Category: Episodes

When people think of revival, they often think of meetings with a preacher like Billy Graham standing on a stage with his Bible held high as he holds an altar call and where people stream toward the stage as the crowd sings “Just As I Am”. But that’s not what Biblical revivals look like. Biblical revivals starts with doctrine – a greater knowledge of God and His holiness and righteousness. When you look at revivals in the Old Testament, they start when the lost book of the law is found and as it is read by the king and read to the people, hearts are changed by hearing the Word of God. This is what happened at the time of Hezekiah, Josiah and Ezra. True revival is very associated with growing in knowledge and understanding, and that is also true of the greatest revival in history after the time of the apostles, the Protestant Reformation. It was because the bible started to be read and the people began to understand the doctrine of election and of salvation by grace through faith alone that there was a major revival. So why is doctrine necessary for revival?

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson

Having right doctrine is important, but it’s not enough. That why orthopraxy (having correct practices) matters.

People like to debate theology. Many people believe that Christians should make an effort to persuade other Christians to their understanding of scripture – and the bible is clear, while pointless debates are foolish, persuading others to understand sound doctrine is a good and important thing to do. Right doctrine is how the church is made one. Unity comes from the right and complete understanding of who Christ is. But many are satisfied with only having right doctrine. They do not go on to apply it to their lives and to have right practices. And when orthopraxy is ignored, it is reasonable to ask whether the doctrine was ever really and correctly understood. In every field of study, there is a recognized difference between abstract knowledge and application. And as anyone who has tried to build a building or follow a recipe for the first time knows, applying knowledge can be much more difficult than obtaining it.

In this episode, we want to discuss why right doctrine is insufficient. While the wicked do not love right doctrine, it is almost always actions that they find most offensive. When Christ came to his own, they would not receive him, and while many of them were offended by his doctrine, what the religious leaders were most offended by was that he revealed them to be hypocrites, not just by his words, but by his deeds. We also want to talk about how orthropraxy and orthodoxy cannot be separated from one another. And when we try to separate them, we often lose what doctrine we have or create practices that teach a false doctrine. We can see this in how the world describes “servant leadership”. Leaders really should serve those they are called to lead, but they also still have authority. As the world tries to destroy Biblical manhood and womanhood, even among those who have correct doctrine the practice of male head of household and male representative authority has been discarded and as a result the doctrine has grown weaker. So please join as a we discuss this and many other points related to the question: “Why is orthopraxy, which means to practice what is right, important?”

Production of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NC
Permanent Hosts – Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua Horn
Technical Director – Timothy Kaiser
Theme Music – Gabriel Hudelson