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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 the concept of 'reckoning' in the Christian faith, asserting that it is based on absolute truths rather than feelings or experiences. He explains that believers are to reckon themselves dead to sin and alive to God because of the factual reality of Christ's death and resurrection. Epp reassures that even when believers fail to live out this truth, it does not change the fact of their identification with Christ. He highlights that this transformation from death to life is a one-time event that occurs at the moment of belief, urging believers to trust in God's word regarding these truths.
Dead Reckoning
Romans 6:11-14 Reckoning is based on absolute truth. We are not called upon to reckon something to be true that is not really true. It is true that Christ died for us and that when we believed in Him as Saviour, we died with Him. That's a fact. In that He lives, we also live. That's a fact. So reckoning is based on facts, not on experience. I do not reckon myself to be dead to sin because I feel dead. I don't reckon myself to be alive to God because I feel alive. Experience is important in its place, but it does not determine truth. But knowing what is true, we must reckon it to be true, and then the proper experience will follow. Perhaps you say, "But I failed Him after I reckoned on the fact that I had died to sin; therefore, I must not be dead to sin." No, it is still a fact. Even when a believer does not behave as though he were dead to sin and alive to God, these are still accomplished facts. That is what salvation is all about. Being born again means we have passed from death to life. Our identification with Christ in His death is not progressive; that is, we do not die a little bit at a time. Our understanding of the significance of our identification with Him may come gradually, but the fact of our death with Him has been accomplished once for all. Also, we do not become alive to God a little bit at a time; that, too, is once for all. We passed from death to life the moment we believed (John 5:24) and are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Col. 1:13). We need to take God at His word concerning these accomplished facts. "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14).
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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.