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.

Last refreshed: July 20th, 2025 at 1:29 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

The Book of Galatians -- Episode Nine: "Two Women, Two Mountains, Two Covenants, Two Cities" (Galatians 4:21-31)

Paul understood Israel’s history and the biblical accounts of Moses and Abraham one way before his conversion, and in an entirely different way after. Once Jesus had come, fulfilled his messianic mission, and called Paul to faith, Paul’s understanding of the Old Testament completely changed. In Ephesians 4:21-31, Paul speaks of two women (Sarah and Hagar), two mountains (Zion and Sinai), two covenants (Abraham and Moses), and two cities (the Jerusalem above and the earthly city of Jerusalem). No...

Jun 25, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 9

The Book of Galatians -- Episode Eight: "Do You Really Want to Go Back to Slavery?" (Galatians 4:1-20)

Paul’s question to those listening to the agitators in Galatia is simple but profound. “What has happened to all of your joy?” Paul is referring to that joy the Galatians 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. The Galatians received the gospel with great joy. There was Christian liberty. But then the Judaizers came....

Jun 10, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 8

The Book of Galatians -- 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 annual the prior covenant God made with Abraham. But, at some point in his Galatian letter, Paul must address the question, “why then did God give the law?” The law, he says, was given for a particular period in redemptive history (from the time of Moses to until the coming of Jesus Christ) and plays a v...

May 30, 2022•56 min•Season 1Ep. 7

The Book of Galatians -- 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 like Jews in order to be justified–Paul makes a series of important distinctions in his letter to the Galatians. He contrasts faith and works, the Spirit and the flesh, the law and the gospel, as well as carefully distinguishing 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 w...

May 16, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 6

The Book of Galatians -- Episode Five: "Abraham Believed God" (Galatians 3:1-9)

Paul identifies all those who believe his gospel as “sons of Abraham”–which includes both Jews and Gentiles. But he does not include those who seek to be right before God on the basis of works of the law, which Paul has declared, do not justify. The Judaizers have been spying on the Galatians Christian liberty. Gentile Christians in these churches do not 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 justifi...

Apr 30, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 5

The Book of Galatians -- Episode Four: "Paul Confronts Peter in Antioch" (Galatians 2:11-2:21)

Peter enjoyed table fellowship with Gentiles until men from James pressured him to withdraw from table fellowship with them. Even Barnabas felt the pressure to distance himself from the unclean–those not circumcised. He too grew hesitant to eat with Gentiles. Paul knew that if the Judaizers got wind of this, they would claim that Peter’s actions proved that Paul’s gospel was a novelty. Paul, they could argue, was preaching something new and different from that which the Apostles (and the Jerusal...

Apr 18, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 4

The Book of Galatians -- Episode Three: "Paul's Conversion, Visit to Jerusalem, and the Gentile Mission" (Galatians 1:11-2:10)

Paul was well-known to the Galatians. He came into Galatia preaching the gospel revealed to him by Jesus Christ. The Galatians knew Paul. He stayed with them for a time. He lived with them, he ate with them, prayed with them, and preached to them. When he fell ill, they nursed him back to health and once he had recovered, they sent him on his way. No doubt, they prayed for Paul and encouraged him when he left Galatia to continue his work elsewhere as Apostle to the Gentiles. But after Paul left ...

Apr 04, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 3

The Book of Galatians -- Episode Two: "No Other Gospel" (Galatians 1:1-10)

What would you do if an angel suddenly appeared to you and proclaimed a gospel much different from that gospel which Paul preached to the Galatians? What would you do if one of your closest friends or a family member encourages you to listen to a celebrity, a life coach, an influencer, or a religious teacher who proclaims a message different from that taught by Paul? What would you do if a well-known Bible teacher or preacher, perhaps someone in your church, or even your own pastor, teaches a go...

Mar 21, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 2

The Book of Galatians -- Episode One: “An Introduction to Galatians -- Who, When, What, and Why?"

The Apostle Paul preached the gospel revealed to him by Jesus Christ throughout the region we know as Galatia. But soon after Paul left Galatia, he began hearing disturbing reports about false teachers who came into the region, undermining his apostolic office, and challenging the gospel he had previously preached to the Galatians. In the first episode of our series – “Introduction to the Book of Galatians,” often known as “The Magna Carta of Christian liberty” – I ask and answer four basic ques...

Mar 07, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 1

The Premier Episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast

This is the premier episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast! In this episode, I ask and answer the question, "why another podcast?" "Why The Blessed Hope?" First, I explain why I think it important to study the biblical text in detail, yet in a non-technical way Second, I set out the ground I hope to cover in the episodes of season one (and perhaps, beyond) Third, I'll give you some great resources and background material in the show notes to help you learn more about the ground we will be covering ...

Mar 02, 2022•22 min0

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