Posts in Blessed Hope Podcast
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Eight: "Do You Want to Go Back to Slavery?" (Galatians 4:1-20)
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Eight: "Do You Want to Go Back to Slavery?" (Galatians 4:1-20)

Paul’s question to those listening to the agitators in Galatia is a profound but simple one. “What has happened to all of your joy?” Paul is referring to that joy they had experienced together with Paul when he first preached the gospel to them. These people were Paul’s spiritual children. He loved them, and he thought they loved him. They took him in when he had been felled by illness. There was much joy. And then the Judaizers came. Do the Galatians really want to follow them and return to slavery?

To listen to this episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast, follow the link below

Read More
Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerLegalism, The Book of Galatians, Galatians 4:1-20Comment
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Seven: "Why the Law?" (Galatians 3:19-29)
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Seven: "Why the Law?" (Galatians 3:19-29)

Paul has made his case that all believing Jews and Gentiles are children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul has also made the point that the giving of the law at Mount Sinai does not annul the prior covenant God made with Abraham.

But, at some point in this letter, Paul must address the question, “why then did God give the law?” The law, he says, was given for a particular time in redemptive history (Moses to Christ) and plays a vital role (to expose sin), which he is about to explain. The law, Paul says, functions as a guardian until Christ comes. The law exposes and incites sin. But once faith has come, God’s people are in a new era in redemptive history (of the new covenant in which the promises to Abraham have been fulfilled) and it is only after the coming of Jesus Christ, that we can see the law’s true purpose.

To listen to this episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast and check out the show notes, follow the link below

To listen to previous podcasts in this series on Galatians, go here: The Blessed Hope Podcast

Read More
Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerWhy the Law of God?, Circumcision and Baptism, Galatians 3:19-29 Comments
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Six: "Christ Became a Curse for Us" (Galatians 3:10-18)
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Six: "Christ Became a Curse for Us" (Galatians 3:10-18)

To correct the error of the Judaizers–which is to insist that Gentiles undergo circumcision and live as Jews—Paul makes a series of important distinctions in his letter to the Galatians. The Apostle contrasts faith and works, the spirit and the flesh, the law and the gospel. He also carefully distinguishes between the covenants God made with Abraham (in which Abraham was reckoned as righteous), and the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai, (in which the law of God was given to his people).

The covenant God made with Abraham is gracious, while the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai is closely tied to the blessing/curse principle. The Judaizers conflated these two covenants, thereby mistakenly seeing the sign and seal of God’s gracious covenant with Abraham (circumcision), through the lens of the blessing/curse principle, thereby turning circumcision into a meritorious work.

To listen to this episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast and check out the show notes, follow the link below

To listen to previous podcasts in this series on Galatians, go here: The Blessed Hope Podcast

Read More
Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerChrist's redemption, Christ became a curse
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Five: "Abraham Believed God" (Galatians 3:1-9)
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Five: "Abraham Believed God" (Galatians 3:1-9)

Paul calls all who believe his gospel “sons of Abraham,” which includes both believing Jews and Gentiles. But Paul does not include those who seek to be right before God and the basis of works of the law, which Paul has just declared in Galatians 2:16, do not justify.

The Judaizers were spying on the Galatians’ Christian liberty. Christians in these churches do not, apparently, follow a kosher diet, they do not observe the feasts of Israel, and there is no requirement that Gentiles be circumcised in order to be justified, or declared “right with God.” Jews and Gentiles worship together, eat together, and embrace the same gospel, without, according to the Judaizers, proper observance of the law of Moses–the reason why they were so vocally challenging Paul’s authority and his gospel.

In response, Paul turns to the account of Abraham, who, in Genesis 15:6, believed God and was reckoned as “righteous.” Paul appeals to the story of Abraham to refute the Judaizing idea that those justified before God, are such, because of obedience to “works of the law.” Abraham is the” man of faith” and the spiritual father of all who believe the gospel. The same gospel, Paul says, which YHWH preached to Abraham and which was foretold through the Scriptures.

How can uncircumcised Gentiles be identified as “children of Abraham”? Paul is about to tell us.

To listen to this episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast and check out the show notes, follow the link below

To listen to previous podcasts in this series on Galatians, go here: The Blessed Hope Podcast

Read More
Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerJustification by faith, Chirldren of AbrahamComment
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Four: "Paul Confronts Peter, Table Fellowship with Gentiles, and Paul's Doctrine of Justification" (Galatians 2:11-21)
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Four: "Paul Confronts Peter, Table Fellowship with Gentiles, and Paul's Doctrine of Justification" (Galatians 2:11-21)

Peter’s confrontation with Peter in Antioch was a remarkable event, not only in the Apostolic era, but one with huge ramifications down to the present day. In the fourth episode of our series on Galatians, we work our way through Galatians 2:11-21. In this episode we tackle Paul’s conflict with Peter, the issue of table fellowship with Gentiles, the New Perspective on Paul’s misreading of the dispute, before we turn to Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith and not by works (v. 16). This is a packed episode divided into two parts (about 40 minutes in).

To listen to episode four follow the link below

To see the previous episodes in this series, The Blessed Hope Podcast

Read More
Blessed Hope PodcastKim Riddlebargerjustification, Response to New Perspective, Paul and Peter, Table Tellowship, Confrontation at AntiochComment
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Three: "Paul's Conversion, Visit to Jerusalem, and the Gentile Mission" (Galatians 1:11-2:10)
The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Three: "Paul's Conversion, Visit to Jerusalem, and the Gentile Mission" (Galatians 1:11-2:10)

In the third episode of our series on Galatians, we take a look at Paul’s defense of his apostolic office in the face of direct challenges to his gospel from the Judaizers in Galatia. In this section of Galatians (Galatians 1:11-2:10), Paul recounts his call and conversion, his early ministry in Damascus and Arabia, his two post-conversion trips to Jerusalem when he met with the other apostles, and his time in Syrian Antioch and Cilicia (an area which includes Paul’s hometown, Tarsus).

To listen to this episode, follow the link below

To see the other episodes in this series, Click Here

Read More
Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerPaul's call, Paul's conversion, Paul and the Twelve, Paul In Damascus and Jerusalem Comments
Coming Soon! The Blessed Hope Podcast
Coming Soon! The Blessed Hope Podcast

I have been thinking about doing a podcast for some time, and have decided to go ahead. I hope to launch the Blessed Hope at some point after Easter, tentatively in mid-April (about a month out).

The Blessed Hope introductory episode will discuss the topics I’ll be covering, my goals and hopes for the podcast, as well as laying out my tentative schedule. There will be show notes accompanying each episode, with lots of bibliography, and a format to ask questions which I hope to answer in subsequent podcasts.

I’d be grateful, if you’d give the podcast a listen once it launches, and if you find it of value, spread the word! Watch for updates in the weeks ahead.

Read More
Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerBlessed Hope Podcast