applies them in an entirely different set of circumstances in Thessalonica.  Paul is not making his doctrine up on the fly.  So, what was this “settled theology” and how does Paul apply these basic theological categories in his letters to the Thessalonians?For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Synopsis of Episode One:  “An Introduction to Paul’s Thessalonian Letters”We are about to embark on a study of Paul’s Thessalonian letters.  Our season two series is entitled “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven" (from 2 Thessalonians 1:7), a text which captures Paul emphasis in these two letters upon the key event in biblical eschatology — the second coming (advent) of the Lord Jesus Christ.Many of you know that in these two letters Paul discusses our Lord’s return in great detail–when and what happens when Jesus returns, the appearance of Antichrist, what happens on the Day of the Lord, and Paul’s warning about the coming wrath of God.  But I wonder how many of you have ever gone through the entire text of both these letters in any detail.  The context for Paul’s teaching on eschatological matters is a series of questions raised by a congregation of mostly Gentile Christians living mid-first century in the city of Thessalonica.  In this first episode of season two we’ll take a look at the Macedonia Call, Paul’s second missionary journey, and learn a bit about the Thessalonians and their city–men and woman who embraced the word of God as preached to them by Paul, who turned from serving idols to worshiping and serving the living God.  We’ll also learn a bit about the fierce opposition the apostle Paul faced while in Thessalonica, and how this opposition to his preaching lead to the gospel being proclaimed in other Greek cities including the heart of Greek history and culture, the city of Athens.For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

In this special episode of Season One on the Book of Galatians, I am offering listeners a free gift!  If you have made it through all fourteen episodes of the Blessed Hope series on the Book of Galatians, I am making available to you a free expositional commentary on the Book of Galatians, entitled, “For Freedom!”   Instructions and conditions for downloading are given in the podcast. Then, I offer a brief preview of Season Two of the Blessed Hope, in which, Lord willing, we will work our way through Paul’s two Thessalonian letters.Here's the link:   https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/the-blessed-hope-poFor show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

We’ve completed our fourteen-part series on the Book of Galatians.  But one question remains unanswered.  What happened after Paul sent his letter to the churches in Galatia?  In Acts 15, we get our answer.  The Judaizing heresy became an issue of concern far beyond Galatia.  In response, the Apostles and elders of the Jerusalem church convene a church assembly–known to us as the “Jerusalem Council.”  The assembled churches and their leaders wanted to hear from Paul about the great success of the Gentile mission.  But they must also address the controversy in the churches which arose precisely because so many Gentiles were coming to faith in Jesus Christ.  The question was being asked in many churches where there were also Jewish converts to Christianity present.  Must Gentile converts live as Jews?  How does the law of Moses apply to the people of God in light of the gospel?  Although Paul addressed these matters in his Galatian letter, the issues raised by the Judaizers were being debated throughout Judea and especially in Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas were currently ministering.  It became necessary for the collective churches to meet in Jerusalem and respond to on-going the Judaizing controversy.   In this episode I’ll also answer listener questions and offer a first-take critique of N. T. Wright’s new commentary on Galatians.https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/the-blessed-hope-podcastFor show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

In the first century Greco-Roman world crucifixion was something that polite and well mannered people didn’t talk about.  Considered a cruel instrument of torture and shame, nevertheless, the cross is the one thing about which the apostle Paul chooses to boast–not just any cross, but the cross of Jesus Christ, where the guilt and power of sin which enslaved us are removed and broken.  And yet, because it was an instrument of shame, Paul’s opponents in Galatia (the Judaizers) refuse to preach the cross of Christ.  Instead, they are champions of human merit earned through “works of the law.”  They boast about the number of coverts they have made, yet they neither obey the commandments nor can they see that the crucified and risen Jesus has ushered in the New Creation and established the true Israel of God.  We have indeed come to the end of Paul’s Galatian letter–the Magna Carta of Christian liberty.  Paul will point us to the cross of Christ, a fitting way to conclude our time in this remarkable letter.https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/the-blessed-hope-podcastFor show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

In the sixth and concluding chapter of Galatians, Paul addresses the fallout caused by the Judaizers spying on those throughout the region exercising their liberty in Christ.  It should not come as a surprise that the Judaizers would find people engaging in sinful conduct, shame them, and use them as examples of why Paul’s gospel supposedly leads to license and sinful behavior.  Paul instructs the leaders of the churches of Galatia to bear with those struggling with sin and work to restore them–not shame nor leave them to the Judaizing wolves.  Paul describes the actions of the Judaizers as sowing to the flesh and warms them that if they sow to the flesh, well then, then they will reap from the flesh.  God is not deceived.  Christians are to bear one another’s burdens and do those things which benefit their neighbors, especially those in the household of faith. https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/the-blessed-hope-podcastFor show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

In the last half of Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit.  In comparing the two lists, it sounds very much like the Apostle is describing two warring factions–which he is, the flesh against the Spirit.  The works of the flesh are the visible outcome of what it means to have a sinful nature.  Because we are “flesh” apart from God’s grace, this is what our lives will often look like.  They are characterized by all kinds of bad behavior.  Yet when we are delivered from the flesh by the death of Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit, the change from “in the flesh” to living “in the Spirit” manifests itself in the presence of the so-called “Fruit of the Spirit.”  If we walk in the Spirit, the Spirit will produce his fruit.  So what are these fruit, and what does it mean to walk in the Spirit?  We’ll tackle these questions and a few more in this episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast.https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/the-blessed-hope-podcastFor show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/