Podcast Summary: Renewing Your Mind

Episode Title: Theological Doxology
Date: October 10, 2025
Host: Nathan W. Bingham
Speaker: Joel Kim

Overview

This episode focuses on how biblical theology naturally leads to doxology—worship and praise of God—using the Apostle Paul’s writing in Colossians 1:13–23 as a model. Joel Kim explores how understanding profound doctrinal truths about Christ should stir not just intellectual agreement, but heartfelt worship, culminating in Paul’s poetic hymn to Christ’s preeminence. The episode underscores that rich theology and true worship are inseparable and mutually enriching for the Christian life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Theology that Sings: Paul’s Pattern in Colossians

• Theology-to-Doxology Connection:
  • Paul, overwhelmed by redemption in Christ, “cannot help himself... he pauses to sing a song about Christ Jesus.” (Joel Kim, 00:00)
  • Our understanding of Christian doctrine must lead to worship, echoing Paul’s spontaneous transition from teaching to hymn.
• Family Anecdote on Worship:
  • Joel Kim shares memories of family worship, tying personal singing to experiential gratitude for God’s works. “You must sing as loud as you can was the unwritten rule in our family.” (Joel Kim, 01:06)
• The Heart of Thanksgiving:
  • Gratitude is a dominant theme in Colossians. Paul’s life “lived worthy of the Lord will be marked by thankfulness and joy.” (Joel Kim, 02:15)
  • True faith manifests in continual thanksgiving, in stark contrast to the joyless asceticism of false teachings (03:10).

The Believer’s Inheritance and Rescue

• Inheritance in Christ:
  • Paul references Old Testament ideas of inheritance, but centers it now on the believer’s spiritual inheritance in God Himself (05:44).
  • “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup... there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” (Joel Kim quoting Psalms, 06:40)
• Transfer from Darkness to Light:
  • Paul uniquely shifts from “you” (Colossians) to “us”—uniting himself and all Christians as recipients of God’s grace:
    “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” (Joel Kim, 08:00)
  • The language calls back to Israel’s rescue from Egypt but reorients it on Christ’s completed work.
• Redemption and Forgiveness:
  • Salvation is defined as rescue, transfer, and liberation from the bondage of sin, culminating in forgiveness through Christ (10:04).

Paul’s Doxological Hymn: The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15–20)

• Structure and Theme:
  • Paul immediately shifts to a hymn—a doxology about Christ’s cosmic supremacy (12:00).
  • The hymn divides into three sections: Christ as Creator, Christ as Redeemer, and Christ as the Sustainer.
• Christ the Creator (vv. 15–17):
  • “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation... by him all things were created” (Joel Kim quoting Paul, 13:22)
  • Christ makes the invisible God visible; He is not a creature, but supreme over creation as its source and purpose.
  • Joel notes: “All things were created through him and for him... Paul repeats the role of Christ in creation again and again.” (15:20)
• Christ the Redeemer and Head of the Church (vv. 18–20):
  • “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent... through him to reconcile to himself all things.” (17:02)
  • Christ is not just creator but recreator—His resurrection is the guarantee of our own, making Him preeminent in new creation and the church.
  • “If we believe that Jesus Christ has rose again from the dead, it means that... you and I are inseparably tied to Jesus’ resurrection.” (Joel Kim, 20:38)
• Christ as Sustainer—the Central Pivot:
  • “In him all things hold together.” (19:20)
  • Christ is both the means and the goal of all creation and new creation.
• Making Peace by the Blood of His Cross:
  • The hymn culminates in Jesus reconciling all things by His sacrifice, undoing sin’s damage and restoring broken relationships (21:07).

Integrating Theology and Worship

• Theological Study as Worship:
  • Joel Kim references B.B. Warfield: “You will never prosper in your religious life... until your theological studies become itself a religious exercise out of which you draw every day enlargement of heart, elevation of spirit, and adoring delight in your Maker and your Savior.” (22:48)
  • For Paul (and for us), true theology leads necessarily to the worship and adoration of Christ.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Our theology should lead to doxology, the worship and praise of God.”
  — Nathan W. Bingham (00:18)
• “Paul cannot help himself as he’s talking about Christ Jesus... he pauses to sing a song about Christ Jesus.”
  — Joel Kim (00:00, echoed at 12:00)
• “Thankfulness to God for all that he has done for believers in Christ is clearly one of the most essential Christian qualities for Paul.”
  — Joel Kim (02:25)
• “This is not an esoteric doctrine of soteriology that Paul is imparting... it’s about us receiving Christ Jesus. And here, you and I are part of this grand story taking place.”
  — Joel Kim (09:50)
• “Christ is our all in all, recognizing there is no one, nothing else that we ought to turn to.”
  — Joel Kim (14:45)
• “Both in the sphere of creation and the sphere of recreation, all things find their unity in Christ Jesus.”
  — Joel Kim (21:50)
• “Can a religious man stand in the presence of God and not worship?”
  … “You will never prosper... until your theological studies become itself a religious exercise...”
  — B.B. Warfield via Joel Kim (22:48)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — Joel Kim opens with Paul’s spontaneous doxology upon contemplating redemption.
• 01:02–02:15 — Family worship anecdote; establishing theme of grateful praise.
• 03:12–05:44 — Thanksgiving as a Colossians theme; contrast with asceticism.
• 06:40–09:50 — Biblical inheritance: from land to God Himself.
• 08:00–10:04 — Deliverance from darkness into Christ’s kingdom explained.
• 12:00–21:07 — Detailed breakdown of Paul’s Christological hymn:
  • Creator (13:22–15:20)
  • Redeemer/Head of church (17:02–20:38)
  • Sustainer (“in him all things hold together,” 19:20)
• 21:50–22:48 — Application: All things unified in Christ, the necessity of adoring theology.
• 22:48–24:21 — Quoting Warfield and concluding thoughts on integrating theology and worship.

Conclusion

This episode emphasizes that deep, Christ-centered theology compels worship—that all doctrinal riches, if truly seen, should overflow into heartfelt praise. By examining Paul’s example in Colossians, Joel Kim encourages listeners to let both their knowledge and their adoration of Christ flourish, because “in him all things hold together.”