Ephesians 1:1; John 3:13-21
Eternal life is procured by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By His death Jesus paid the penalty for sin; by His burial He took sin away; by His resurrection He lives in the believer. This is all involved in the new birth. On the other hand, the abundant life is procured for the believer through the living, ascended Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. The believer who lives on the basis of what he possesses in Christ has an abundant life. He realizes the indwelling Christ is able to meet any need.
Eternal life is objective in the sense that a person obtains it by placing faith in the fact of Christ's shed blood for the remission of sins. The abundant life is subjective in that it is a personal response to what a believer has in Christ. The one who knows that Christ is able to meet every need and who lives accordingly has the abundant life.
Eternal life is the same for all believers, regardless of their sinful past. It does not matter whether the person was guilty of gross sin, as society measures sin, or whether he was a person of high moral standards. All who receive Christ have eternal life. However, not all believers have abundant life. The abundant life varies in believers according to their individual responses to Jesus Christ.
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:12).
Be the first to react on this!
Theodore Epp (1907 - 1985)
Theodore H. Epp, a graduate of Southwestern Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas, was the founding director of the Back to the Bible Broadcast. He began his ministry as a pastor in Goltry, Oklahoma, where he received his first taste of radio preaching. He moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, to establish the Back to the Bible Broadcast, and the first program was heard on May 1, 1939, on a small local station.He served as General Director for the broadcast until his retirement from on-air radio speaking in 1984. He continued to serve the ministry as well as perform other speaking engagements until his death in 1985.
Theodore H. Epp was an American Christian clergyman, writer, and a radio evangelist. Epp was the founding director and speaker of the Back to the Bible broadcasts between 1939-1985, heard worldwide on eight hundred stations in eight languages.
He started his ministry as a pastor and radio preacher in Goltry, Oklahoma and then relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he established the Back to the Bible radio program. It was first broadcast May 1, 1939, on a local station and was eventually syndicated as a daily, 30-minute program to more than 800 radio stations worldwide by the time of his retirement in 1985.
Under Epp's direction, the broadcasts were also noted for music by the Back to the Bible Choir and quartet. Several popular recordings were made by the choir in the 1940s and 1950s. Back to the Bible also had a weekly youth program, featuring a youth choir and serialized adventures with a Christian theme. Both the music and youth program have since been discontinued. Epp wrote nearly 70 books and magazine articles.
Theodore H. Epp was an American Christian clergyman, writer, and a radio evangelist. Epp was the founding director and speaker of the Back to the Bible broadcasts between 1939-1985, heard worldwide on eight hundred stations in eight languages.
Epp was born in Oraibi, Arizona, the son of Russian Mennonite immigrants. His parents were missionaries to the Hopi Indians there. After graduating from Oklahoma Bible Academy, Epp attended Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now, Biola University), Epp received a ThM degree in 1932 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
He started his ministry as a pastor and radio preacher in Goltry, Oklahoma and then relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he established the Back to the Bible radio program. It was first broadcast May 1, 1939, on a local station and was eventually syndicated as a daily, 30-minute program to more than 800 radio stations worldwide by the time of his retirement in 1985.
Epp wrote nearly 70 books and magazine articles.