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Theodore Epp
Theodore H. Epp (January 27, 1907–October 13, 1985) was an American Christian preacher, radio evangelist, and author, best known as the founding director of Back to the Bible, a globally influential radio ministry. Born in Oraibi, Arizona, to Russian Mennonite immigrant missionaries working with the Hopi Indians, Epp grew up in a faith-filled environment. Converted at age 20 in 1927 under Norman B. Harrison’s teaching in Flagstaff, Arizona, he pursued theological education at Oklahoma Bible Academy, Hesston College in Kansas, and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University), earning a Th.M. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1932. Epp’s preaching career began as a pastor in Goltry, Oklahoma, at Zoar Mennonite Church (1932–1936), where he married Matilda Schmidt in 1930, raising six children—Gerald (who died young), Eleanor, Herbert, Bernice, Marilyn, and Virginia. In 1936, he joined T. Myron Webb’s radio ministry, and on May 1, 1939, launched Back to the Bible in Lincoln, Nebraska, with just $65, trusting God for provision. The program grew from a 15-minute local broadcast to a daily 30-minute show on over 800 stations worldwide in eight languages by his 1985 retirement, featuring his expository preaching and music from the Back to the Bible choir and quartet. He authored nearly 70 books, including David: A Man After the Heart of God and Practical Studies in Revelation, emphasizing practical faith and biblical literacy.
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Sermon Summary
Theodore Epp emphasizes that the Law was never intended to save but to reveal humanity's need for faith in Christ. While the Law highlights God's righteousness, it offers no power to fulfill it and instead condemns those who fail. Through Christ, believers are liberated from both their sinful nature and the Law's condemnation, allowing them to live righteously. This transformation occurs when one trusts in Christ, enabling His life to manifest within them. Ultimately, freedom from the Law is not a license to sin, but an opportunity to embody God's righteousness.
Scriptures
Dead to the Law
Romans 7:1-6 Everyone who claims he can keep the Law does not have a proper knowledge about the purpose of the Law. It was not given to save anyone; it was given to show everyone their need of placing faith in Christ. The Law exhibits and expounds God's law of righteousness, but it gives no power to perform it. All it does is condemn us when we fail God. God has set us free, however, through Christ, both from the old Adamic nature (Rom. 6) and from the Law (ch. 7). All of this has been done that we might be free to live unto God. Not only does the Law itself never die, but also God's standards set forth in the Law can never be lowered. The Law causes the individual to see his sin, and it condemns him because he is a sinner. But it does not help him to live a godly life. It is necessary, therefore, that a person's relationship to the Law be changed. That is exactly what takes place when an individual trusts Christ as Saviour and thereby appropriates his death with Christ. The individual is no longer under the condemnation of the Law but is free from its curse and is free to please Jesus Christ. God does not free us from the Law in order that we might sin without condemnation; He frees us from the Law in order that He might live out His righteousness in us. God has set us free not only from the sin nature but also from the law of condemnation. This, then, makes it possible for Christ to live His life in us, and thus we live a godly life. "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (Gal. 2:19).
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Theodore H. Epp (January 27, 1907–October 13, 1985) was an American Christian preacher, radio evangelist, and author, best known as the founding director of Back to the Bible, a globally influential radio ministry. Born in Oraibi, Arizona, to Russian Mennonite immigrant missionaries working with the Hopi Indians, Epp grew up in a faith-filled environment. Converted at age 20 in 1927 under Norman B. Harrison’s teaching in Flagstaff, Arizona, he pursued theological education at Oklahoma Bible Academy, Hesston College in Kansas, and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University), earning a Th.M. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1932. Epp’s preaching career began as a pastor in Goltry, Oklahoma, at Zoar Mennonite Church (1932–1936), where he married Matilda Schmidt in 1930, raising six children—Gerald (who died young), Eleanor, Herbert, Bernice, Marilyn, and Virginia. In 1936, he joined T. Myron Webb’s radio ministry, and on May 1, 1939, launched Back to the Bible in Lincoln, Nebraska, with just $65, trusting God for provision. The program grew from a 15-minute local broadcast to a daily 30-minute show on over 800 stations worldwide in eight languages by his 1985 retirement, featuring his expository preaching and music from the Back to the Bible choir and quartet. He authored nearly 70 books, including David: A Man After the Heart of God and Practical Studies in Revelation, emphasizing practical faith and biblical literacy.