Wednesday in the Word

Peter strings together the stories of Noah, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and righteous-but-imperfect Lot to make one stark point: God’s judgment is certain, and so is His rescue of those who trust Him. In this episode on 2 Peter 2:5–10, we look at how these historical examples expose the false security of rebellious teachers, steady anxious believers, and call us to see our own lives in light of the coming day of judgment. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How the “if…then” structure of 2 Peter 2:4–10 works, and what Peter wants us to see about God’s consistent pattern of judging rebellion and preserving the faithful
• Why the flood in Noah’s day and the fire on Sodom and Gomorrah serve as previews of final judgment, not strange one-off stories from a different era
• What it means that God “keeps” the unrighteous for the day of judgment, and why the delay of judgment is meant to awaken us, not lull us to sleep
• How Noah and Lot are both sinners and yet “righteous,” and what their stories teach us about God preserving faith in the middle of a corrupt culture
• The way our trials function as tests of character—forcing us to choose whom we really trust—and how God uses them to strengthen, not destroy, His people
• Why Peter highlights those who “indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority,” and how that description fits the false teachers troubling his readers
• How modern versions of “fear of missing out” can keep us fixated on the present moment instead of the much more serious danger of missing out on eternity
• How the Bible’s picture of God holds together judgment and mercy, and why the gospel is only good news when we take seriously the bad news of coming judgment

After listening, you’ll come away with a more sober and hopeful view of God’s judgment: sober, because rebellion really does lead to destruction; hopeful, because God knows how to rescue and keep those who trust Him. You’ll be invited to see your life against the backdrop of eternity, to resist teaching that treats God’s authority as optional, and to cling to the God who both warns of judgment and graciously provides rescue in Christ.

Series: 2 Peter: How to find Life

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

We pause over a single dense verse—2 Peter 2:4 to tackle one of the strangest questions in the New Testament: what is going on with angels, judgment, and the book of 1 Enoch? In this episode, we explore how Peter uses a well-known piece of Jewish fiction to make a serious point about God’s consistent judgment on rebellion, without treating that story as Scripture. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How 2 Peter 2:4–10 works as one long if–then argument, and where verse 4 fits in that flow
• The parallel between 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6, and why both writers talk about angels, chains, darkness, and future judgment
• What 1 Enoch is, how it retells Genesis 6 with rebellious angels and the Nephilim, and why it was so well known in the intertestamental Jewish world 
• Why most scholars think Peter and Jude are echoing 1 Enoch—and how every detail in their description lines up with that story 
• Different ways people have tried to explain Peter’s reference: treating 1 Enoch as true history, looking for another unknown source, or connecting it to passages like Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28
• A fourth option: that Peter knows 1 Enoch is popular fiction and still freely quotes it, much like a modern teacher might quote Star Wars—not to endorse the story as fact, but to draw out a moral everyone recognizes 
• How this reading fits Peter’s larger purpose: confronting false teachers who may have used Enoch-like stories to dismiss the Old Testament and mock the idea of judgment
• The central takeaway Peter wants his readers to hear: from angels to ancient cities, God consistently judges rebellion and rescues those who trust Him, and that pattern will hold at the final judgment 

After listening, you’ll have a clearer grasp of why this obscure verse matters and how it serves Peter’s main point rather than distracting from it. You’ll be encouraged to see that even in a world of competing stories and “spiritual” ideas, God’s character is steady: He will not ignore persistent rebellion, and He will not forget those who seek refuge in Him. 

Series: 2 Peter: How to find Life

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

In a world shaped by emotion, stories, and confirmation bias, faithful Bible study requires humility, patience, and a willingness to be corrected by the text. This episode offers three practical tips for approaching Scripture with discernment, testing our interpretations carefully, and learning not only what we believe, but why we believe it. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

•  Why “post-truth” thinking can influence how we hear sermons and study Scripture 
•  How confirmation bias can keep us from considering better interpretations 
•  Why good Bible study asks hard questions about the author’s original intent 
•  The difference between confirming a favorite theory and testing it against rival explanations 
•  Why consulting more than one commentary can sharpen our understanding 
•  How humility helps us hold our conclusions with both conviction and teachability 

After listening, you’ll be encouraged to approach Scripture with greater care, curiosity, and honesty. You’ll learn how to ask better questions, evaluate interpretations more thoughtfully, and grow in confidence—not because you have protected your favorite answers, but because you have tested them in pursuit of the truth.

Bible Study 101

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

False teachers, borrowed ideas, and coming judgment all converge in 2 Peter 2:1–3. In this episode, we look at why Peter’s warning about destructive heresies still matters today, how it connects to the letter of Jude, and what it means to stay grounded in the apostolic gospel when “Christian” teaching drifts toward greed, sensuality, and self-promotion. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why 2 Peter 2 and the book of Jude sound so similar, and what the relationship between the two letters might be
• How Peter and Jude both describe false teachers: inside the community, claiming Christ, yet driven by sensuality, greed, and a rejection of authority
• What Peter means by “false prophets” then and “false teachers” now, and how their influence both distorts the gospel and damages the church’s witness
• Why Peter can say these teachers “deny the Master who bought them,” and how a lifestyle can contradict what someone professes with their lips
• How Peter’s use of the future tense (“there will be…”) points to an ongoing reality in every generation, not just a one-time crisis in his own day
• The sobering assurance that, even when false teachers seem to prosper, their condemnation “from long ago is not idle” and their destruction “is not asleep”
• How Peter’s concern for judgment is actually rooted in God’s consistent character—His mercy toward those who repent and His justice toward persistent rebellion
• The modern relevance of Peter’s warning in a culture that resists discernment, treats all religions as equal, and often prefers a half-gospel of prosperity over repentance and holiness
• Why serious, thoughtful Bible study is essential if we are to recognize counterfeit teaching and cling to the truth God has really spoken

After listening, you’ll be better equipped to recognize the difference between genuine gospel teaching and attractive counterfeits that trade on Christian language. You’ll be encouraged to care about truth in a humble, discerning way, to take God’s warnings about judgment seriously, and to anchor your faith in the prophetic and apostolic word rather than in whatever message happens to be popular in the moment.

Series: 2 Peter: How to find Life

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.

Peter knows his time is short, and he uses it to do one crucial thing: remind believers of what is already true. In this episode on 2 Peter 1:12–21, we look at why the Christian life is not about chasing new ideas, but about staying awake to the gospel we’ve already received—and why we can trust that gospel as the very word of God in a dark and confusing world. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why Peter sees reminding believers of the gospel as part of his lifelong calling, even though they already “know” these truths
• How his sense that death is near shapes the urgency and tenderness of this letter
• What kind of “legacy” Peter wants to leave behind, and how his written words are meant to keep believers anchored after he’s gone
• How Peter distinguishes the apostolic message from “cleverly devised myths” by appealing to his own eyewitness experience
• Why he highlights the transfiguration—seeing Jesus’ glory, hearing the Father’s voice, and standing with Moses and Elijah—as a key confirmation that Jesus is the promised Messiah
• How the Old Testament law and prophets, together with the apostles, bear unified witness to Christ rather than offering competing spiritual options
• What Peter means by calling Scripture a “lamp shining in a dark place,” and how that image helps us think about guidance, hope, and waiting for Christ’s return
• The significance of saying that prophecy did not come from human will or private interpretation, but from men “carried along by the Holy Spirit”
• Why Peter sees it as spiritually dangerous to treat the Bible as one voice among many instead of the trustworthy word of God

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer sense of why Peter insists there’s no safe middle ground with Scripture: it is either God’s trustworthy light or something we set aside for our own ideas. You’ll be invited to lean more confidently on the prophetic and apostolic word, to resist the pull of novel but empty teaching, and to let the sure testimony about Jesus steady you as you walk by lamp-light, waiting for the day to dawn.

Series: 2 Peter: How to find Life

Be the first to know when it's out: What Jesus Taught by Krisan Marotta 

In my new book, I gather Jesus' teaching from all four Gospels and organize it by theme, so you can see what Jesus taught about God, himself, his followers and the kingdom, and how it all fits together. To follow the Teacher, you need to know what he taught.