Wednesday in the Word

Resurrection is not an optional extra in the Christian story; it is the future God is actually preparing for His people. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:29–49, Krisan Marotta follows Paul as he exposes the contradictions of denying bodily resurrection and then answers a mocking question: How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body? Through vivid images of seeds, flesh, and heavenly glory, Paul insists that our perishable, natural bodies are destined to be raised imperishable and spiritual—fully transformed by the Spirit of God. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How Paul uses puzzling practices like “baptism for the dead” and his own daily danger to show the absurdity of preaching, suffering, or ritual if there is no resurrection at all
• Why “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” is not a clever slogan, but the logical outcome of a world without future resurrection
• Paul’s sharp warning that bad company corrupts good morals, and his call for the Corinthians to wake up, think clearly, and stop treating denial of resurrection as an acceptable Christian option
• The objection he hears—“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body?”—and why he calls it foolish, not because questions are wrong, but because this one is meant to ridicule the very idea of resurrection
• The seed analogy: how what is sown must die to become something both continuous with and different from what it was—showing that decay is no obstacle to God raising a new, glorified body
• The variety of bodies God has already made—human, animal, bird, fish, earthly and heavenly—and how their differing “glories” prepare us to expect a future body suited to resurrection life rather than mere repair of the old
• Paul’s four great contrasts: sown perishable, raised imperishable; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body
• What Paul means by “natural” and “spiritual” bodies: not physical versus ghostly, but our present ordinary human life versus a body fully transformed and animated by the Spirit of God
• The two representative men—Adam, the man of dust, and Christ, the heavenly man—and the promise that just as we have borne Adam’s image, we will one day bear the image of the risen Christ
• How Paul’s teaching undercuts Corinthian claims to be already “super-spiritual” and instead sets an order: first our ordinary earthly life, then resurrection life in glory

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer picture of what Paul actually claims about the resurrection body and why this hope matters for everyday life. You’ll be invited to see your present, fragile existence in light of the imperishable life to come, to recognize how your view of the future shapes your choices now, and to hold fast to the promise that those who belong to Christ will one day be raised to bear His image in glory.

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the church

The Christian hope is not just that our souls float off to a better place, but that God will end history well—by raising His people from the dead and putting every enemy, including death itself, under Christ’s feet. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, Krisan Marotta unpacks Paul’s sweeping vision of where the story is headed: from Adam’s failure and universal death to Christ’s resurrection, reign, and final handover of a restored creation to the Father, so that “God may be all in all.” 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• What it means for Christ to be the “firstfruits” of those who sleep, and how the first sheaf of the harvest guarantees that more is coming—our own bodily resurrection. 
• Paul’s big-picture contrast between two representative men: Adam, through whom sin and death entered the world, and Jesus, through whom resurrection life comes to His people. 
• The simple but profound order Paul outlines: Christ raised first, then those who belong to Him at His coming, and finally “the end”—the goal and culmination of God’s plan, not just a stopping point. 
• How Christ’s reign answers our longing for justice as He abolishes every rival rule, authority, and power and establishes God’s kingdom on earth in reality, not just in theory. 
• Why death is called “the last enemy,” and how its final defeat is essential to God’s purpose to remove the curse, undo the fall, and make all things new. 
• How Psalms 110 and 8 shape Paul’s language about all things being subjected under Christ’s feet, and why the Father Himself is the one exception to that universal subjection. 
• What it means that the Son will “be subjected” to the Father so that “God may be all in all,” and how this pictures a perfected creation joyfully ordered under God through Christ. 
• Why denying resurrection is not a minor adjustment but a rejection of the whole plot of Scripture—like trying to retell a story about defeating death without an actual victory over death. 
• How this future-focused hope challenges both a this-world-only social agenda and our desire for an easy life now, calling us instead to live in light of where God is actually taking history. 

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer grasp of how resurrection fits at the center of God’s story—not as an optional extra, but as the way He finally overturns death, fulfills His promises, and brings His kingdom to completion. You’ll be invited to set your hope not on fixing this age, but on the return of Christ, the resurrection of His people, and the day when every part of creation reflects God’s holiness and goodness. And you’ll see more plainly what it means, even now, to belong to the risen King whose reign has begun and whose victory will one day be complete. 

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the church

If the dead are not raised, the entire Christian story collapses—but Paul insists the resurrection of Jesus is a real event at the very heart of the gospel. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:1–19, Krisan Marotta revisits the message the Corinthians first believed, shows how it includes both Christ’s death and bodily resurrection, and explains why denying resurrection empties faith of meaning and hope. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How chapter 15 opens the final major section of 1 Corinthians and addresses a new problem: some in Corinth are saying there is no resurrection of the dead at all
• Paul’s reminder of “the gospel… in which you stand”: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day “according to the Scriptures” 
• Why the resurrection is not a metaphor but a historical claim, rooted in eyewitness testimony: appearances to Peter, the Twelve, more than 500 believers, James, all the apostles, and finally Paul himself
• What Paul means when he calls himself “one untimely born”—the least of the apostles and unworthy because he persecuted the church, yet a true apostle by sheer grace 
• How Paul’s own story holds together deep humility (“I am the least”) and a clear awareness that God used him powerfully (“I labored more than all of them… yet not I, but the grace of God with me”)
• Paul’s sharp, logical argument: if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ is not raised, preaching is empty, faith is pointless, and the apostles are false witnesses
• The sobering implications if Christ is still in the grave: believers are still in their sins, those who have died in Christ are simply lost, and Christians are “of all people most to be pitied” 
• Why Paul refuses any “it’s helpful even if it isn’t true” approach to Christianity, insisting that our hope rests on real events in history—above all, the resurrection of Jesus

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer sense of why the bodily resurrection is not an optional add-on but central to Christian hope. You’ll be invited to consider what you are actually staking your life on: whether the gospel is just a comforting story, or a true account of what God has done in Christ—who really died, really rose, and really offers forgiveness and a future beyond the grave.

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the church

When a church gathering turns into a noisy contest of voices and personalities, it stops looking like the work of a God of peace. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 14:26–40, Krisan Marotta walks through Paul’s closing words on tongues, prophecy, and order in worship, showing how his simple principle—“let all things be done for edification”—speaks directly into the chaos at Corinth and our own assumptions about what a “spiritual” service looks like. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Paul’s bottom line for corporate worship: whatever we do must genuinely build others up in the faith
• Why Paul limits tongues in the gathering to two or three speakers, one at a time, with interpretation—and otherwise says, “keep silent in the church”
• How prophecy is to function: two or three speaking, others weighing what is said, and all done in an orderly way that encourages learning and exhortation
• What Paul means by “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets,” and why genuine spiritual experience never overrides self-control or accountability
• A careful look at the difficult verses about women keeping silent in the churches, including why this cannot be a blanket ban on women speaking and how the context suggests a specific local problem of disorder
• Paul’s reminder that God is not a God of confusion but of peace, and how that shapes everything from who speaks to how many speak, and when
• His insistence that his instructions carry apostolic authority—“the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment”—and what it means to submit our ideas of worship to that standard
• The way Paul lands the whole section: “desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues… but all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner”

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer vision of what Paul thinks should happen when believers gather: not performance, competition, or chaos, but ordered, understandable ministry that strengthens faith and reflects the character of a God of peace. You’ll be invited to examine how your own church practices—and your own participation—line up with Paul’s call to pursue those gifts and patterns that most clearly edify, so that everything done in the assembly helps people hold fast to the gospel of Christ. 

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the church

True spirituality is not measured by dramatic experiences or ecstatic speech, but by whether our words clearly build others up in the truth. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 14:1–25, Krisan Marotta traces Paul’s contrast between tongues and prophecy, showing that while both are genuine works of the Spirit, one serves mainly the individual and the other serves the whole church by communicating understandable content. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How 1 Corinthians 12–14 hangs together, and why chapter 14 returns to Paul’s earlier point about “greater gifts” after his focus on love in chapter 13 
• What Paul means by “prophecy” (clear explanation and exhortation from God’s already-given Word) and “tongues” (real human languages given by the Spirit), and why Paul’s main point doesn’t depend on how we settle every detail of that debate 
• Why Paul urges the Corinthians to aim their zeal at what truly matters: love first, and then gifts that most clearly edify others, especially prophecy
• Paul’s basic contrast: the tongue-speaker prays to God and edifies himself, while the one who prophesies speaks intelligibly to others “for edification and exhortation and consolation,” building up the church 
• Why understandable content is central: from musical instruments and battle bugles to foreign languages, Paul argues that sounds only help if they communicate meaning people can grasp and respond to 
• How Paul can both “wish you all spoke in tongues” and yet insist he would rather say five clear words that instruct others than ten thousand in a tongue no one understands
• What it means for tongues to be “a sign for unbelievers” in light of Isaiah 28, and how foreign speech there functions as judgment on people who refused to listen to God’s prophets
• The difference between a visitor walking into a chaos of unintelligible tongues (and thinking everyone is mad) versus walking into a gathering where clear truth is spoken and hearts are laid bare, leading to conviction and worship 
• How this passage challenges both modern charismatic practice and an emotion-driven view of “good sermons,” reminding us that real edification comes through truth communicated, not bare intensity of feeling 

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer sense of why Paul prizes intelligible speech over impressive-sounding experiences, and how that shapes our understanding of tongues, prophecy, and church life today. You’ll be invited to value content over noise, to seek gifts and opportunities that genuinely build others up in the gospel, and to see everyday conversations, teaching, and prayer as powerful ways God uses clear truth—not just heightened emotion—to strengthen the faith of his people. 

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the church