The Conquering Truth

Leprosy in the Bible was a picture of sin. And God uses it many times throughout the Old and New Testament to help us to think about different types of sin and the redeeming work of Christ.

Recently we did a podcast on reading the Old Testament and how we should think abut the types and shadows whose substance has come in Christ. Leprosy, which was never intended to be primarily about health, was a type of parable regarding sin in individuals, in the works of men, and in houses and we are to be able to understand how those pictures as given in the law and in narratives apply to the current time.
As a follow on to that topic, we want to discuss leprosy and we thought it would be useful to start with one of the more straightforward examples: leprosy in a house. We think the most direct application of this passage is to when sin is exposed in a household of faith, not just in an individual, but in the very church itself. In the text that we walk through, God spends significant time talking about how to prevent that revealed leprosy from spreading and then what to do when it is found to have spread, and when it keeps recurring. This Old Testament instruction parallels Paul’s admonitions in the New Testament and it is instructive to us that he does not repeat the Old Testament but merely references it. This not only helps us to understand how to deal with this specific situation but instructs us in the proper use of Old Testament texts, how they relate to proper practices and how they relate to the holiness of the church. Please join us as we consider this important topic.
Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/03/when-god-tears-churches-to-the-ground-dealing-with-a-leprous-house-ep-209-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 What is Leprosy?
00:06:10 Leprosy in a House
00:12:15 Telling the Priest
00:21:25 Examining the House
00:39:53 Removing Stones
00:52:15 Tear Down the House
01:03:49 Uncleanness
01:08:58 Sacrifice for Atonement
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

In the 1960s, less than 4% of bodies were cremated. Now, it is about 2 out of 3 and by 2040, it is expected to be around 80%. Much of that is driven by the rising cost of funerals, since the burial plot is expensive and you can send a significant amount of money on a nice casket. On average, a cremation probably costs half of the cost of a burial. Another thing that seems to drive it is that the church typically doesn't explain why burial matters and why cremation is wrong. While many people do not think deeply about it, cremation has always existed and from a Christian perspective has been viewed as a picture of the body going to hell while burial is the picture of the body waiting for the resurrection.

In this episode, we look at what scripture has to say about cremation and burial. We look to the Old Testament which contains the laws that detail dealing with the dead and where most of the narrative surrounding death and burial is written. We also look to church history and see how as Christianity spread, so too did the idea of burying the dead rather than burning them. We talk about how death and our handling of it is a significant testimony to the world about our faith and when done properly is something that the world cannot fully understand.

So here’s the question: If we are going to be resurrected anyway, does it matter how the body is treated? Or does our handling of death and burial testify to our faith?
Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/03/is-cremation-a-sin-ep-208-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 Does it Matter
00:05:30 The Symbolism
00:06:53 What God's Law Says
00:14:26 Biblical Examples
00:19:35 Expensive Burials
00:27:03 More Biblical Examples
00:37:23 Graveyards
00:43:37 Even More Biblical Examples
01:00:34 How to Change the Culture
01:05:32 Can You Cremate Your Parents?
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

How you read the Old Testament impacts how you read all of God’s word. It frames the questions that shape our understanding of God and His purposes. What was the purpose of the garden? Why did God choose, separate, and protect the nation of Israel? What is the church? Who is Jesus Christ and the nature of his atonement? It frames all of these and a hundred other questions as well, none of which are trivial or unimportant.
In this episode, we want to look at how broadly and deeply the Old Testament shadows run. And while we start with God’s word in Hebrews that “the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things” which is talking about the ceremonial, priestly laws of Israel, by the end of the episode, we want to go broader still to where Paul looks at the crossing of the Red Sea as a baptism, and Christ declares the manna in the wilderness to be bread from heaven which points forward to Him as the bread of life.
We also want to emphasize that Scripture teaches us that these pictures are for us. We should not say, it is only Christ and Paul who can understand them. Jesus promised that after He left, He would send the Holy Spirit, who Paul reminds us in Corinthians understands the deep things of God. God’s word declares that “all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” When the church refuses to look deeply at the Old Testament, we misunderstand the New Testament as well, as God does not spend a great deal of time repeating himself. The shadows are important because by them we can better understand the substance, which is Christ. Please join us as we discuss this important topic.
Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/02/interpreting-types-and-shadows-old-testament-hermeneutics-ep-207-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 Interpreting the OT
00:08:19 Purpose of the OT
00:10:46 Food Laws
00:25:15 Speaking in Parables
00:42:13 Can We Interpret Like the Apostles?
00:50:38 Narrative Pictures
01:06:14 Divisions of the Law
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

Credobaptists and Paedobaptists differing views of baptism have real-world implications over how they view their children and their relationship to the church. Presbyterians (paedobaptists) hold that baptized children are part of the church, with the church having authority over and membership responsibility toward the child. Baptists (credobaptists) hold that they only become part of the church through faith and membership, and see baptism as a result of their faith.
Often though, credobaptists treat their non-professing, unbaptized children like they are part of the church and as if they have been regenerated, going so far as to create practices that are inconsistent with their theological views of salvation, faith, and baptism.
In this episode, we want to look at some of these inconsistencies, compare them to scripture, and discuss how they cause harm and confusion. So here’s the question: What practices do churches need to watch out for so the children at the church are not deceived about their state with Christ?
Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/02/the-hypocrisy-of-baptists-ep-206-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:49 Youth Ministry
00:12:09 Parents' Duty
00:22:55 Baby Dedications
00:30:13 Baptism Limits
00:35:49 Should Our Children Be Saved?
00:45:22 Expectation to Get Baptized
00:53:26 Church Discipline
00:55:17 Deceptive Songs
00:59:43 Children in Church Life
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

A hundred years ago in America most wives considered themselves to be homemakers with very few working outside the home. Now about 57% percent of them do. What should we think about this shift in the fabric of the American home, and more importantly what does God’s word have to say about it.
Throughout history, there have been societies that have been very confused about men's roles and women's roles. Frequently, the men don't do much work. They just do the things that please them. Hunting, fishing, maybe going to war while women do most of the provision for the household. But when Scripture began to inform a society, the roles of the husband and wife have typically been changed. Men begin to recognize they have a duty to provide for their family, to lead, and to make their household productive. Wives see their role as submitting to their own husband. Over the last hundred years, we have been losing that Christian influence in America and we've made an enormous shift that the church has largely gone along with it.
In this episode, we look at many of the passages in Scripture that frame God’s design for the home. We discuss how the curses from the fall continue to shape men’s and women’s rebellion against God’s design. We also talk about what it means to build a home, to be productive, and how our unwillingness to hold the structure and purpose of the household in high regard has caused our courtship rituals to become focused on shallow concepts such as pleasure and comfort rather than long-term purpose.
While modern culture has many problems that need to be resolved and fixing marriage and the home will only solve some of them, the home and family are fundamental building blocks of society and any movement back towards God’s design will have a profound positive impact. Please join us as we discuss this important topic.
Listen to the audio version here: https://theconqueringtruth.com/2025/02/should-wives-be-homemakers-ep-205-audio/
Timecodes
00:00:00 Intro
00:06:49 Creation Order
00:54:40 Keepers at Home
00:56:34 Biblical Exceptions
01:05:29 Solutions
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

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, that we are to pursue love and to be zealous for spiritual gifts especially that we may prophesy. We are not just to sit back and wait for God to bestow them on us. It is part of pursuing love and edifying one another. And if prophecy is about love and edification, then it cannot be primarily about telling the future. So what is prophecy?

People often think that what made America unique was its separation of powers and system of checks and balances, but those ideas were not really new at the time or unique to America. What actually was unique was having the Constitution as a single written document that formed the structure and scope of powers of the government and having every officer in that government take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. In almost every other government, the standard expectation was that officials would try to use their authority in any way they could get away with and the checks and balances against one person becoming a tyrant was that others who had power as well would stand against them. But the oath of office was different. It constrained by establishing that those who did not keep their oaths were both morally and legally impeachable. This allowed for powerful figures to be held in check or even removed without violence and bloodshed.

Can Baptists actually be Reformed? To answer that, we probably have to answer another question, “What does it mean to be Reformed in the first place? Is it a tradition, a specific set of beliefs, or something else entirely?

Does the Bible teach that there are sins serious enough that a pastor should be permanently removed and never be able to serve as a pastor again? Frequently, when an elder or a pastor falls into sin, people immediately start to say that they hope he can repent, so he can resume his ministry. This is often because the pastor was particularly gifted in preaching or teaching or leading the church. He often had a great deal of charisma or motivation, when it is easy for people to look at this gifted man and think that it would be a shame for the church to lose his talent and ability. But that is looking at it from man's perspective. God is far more concerned about his reputation and protecting his glorious bride, the church.

Both Daniel Penny and Luigi Mangione were in the news recently due to associated murder charges. Both men claimed they were trying to stop evil. Both men claim their use of force was justified. The public is also divided, with some claiming one or both of them a hero and many others strongly believing the opposite.