Wednesday in the Word

True spirituality is not measured by dramatic experiences, public gifts, or “higher” callings—it is revealed in a heart that says and means, “Jesus is Lord.” 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 12:1–3, Krisan Marotta shows how Paul begins his discussion of “spirituals” by correcting the Corinthians’ assumptions about tongues and ecstatic experiences, grounding true spirituality instead in the Spirit-given faith that embraces Jesus as Messiah and Lord. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How the phrase “now concerning” in 1 Corinthians 12:1 signals a new topic, and the real question behind chapters 12–14 is: Is speaking in tongues the mark of true spirituality?
• Why the word Paul uses is simply “spirituals,” not “spiritual gifts,” and how our modern theology of “spiritual gifts” can actually distort what Paul is addressing
• The Corinthians’ pagan background: mute idols, ecstatic trances, and worshipers being “led away” into out-of-control speech—and how that past shaped their expectations of Christian “spirituality”
• Why Paul reminds them of their former life in the temples and how they imported pagan ideas of being “taken over” by a god into their understanding of the Holy Spirit
• Paul’s foundational claim in 12:3: that the decisive evidence of the Spirit’s work is not ecstatic utterance, but a genuine confession that “Jesus is Lord”
• What it really means to say “Jesus is Lord”—a shorthand for embracing the gospel: Jesus as Messiah, God’s appointed King and judge, the one who speaks truth, forgives sin, and holds our destiny
• How confessing Jesus as Lord involves seeing ourselves as sinners, trusting his death and resurrection for forgiveness, and staking our hope on the coming kingdom rather than this world
• The Spirit’s core work: transforming rebels who dismiss Jesus into repentant people who trust, love, and follow him
• Modern ways we wrongly grade spirituality—“kingdom-oriented” vocations, social justice credentials, radical simplicity, missionary heroics, emotional highs in worship—and why none of these define a spiritual person in Paul’s terms
• Paul’s alternative: a quiet, specific definition of spirituality rooted not in what we do outwardly, but in whether the Spirit has taught us to see Jesus rightly and bow to him as Lord

After listening, you’ll come away with a sharper, calmer understanding of what Paul says is the true mark of the Spirit’s work—and what he doesn’t. You’ll be invited to reexamine how you assess your own spirituality and that of others, to let go of comparison based on gifts, experiences, or achievements, and to rest in this simple, searching question: Do I truly confess, from the heart, that Jesus is Lord? That, Paul says, is the foundation for everything that follows. 

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the Church

Taking communion “in an unworthy manner” is not about achieving sinless perfection; it’s about whether our actions fit the very meaning of the Lord’s Supper. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 11:27–34, Krisan Marotta explains how the Corinthians’ behavior at the Lord’s table flatly contradicted the message of the cross they claimed to celebrate, and why Paul calls them to examine what they truly believe about Christ’s death. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• What it means to eat and drink “in an unworthy manner”: not proving ourselves morally worthy, but behaving in ways that are unfitting for a meal that remembers Christ’s body and blood given for undeserving sinners 
• How the Lord’s Supper in Corinth had become a class-divided feast where the rich indulged and the poor went hungry, in a ceremony meant to proclaim that the cross levels every distinction
• Paul’s warning that those who treat this meal casually are “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord”—showing contempt for the very sacrifice the bread and cup proclaim
• A fresh look at “examine yourself”: not hunting for every unconfessed sin in terror, but asking whether you truly see yourself as a sinner in need of the cross and trust Christ as your only hope 
• What it means to “judge the body rightly” 
• Paul’s sober words about weakness, sickness, and sleep, including different ways Christians have understood these verses and how God’s discipline can serve as a merciful wake-up call rather than final condemnation
• The distinction between worldly values that prize status and comfort and gospel values that see every believer as equally unworthy and equally blessed in Christ
• Paul’s simple, practical remedy: “wait for one another,” make sure everyone is cared for, and if what you want is just a private feast, eat at home rather than turning the Lord’s Supper into a denial of the gospel 

After listening, you’ll see this passage less as a threat hanging over every communion service and more as a searching invitation to let the Lord’s Supper say what it is meant to say: that you were lost, and Christ has rescued you; that every good thing you have is mercy; and that you now belong to a people bound together by his blood. You’ll be encouraged to come to the table with humility and gratitude, to let go of worldly ways of measuring yourself and others, and to treat this shared meal as a living reminder of the cross that defines who you are and how you live. 

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the Church

The Lord’s Supper is not a mystical ritual we perform by habit; it is a memorial meal that keeps the cross at the center of our story. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, Krisan Marotta walks through Paul’s account of Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, tracing how the Lord’s Supper intentionally echoes the Passover to remind us of judgment spared, slavery broken, and a new covenant relationship with God. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How the Corinthians’ abuse of the Lord’s Supper exposes a deeper problem with what they truly believe and why Paul responds by going back to the meaning of the meal itself
• The Old Testament background: the first Passover as the night of judgment, rescue from slavery in Egypt, and the beginning of God’s covenant with Israel
• Why God commanded Israel to remember the Exodus through a yearly memorial meal, combining teaching, symbolic food, and shared family celebration
• How Jesus, at a Passover table, takes bread and wine and reinterprets them in light of his coming death as the true Passover Lamb
• Jeremiah’s promise of a new covenant and how Jesus’ words, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood,” connect forgiveness of sins and a new heart to the cross
• Three key parallels between Passover and the Lord’s Supper: judgment passed over, deliverance from slavery, and the formation of a people who can truly say, “He is our God, and we are His people”
• The Lord’s Supper as a memorial today: a time of explicit teaching, tangible symbols of Christ’s body and blood, and a shared meal that unites believers as those who inherit the blessings of his death
• A brief look at differing views of communion in church history and why, at its core, the Lord’s Supper is a powerful, God-given act of remembrance rather than a ritual that imparts grace by itself

After listening, you’ll see communion with fresh clarity as a God-designed way to remember what Christ has done and who you are because of it. You’ll be invited to come to the Lord’s table not casually or fearfully, but thoughtfully and gratefully—letting the words, symbols, and shared nature of the meal draw your heart back to the cross, anchor you in the new covenant, and remind you that you belong to a people rescued by the body and blood of Jesus. 

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the Church

The way we share the Lord’s Supper can quietly reveal what we really believe about the gospel. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 11:17–22, Krisan Marotta looks at a church meal in Corinth that had gone so horribly wrong that Paul says they’d be better off not meeting at all. Instead of a celebration of unity in Christ, the Lord’s Supper had become a display of social status, self-indulgence, and indifference to the poor—exposing a deeper problem with their values and faith. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why Paul’s tone here is much sharper than in the head-covering discussion, and what that difference tells us about the seriousness of the situation
• Two common misreadings of this passage: treating it mainly as a warning about profaning a ritual, or as a manifesto for economic justice 
• The Passover/Hitler analogy: how acting in ways that contradict a ritual’s meaning doesn’t just “break the rules,” but exposes a heart fundamentally out of step with what that ritual proclaims
• Paul’s puzzling statement that “there must be factions among you,” and how divisions can reveal who is genuinely aligning their lives with the gospel and who is clinging to worldly values
• A likely picture of Corinthian house-church meals: the wealthy feasting in the dining room, the poor left hungry in the courtyard, some getting drunk while others have nothing 
• What Paul means by saying they “come together not for the better but for the worse,” and why he thinks their current practice does more harm than good
• A fresh look at “wait for one another”: not just “start eating at the same time,” but an attitude of serving others, seeing who lacks, and making sure no one is shamed or overlooked
• How this passage challenges us today to ask whether our church practices and personal habits match what we claim to believe about grace, unity, and the value of every believer

After listening, you’ll see 1 Corinthians 11:17–22 as far more than a set of rules about communion. You’ll be invited to consider what your own choices around worship, fellowship, and generosity reveal about your deepest loyalties—whether you are quietly chasing status and comfort, or learning to live as someone who truly believes the gospel you celebrate at the Lord’s table. 

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the Church

Paul’s language of “head” and “body” is not about power plays—it is about responsibility, love, and shared life. 

In this second episode on headship, Krisan Marotta traces how Paul uses “head” across Ephesians and Colossians to describe Christ and the church, then applies that pattern to husbands and wives. The picture that emerges is not of a domineering “boss,” but of a husband entrusted with responsibility for the marriage and family, called to love his wife as his own body, while she helps him fulfill that calling before God. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How the cultural situation in Corinth—husbands uncovering their heads to honor God, wives covering theirs to honor their husbands—creates a “clash of symbols” that frames Paul’s teaching 
• The major views in today’s debate (hard complementarian, soft complementarian, egalitarian) and why “head” does not mean “source” 
• Paul’s “head and body” imagery in Ephesians 1, Ephesians 4, and Colossians 2, where Christ as head supplies truth, growth, and completion to his body, the church 
• How Ephesians 5 links Christ’s headship as Savior of the church to a husband’s headship in marriage 
• What it practically means for husbands to “love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church,” and why headship is incompatible with selfishness, laziness, or abuse 
• A concise restatement of “husband headship” and “helper”: God assigning the husband responsibility for the marriage and family, and the wife recognizing that responsibility and granting him freedom to follow his conscience 
• How Genesis 2 and Ephesians 5 together define a biblical marriage through three commitments: specialness (leaving), one-fleshness (sharing one life), and permanence (cleaving) 
• Why these roles can only be lived out within a covenant that rules out domination and demands mutual care, honesty, and shared purpose

After listening, you’ll have a clearer, Scripture-rooted understanding of “husband headship” and how Paul’s use of “head” consistently points to responsible, self-sacrificing love rather than raw power. You’ll be invited to see marriage as a one-flesh partnership ordered around Christ’s goals, to resist both harsh distortions and dismissive caricatures of headship, and to consider how responsibility and help might play out in your own context with faith, courage, and tenderness before God. 

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Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the Church