The Blessed Hope Podcast -- with Dr. Kim Riddlebarger | Podcast Guru

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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.

Recent Episodes

"No, Not One" Season Five/Episode Twelve (Romans 3:9-20)

Episode Synopsis: In Romans 1:18–32, Paul exposed the unrighteousness of the Gentiles. They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, suppress the truth in unrighteousness, and engage in all sorts of godless behavior. Then, in Romans 2:1–3:8, Paul turns the spotlight of the law upon the Jews, exposing the troubling fact that they are no better off than the Gentiles. While correct in recognizing the truth of Paul’s condemnation of the Gentiles, the Jews were doing many of t...

43 MIN

"The Advantages of the Jew" Season Five/Episode Eleven (Romans 3:1-8) + Bonus Material

Episode Synopsis: In the opening eight verses of Romans chapter 3, Paul continues to address the matter of Jewish hypocrisy by asking a series of rhetorical questions that have obvious answers. The Jews were given many blessings by God as beneficiaries of the national covenant he made with Israel at Mount Sinai—especially the covenant sign and seal of circumcision. Yet the Jews mistakenly assumed that the mere possession of these blessings protected them from the wrath of God tha...

35 MIN

"True Circumcision" Season Five/Episode Ten (Romans 2:17-29)

Episode Synopsis: Gentiles had a difficult time understanding why Jews would circumcise their male children. There was no Gentile heritage or memory of Abraham. Further complicating the situation was the fact that, among Jews in Rome—as with Jews across the Greco-Roman world—circumcision was understood to be a meritorious act. Those who were circumcised were numbered among the people of God, and those who were not were not. Imagine the difficulty of converting from Gentile ...

46 MIN

"Doers of the Law" Season Five/Episode Nine (Part Two of a Deep Dive Into Romans 2:1-16)

Episode Synopsis: Paul’s words in Romans 2:13 come as quite a shock to the Christian ear of those who have grown up with a theology that God is all-loving, but not holy in the sense described by Paul: “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” These words are enough to send shivers down the spine of any conscientious Christian willing to examine themselves in light of the demands of God’s law. How can ...

41 MIN

"Storing Up Wrath" Season Five/Episode Eight ( Romans 2:1-11)

Episode Synopsis: The church in Rome was predominately Gentile–made up of recent converts from Greco-Roman paganism to Christianity. Such Gentiles knew little if anything about the Old Testament, nor its central figures, Abraham, Moses, and David. They knew that Jewish Christians cared about dietary restrictions, as well as circumcision–a surgical procedure which seemed bizarre to former Gentile pagans. They knew the Jews revered the law of Moses–which they claimed to be the...

41 MIN