Today's passage is one of the "See For Yourself" passages Chapter 3 of Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity. 

If all religions lead to God, why did Jesus have to die? This episode walks through John 3:14–21 to show why the cross is not one option among many, but God’s gracious and necessary provision for a guilty world. Through Jesus’ nighttime conversation with Nicodemus and the Old Testament story of the bronze serpent, we see why believing in Jesus is the only way to escape condemnation and receive eternal life. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• The tension many Christians feel between “all religions are valid” and “Jesus is the only way” and why both cannot be true
• How Jesus challenges Nicodemus’ assumptions about religion, knowledge, and spiritual rebirth
• The wilderness story of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 and how it prepares us to understand the cross
• What it means for the Son of Man to be “lifted up,” and why simply looking to Christ in faith is God’s appointed way of rescue
• How John 3:16–17 reveals God’s heart: not to condemn the world, but to save it through His Son

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer grasp of why the cross was necessary, why belief in Jesus matters so profoundly, and how your response to Him reveals the true condition of your heart. 

 Series: Start Strong: A New Believer’s Podcast

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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Today's passage is one of the "See For Yourself" passages Chapter 2 of Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity. 

Why do you still feel guilty even after you’ve apologized and tried to move on? In this episode, Krisan Marotta walks through Romans 1:18–32 to show that guilt is more than a feeling to shake off—it’s the real and serious result of rebelling against a holy God. Paul’s words expose a pattern of rebellion, death, and wrath that explains why life unravels without God, and why real guilt can only be answered by real forgiveness in Christ. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why confusion about sin and guilt is so widespread—even among Christians
• How Romans 1:18–32 fits into Paul’s larger argument about justification by faith
• What it means that God’s wrath “is revealed” now, not just on a future Judgment Day
• How creation itself leaves us “without excuse” before God
• The repeated pattern Paul traces: rebellion, death, and God “giving them over”
• Why idolatry begins with what we see, captures our hearts, and then reshapes our bodies and behavior
• How “respectable” sins like gossip, pride, and arrogance reveal the same underlying exchange of truth for a lie
• Why God’s wrath is not a temper tantrum, but a just decision to hand us over to what we insist on having
• How this bleak diagnosis prepares us to understand and cherish the hope held out in the gospel

After listening, you’ll see guilt in a new light, not as something to ignore or manage, but as a truthful indicator that you need more than a fresh start. You’ll come away with a clearer grasp of what Romans 1 teaches about sin, spiritual death, and God’s wrath, and you’ll be better prepared to understand why the good news of Jesus is not just helpful advice, but the only way out of the prison of sin and death. 

Series: Start Strong: A New Believer’s Podcast

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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Today we’re kicking off a new season of the podcast which is a special companion series to my book, Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity. Each episode will walk you through one of the book’s “See for Yourself” passages, helping you read Scripture with confidence, even if you’re just starting out. Today's passage is from Chapter 1.

Most people today assume we’re basically good—and that sin is a few bad choices sprinkled on top. In this episode, Krisan Marotta walks through Romans 6:15–7:6 to show why that view quietly empties the gospel of its power. Paul’s argument reveals that grace doesn’t make sin safer; it exposes just how destructive it really is—and why understanding sin is the first step toward real hope. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why believing we’re “born innocent” blinds us to our need for a Savior
• How Paul answers the objection, “If grace covers all sin, why not keep sinning?” (Romans 6:15) 
• What it means to be a “slave” either to sin or to righteousness—and how that shapes the quality of your daily life 
• How the Bible defines “death” as more than physical dying: a present experience of decay, futility, and relational breakdown 
• Why sin always pays out in death, even for believers whose eternal inheritance is secure (Romans 6:23) 
• Why the law could expose sin but never cure it—and how it actually inflamed our rebellion (Romans 7:1–6) 
• Paul’s marriage analogy for being released from the law so that we can “belong to another,” to Christ, and bear fruit for God 
• How the Holy Spirit, not human willpower, becomes the new way we serve God “in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code” 

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer understanding of what sin really is, why it always brings some kind of death into your life, and why grace is not permission to drift but the power that frees you from slavery to sin. 

Series: Start Strong: A New Believer’s Podcast

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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Krisan Marotta, host of Wednesday in the Word podcast, joins Rob Schilling on AM 1070 WINA's The Schilling Show to discuss her book Start Strong: A New Believer's Guide to Christianity. Instead of talking about why she wrote the book, they dive straight into the theology, covering what new believers need to understand and why it matters. 

Key takeaways:

• Repentance is more than saying sorry. It's a complete change of direction and the first step of saving faith.
• Sin has both short-term consequences (bitterness, frustration, tragedy) and long-term consequences (standing before God).
• Finding the right church means looking for one that teaches the Bible in a real way, not just political agendas.
• Biblical worldview divides people into sinners who have found forgiveness through Jesus and those who haven't, not oppressors and oppressed.
• Fellowship with other believers is essential for encouragement and growth.
• Fearing God means making what He thinks more important than anything else.

AM 1070 WINA's The Schilling Show January 27, 2026

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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Season 27 of Wednesday in the Word begins February 4, 2026, and I couldn’t be more excited to share what’s ahead. This new season is a companion to my book Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity, and it's designed especially for those who are new to faith, returning to church after time away, or walking alongside someone who is.

Each week, we’ll unpack one key passage from the book’s “See for Yourself” section, helping you build a solid foundation, one truth at a time.

I’m also introducing something brand new: Krisan Marotta’s Bookcast—a subscriber-only podcast where you can listen to the audiobook version of Start Strong, one chapter at a time. Each chapter will release one week before the matching podcast episode, giving you a chance to hear the full teaching, then explore the biblical passage in depth.

If you’ve ever wanted a trusted guide to walk with you through the basics of Christianity—or wished you had a resource to share with someone just starting out—this is for you.

Podcast: Start Strong: A New Believer’s Podcast

Book: Start Strong: A New Believer's Guide to Christianity

Krisan Marotta's BookCast - click on the support the show link

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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Psalm 110 doesn’t mention a manger, shepherds, or angels. Yet it gives us one of the clearest pictures of who the baby in Bethlehem really is: the eternal King and Priest who will rule over all and bring His people back to God. 

In this Christmas episode, we trace how Psalm 110 reveals the identity and mission of the Messiah and how the New Testament writers apply this ancient psalm directly to Jesus. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why it matters that Psalm 110 is “a Psalm of David” and how Jesus Himself uses that authorship to reveal the Messiah’s greatness 
• What it means for the Messiah to sit at God’s right hand and how that image explains the authority and scope of His reign
• How the promise that enemies will become a “footstool” points to a final, decisive victory over all evil and opposition to God
• The surprising declaration that the Messiah is “a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” and why that matters more than the Levitical priesthood
• How Matthew 22, Acts 2, and 1 Corinthians 15 each reach back to Psalm 110 to identify Jesus as David’s Lord, God’s chosen King, and our eternal Priest 
• What Psalm 110 adds to our understanding of Christmas: not just the birth of a child, but the arrival of the One who will rule, judge, and reconcile forever

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer, richer vision of who Jesus is at Christmas, not only the promised son of David, but the greater Lord whom David himself calls “my Lord.” You’ll see how Psalm 110 anchors the Christmas story in God’s larger purpose: a reigning King, a forever Priest, and a sure promise that history is moving toward the day when every enemy is subdued and God’s people stand secure in His kingdom.

Series: Christmas

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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How can a believer live with real confidence that they belong to God, even while they still struggle with sin? 

In this episode of Wednesday in the Word, Krisan Marotta walks through key New Testament passages to show how God marks His people inwardly (by a changed heart that endures through testing) and how that mark becomes the basis of true assurance of salvation. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why the question “How do I know I’m saved?” is not only common but crucial
• The biblical idea of God “marking” His people—not outwardly, but by circumcising the heart
• How holiness is first a change in direction of the heart, not instant moral perfection
• The fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and what these qualities reveal about a heart inclined toward God 
• How the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 describe the inner life of those who will enter the kingdom of heaven 
• The difference between sinners who don’t care about their sin and “righteous sinners” who grieve it and hunger for righteousness
• Why common approaches to assurance—like relying on a remembered prayer or only on God’s general promises—can give false or incomplete comfort 
• How Romans 5 teaches that tested faith, proven through suffering and perseverance, produces a hope that “does not put us to shame” 
• Why God uses trials to reveal, both to us and to others, that His Spirit is truly at work in our hearts

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer, more biblically grounded understanding of assurance. You’ll see that the evidence of salvation is not a flawless life or a perfectly steady heart, but a tested faith that continues to seek God, hate sin, and long for His kingdom. And you’ll be encouraged to view your trials not as proof that God has abandoned you, but as the very means by which He makes it visible that you belong to Him.

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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In this episode of Wednesday in the Word, we confront a bold question: “How do you know you’re truly in the faith?” Drawing on Paul the Apostle’s letter to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 12–13), we explore how genuine faith is more than appearances, more than impressive speech or credentials. It’s about the living power of Christ at work in weakness and integrity in community.

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why Paul refused financial support from the Corinthians and what that taught about his motives and their spiritual health.
• How Paul responded to accusations of deceit and weakness—not by hiding, but by pointing to God’s power in human frailty.
• The challenge and invitation of Paul’s command to “examine yourselves” to see whether you are in the faith.
• The difference between outward appearances (strong, impressive, successful) and the reality of Christ’s power working through brokenness.
• How Paul’s ultimate aim was not his own reputation but the restoration, maturity and unity of the church.

After listening you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of how the gospel changes the way you view strength and weakness. You’ll feel encouraged that authentic faith isn’t about putting on a show—it’s about letting Christ live through you in honesty, dependence, and love for others. You’ll be equipped to ask yourself healthy questions about your own walk with God and your community in light of what Paul lays out here.

Series: 2 Corinthians: When Church Hurts

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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In this episode of Wednesday in the Word, we wrestle with one of the most surprising turns in the Christian life: sometimes faith doesn’t bring relief, it brings reliance. Turning to 2 Corinthians 12, we hear Paul the Apostle describe a persistent struggle, a “thorn in the flesh,” and how it becomes the very soil in which Christ’s power grows.

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why Paul mentions his weakness and how that challenges our usual ideas of spiritual strength.
• What the “thorn in the flesh” might mean and why God didn’t remove it from Paul’s life.
• The key statement: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
• How admitting our limitations doesn’t mean giving up; it means opening space for God’s strength.
• Practical ways to live when the problem remains, the promise holds, and you are still waiting.

By the end of this episode you’ll understand that faith isn’t a guarantee of trouble-free living. You’ll feel the freedom that comes when you stop hiding your weakness and let the gospel carry you. And you’ll be equipped to walk through challenges with the confident humility that turns brokenness into a platform for God’s strength.

 Series: 2 Corinthians: When Church Hurts

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

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in this episode of Wednesday in the Word, we wrestle with a tough reality: just because someone looks like a spiritual leader does not mean they are pointing us to the true gospel. Drawing on 2 Corinthians 11, the Apostle Paul exposes the danger of “false apostles,”impressive-speaking teachers who distort the message of Christ. He invites us to discern leadership by substance, not style. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How Paul uses the language of a betrothal to illustrate the church’s loyalty to Christ and the risk of being seduced by something false. 
• What Paul means when he calls his opponents “false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.” 
• Why eloquence and polish are not themselves proof of gospel truth and how Paul’s example flips our expectations. 
• The role of suffering, weakness, and authenticity in credible gospel leadership. 
• Practical ways to evaluate the teachers and voices you listen to: what questions to ask, what red flags to watch for, and how to hold to Christ even when others diverge.

By the end of this episode you’ll be equipped to recognize when a message sounds right but leads wrong. You’ll feel empowered to trust substance over surface, and you’ll be better able to choose leaders who reflect the true gospel. You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of how to ground your faith in Christ alone and follow him, no matter how polished the alternatives may appear.

 Series: 2 Corinthians: When Church Hurts

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.

Support the show