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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 living under the dominion of sin without evidence of righteousness indicates a lack of being born again. He explains that sin is contrary to God's law and the mission of Jesus, who came to break sin's power over believers. Epp clarifies that while Christians may sin, they are called to confess and receive forgiveness, maintaining their righteousness through Christ. He warns against the misconception that one can reach a point of sinlessness, highlighting that a continual practice of sin reveals one's true spiritual lineage as a child of the Devil. Ultimately, Epp calls believers to recognize their identity in Christ and to live in obedience to righteousness.
Scriptures
It Just Does Not Belong!
1 John 3:1-10 To live under the dominion of sin without any evidence of righteousness demonstrates that the person has not been born again. The reasons for this are clearly pointed out in some of these verses. First John 3:4, for example, says that sin is contrary to the law of God. Verse 5 says that sin is contrary to the mission, or the work, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ not only came to take away the guilt of sin, but He broke sin's power so that the believer need not live under its dominion. When we do commit an act of sin and then confess it, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and our Advocate with the Father maintains our standing of righteousness before Him. Some have used these verses to teach that a person reaches a certain place in his Christian life after which he no longer commits any sin. These verses do not give any license to sin, but they contrast the state, or behavior, of the children of God with the state, or behavior, of the children of the world. A continual practice of sin in the life shows that the person is a child of the Devil rather than a child of God. "The devil sinneth from the beginning" (v. 8), and his children continue to live in sin, for that is in keeping with the character of their heredity. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16).
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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.