New Testament evangelism

Front matter

Class ___:MV?10

Book J

Copyright K"

Preface

This little book is sent out with a deep conviction of the truth of its organizing idea, and at the same time with a very keen consciousness of the inadequate manner in which that idea has been developed.

The occasion of publication is a request addressed to me by the Coimmittee on Evangelism, appointed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, that I should print certain lectures delivered by me a year ago to the Alumni Conference of Knox College, Toronto.

I have acceded to this request, only in the hope that my words, insufficient though they are to do justice to so great a theme, might afford some encouragement and guidance t,o^ my younger brethren in the ministry. I covet for my students, and for all in the ministry whom I can in any way influence and help^ no higher honor than that they should do with zeal and efficiency the work of evangelism. If they shall find in what I have written anything to strengthen their hope and direct their endeavor, I will be profoundly thankful.

The central idea ia my mind is the primacy of evangelism in the Church's work. I have

vii viii PREFACE

sought to ground this in the Bible, to illustrate it from history, and to apply it to the circumstances of the modern Church.

It would be impossible to indicate all the sources from which I have derived the material of my work. My old teacher. Principal Lindsay, of the United Free Church College, Glasgow, if he turned over my pages, would recognize much that is due to the stamp he put upon my mind long ago. My friend, Dr. Denney, if he see, will also pardon the use I have made of the great work he has done in setting forth the essence of the Gospel.

May I add that the actual work of composition was done far from libraries, at a summer camp on the shores of the Georgian Bay? My tent was pitched in a lovely glade. So still was it that the wild creatures played about my feet. The air was laden with the scent of balsam and birch and pine. Amid scenes so fair, the hours of labor were not the least happy part of my vacation.

The very practical and most valuable appendices are the work of Dr. Shearer, widely known throughout Canada as an able and tireless worker in the allied causes of social reform and evangelism.

I venture to add also a letter of my own, which I am told has proved helpful to some of the younger men engaged in special missions.

T. B. KiLPATRICK.

Contents

PARTI

EVANGELISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Iktroduotion — Evangelism, the PEOCLAMATioi?^ of Glad Tidikgs

PART II EVANGELISM IN HISTORY Chaptbb

I. The Pre-reformation Church, . . 91

Continuity of Christian Faith : Intrusion of Non- Christian Elements ; Conflict of Evangelical Religion, a New Legalism ; Defective Evangelism of the Middle Ages.

II. The Churches of the Reformation, . . 96 Section I. Germany —

Causes of Religious Depression; Progress of

Pietism.

1. The Great Awakening.

2. The Kentucky Eevival.

3. Nettle ton and Finney.

4. 1857-1859.

5. D. L. Moody: (a) His Message; (b) Method; (c) Power ; (d) Educational Work.

PART III EVANGELISM IN THE MODERN CHURCH Ohaptbb

I. The Power, 14=1

I. The Need op Power.

II. The Promise of Power —

(a) Personal ; (b) Active ; (c) Efficient.

III. The Operation of the Power —

1. Conditioned by Prayer.

2. Exerted by Means of the Ministry of the Word. ?. Direct in its Action on the Human Spirit.

II. The Spheres of Evangelism, . . . 154

Section I. The Home

Possibility and Importance of Religion in Childhood and Youth ; Development of the Child Soul ; Perils of the Transition Period ; Opportunity and Charge of the Parents.

Section II. The Congregation

1. Evangelism, the Minister's Own Proper Work.

2. The Minister's Preparation for Evangelism.

3. Pastoral Evangelism: (a) Visitation; (b) Education ; (c) Public Worship, and the Sermon ; (d) Sacraments ; (e) Organization for Evangelism.

xii CONTENTS

Ohaptbr 11.— Continued, Paok

Section III. The Community

I. Persons Composing the Community.

1. The Crowd: (1) Natural Groups, Relation of the Gospel to them, (a) Special Adaptability of the Gospel ; (b) Universality of the Gospel.

(2) Artificial: "Mass" Evangelism — its Perils and Possibilities.

2. Individuals: Personal Evangelism — {l)The Duty; (2) The Difficulty; (3) The Endeavor.

II. The Church and the Community.

1. Instrument and Accessories: (1) Physical Necessities ; (2) Social Needs and Capacities ; (3) Mutual Service.

2. Direct Evangelism: (1) Individual Work. (2) Forms of Aggressive Work; (3) Continuous Evangelistic Services: (a) By One Congregation ; (b) By a Group of Congregations ; (c) By Interdenominational Action.

I. The Classes of Agents Required. II. Methods op Training.

1. Training Common to All Evangelistic Workers.

2. Training Required by Specialists.

8. Training Required by Candidates for the Ministry.

(1) Theological Studies Required of All.

(2) Vocational Courses.

(3) Direct Training in Evangelism. Appendices.

Papers, dealing with the subject of " The Simultaneous Method of Evangelism,'' prepared by Rev. J. G. Shearer, D. D., Secretary of the Board of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, on Social Reform and Evangelism.

EVANGELISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Chapter I

The message proclaimed by the Apostles of the Lord was, in one sense, not a new thing in the history of Israel. In every age God had sent His messengers to His people, to make known to them His saving grace. The nation had been created in a great act of God's redemptive power. *^ Behind the people's national life," says Dr. Davidson, *4ay the consciousness of redemption as much as it lies behind the life of the Christian." The history of religious experience in Israel is that of the deepening and purifying of this consciousness of redemption.

Age after age the need of Israel grew more profound, and with every new realization of human need there came a new declaration of God's purpose, and God's power, to redeem and save His people. This declaration is the very essence of Evangelism; and thus it may be truly said that Evangelism dates from the deliverance of the people from Egyptian bondage, and is carried on, in every succeeding generation, by the servants of the Lord, the burden of whose message continually is that Jehovaii saves them tliat trust Him.

At marked epochs in the history of Israel, when the need of man and the grace of God are passing onward to new depths and heights, Evangelism gains in scope and power, and approximates more and more to the fulness of the New Testament Gospel.

Such a period, in particular, was the time of the Exile in Babylon. Zion sat desolate among her ruined walls and palaces. Jerusalem mourned her desecrated temple, and her lost sons and daughters. The people wept, in the far-off land of their estrangement, for the homeland and the ancient privileges.

Then there came through prophetic lips the Glad Tidings that God had not forsaken His people, that Salvation, in a sense and measure greater than the past had ever known, was sure, and was at hand.

It is interesting to note that the very phrases, as they occur in LXX^ anticipate New Testament usage; e. g.. Is. 40: 9, 10, 6 cmyyeXt^o/Aevos :Sio)v; Is.

TTToixois iTrtaraXKi /xe. Dcvout souls receiving such a message as this, and living by its power, felt themselves called and qualified t;o deliver it to those who needed this assurance of God's salvation; e. g., Ps. 39 (40) : 9, 10, ivayyeXKrdfxrjv Blkmo- (Tvvyjv iv CKKkyjcna ficyaXrj . . . KaC to (ToiTrjpiov aira Jr S. y 5 ( 9q) ivayyfXCt^eads. rifxipav i$ '^fx€pa<s to o-oiTrjptov avrou.

Tlie times of the New Testameoat form, the climax of this great movement toward the accomplishment of God's saving purpose. Now the world's need has reached its profoundest depth. Men everywhere are penetrated by the sense of it. Eeligion, even in the Gentile peoples, has become intense and individual, and is characterized with a kind of excitement, as though the souls of men could bear their pain no longer, and must have relief. To such a world, so sinful, so despairing, God brings near, in Christ, His salvation. All that He had ever done for men had been only the preparation for this crowning deed. In Christ., the long history is finished. In Christ, in His death and re'Surrection, God has reconciled the world to^ Himself. The Evangelists of the New Testament go to the men of their day, Jews and Gentiles alike, with this Message, old as human need and Divine love, new as the climax, when God has fully revealed Himself, and has visited His people in His own person, with the fulness of His power. The experience, accordingly, which the reception of this message creates in the hearts of those who acknowledge it to be the Word of God, is an absolutely new thing in the religious history of the world.

A new day of hope has dawned for men. A new era of moral victory has been inaugurated. It is the beginning of a new creation. The New Testament rings with the note of joy and triumph. The apostles and missionaries of Christ proclaim

6 NEW TESTAMENT EVANaELISM

their message with exulting confidence. The Glad Tidings they have to tell exactly measure the greatness of man's extremity, and gloriously unfold the riches of Divine, almighty, regenerative grace.

Let us now endeavor to set ourselves back, in imagination, into the times and circumstances of the New Testament, and seek to present to ourselves more fully the texture and scope of the meissage, which thei first evangelists bore t.o^ their day and generation.

In doing so, we shall be studying the meaning of that Evangelism which remains the primary task of the Christian Church in every age, and which is being laid upon us in our day with peculiar urgency.

In one word, the burden of the message is Salvation; and the phrases, in which the message is characterized, are descriptive of various aspects of the offered Salvation. It is a Salvation for those who need it, 'Hhe Goispel of your Salvation," Ephes. 1:13. Inasmuch as this Salvation consists essentially in God's reign over men, the proclamation of it is *Hhe Gospel of the Kingdom,'' Matt. 4: 23, 9: 35, 24: 14. Since, moreover, this Salvation was not merely proclaimed by Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth, but was actually accomplished by Him as the Christ, the Gospel is more fully defined as the Glad Tidings of Salvation through Christ, 'Hhe proclamation of the grace of God, manifested and pledged in Christ"

(Grimm-Tliayer, s. v, cvayycAtov). Accordingly, the word ^^ Gospel" is continiially coimected with' that gracious Name— ^^ the Gospel of Christ," Eom. 15:19, 1 Cor. 9; 12, 2 Cor. 2:12, 9:13, 10:14, Gal. 1:17, Phil. 1:27, 1 Thess. 3:2; '^thie Gospel of our Lord Jesus, ' ' 2 Thess. 1:8; * * the Gospel of the Sou of God," Rom. 1:9; ^'the Gospel of the Glory oif Christl, ' ' 2 Cor. 4 : 4.

The Salvation preached has its origin in the divine purpose of mercy, and redounds to the glory of the wise and holy and powerful love of God, and so the Gospel is '4he Gospel of God," Mk. 1 : 15, Rom. 15 : 16, 2 Cor. 11 : 7, 1 Thess. 2 : 2, 8, 9, 1 Peter 4:17; ^Hhe Gospel of God concerning His Son, ' ' Rom. 1:1-3; '^ the Gospel of the grace of God," Acts 20:24; ^^the Gospel of the glory of the Blessed God," 1 Tim. 1: 11.

The consequences of believing the Gospel are beyond enumeration; but sometimes the term draws with it some conspicuous blessing, and it is described as ^4he Gospel of peace," Ephes. 6:15, or mention is made of ^^the hope of the Gospel," Col. 1:23. In such phrases, then, does the New Testament express its conviction of the divine fact of Salvation. What now are the constituent elements of this Salvation? What are the contents of the Gospel preaiched by the New Testament Evangelists.

1. General features of the Gospel. The simplest characteristic of salvation is that it is a gift of God, while the Goispel is an offer and a summons. It is to be carefully observed, however, that our Lord and His apostles never present salvation after the analogy of a thing, which can be taken in some sort of physical fashion, or of a proposition, which could be apprehended wholly by the intellect and stored in the memory, or of a rank, which could be gained and held in some legal or ritual manner. Salvation is a divine power, operative upon man's spiritual being, and effecting therein results, which c;orrespond to man's constitution, as made in the image of God, and meant for God's fellowship. The Gospel declares that this divine power is now in full gracious action, and is instantly available for the needs of men. At the same time, it demands that this divine energy be met, on man's part, with a willing mind, and a, full unreserved surrender and welcome. The Gospel of the New Testament is not rightly apprehended in static conceptions, but rather in those which are dynamic and personal. The New Testament evangelists are conscious of being ministers of a power, which has gained its highest manifestations, and is passing onward to universal victory. The glory of their office consists in declaring that now, now after so long a time, the power of God, which, for His own wise purpose. He has limited and restrained, is liberated and enlarged to its full redemptive capacity, and is working with a, freedom and energy correspondent to the perfections of divine love and holiness. The qualities of divine saving energy, in this its noblest achievement, may be summed up as threefold.

1. It is spiritual in its naturei, and therefore universal in itsi range. From the veiry eiarliest times of the Old T'estament, salvation is conceived aiS a work of Jehovah for His people. The religious development, within the Old Testament lies in the direction of ethicizing and spiritualizing the conception of the divine saiving energy. In epoch after epoch of national history God wrought savingly. Form after form of national life dissolved; and the saving work of God changed its scope. It never ceased, however, nor failed; but continually descended closer to the springs of individual life, and pressed ever more strongly against the limits that confined it to one favored people. Now, in Christ, God has removed all providential limitations, and has opened the wealth of His Kingdom to all mankind. All that God can do to save men. He has done in Christ Jesus, and will continue to do in unbounded exercise of grace for all who will receive the Gospel. In word and deed, in life and death, Jesus mediated to men the universal grace of God. His disciples, not without hesitation, followed Him; till His servant Paul caught more perfectly His meaning, breathed deep draughts of His spirit, and entered upon the highest ministry of which man is capable, proclaiming the message of a love, unhindered by any restrictions of race, or religion, or sex, or rank, or moral disability. It is not nee-

10 NEW TESTAMENT EVANaSLISM

essary to dwell ob the direction, encouragement, and warning contained in the New Testament for any Church which professes to be apostolic.

2. It is almighty to achieve its redemptive purpose. It would not be true to connect religion merely with the sense of sin. It is true, however, that all great and serious religion does recognize the relation of man to God as being, in point of fact, abnormal and needing rectification, and does believe that in this rectification there is contained potentially the satisfaction of every human need. The New Testament evangelists cast deep and awe-stricken gaze into the deeps of the human soul. They find there the guilt of sin as it lies under the divine condemnation, and the power of sin as it masters and taints and disorders man's whole nature, individual and social, and even in some vague but real way disturbs the cosmos itself.

With a spiritual intuitioai, which exceeds in depth any doctrinal formula^ they call the issue of sin, death, L e., the ruin' of man, progressive through life, culminating in an unspeakable esperience, when judgment is heaped upon the impenitent, in eternal destruction. Over against, the ultimate and abysmal need of man, the Evangelism of the New Testament sets the saving omnipotence of God. This is the message : In Christ there is forgiveness for that guilt, deliverance from that power, victory over that death.

In the case of some of the New Testament evangelists, as in that, of their Lord in His earthly ministry, the salvation they proclaim is, as it were, countersigned by deliverance of a physical, or semi-physical sort^ from disease or other forms of disability. But these evils are always looked upon as signs and consequences of the presence of sin in the world ; and the miracles of salvation from them are proofs that the saving power of God is in actual operation and is invincible. These works are not identical with the salvation ; nor are they invariable or normal modes of its operation. The salvation is central. Its etfects at the circumference, so to speak, of man's life may not, and ordinarily do not, immediately appear. In like manner, salvation ha,s a real and effectual bearing on the social and political relations of men. Not, however, till the saving power of God be admitted to the depth of man's being, and be permitted to control the ethical forces, which, in real, though unseen ways, govern all social and political relations, can the Gospel have, in these directions, its normal and designed results. Jesus and His apostles have a ^^ teaching," which issues from their * ^ preaching, " an ethic which is based on their evangel ; but they do not mingle or confuse them, or invert their sequence. The Glad Tidings they have to announce is that God has come to set men right with Himself, and in that all-comprehensive^ reconciliation, all wrongs are righted, and every need is met. The apostolic ministry is one of reconciliation, and this is the ministry whicb the modeirn Ohurcih must fulfil, if it is to staoad in tiie evangelical succeission.

3. It is complete in tlie provision it makes for man, and is adequate to every phase of his experience. Salvation can not be contracted into the forms of abstract human thoughts Unreal alternatives perplexed the men of New Testament times, ajid even modem scholars have entangled themselves in them. Is tbe Kingdom present or to come? Is salvation an experience of tlie present, or a dream of the hereafter? Is it negative, an escape from the flesh oir from death, or is it positive, an affair of spirit and life? The New Testament breaks away from such alternatives. It grasps life as a whole, in its manifold experiences, in its temporal unf oldings, and its eternal issues ; and right in the center, in the sacred seat of personal being, it sets the salvation of G-od, who-se fulness neither time nor space can exhaust. This salvation suffices for heaven, and also for earth ajid time. It visits strangers and aliens, and even enemies of God, as well as the dim millions, who know not their birthright, and oif ers them the rank and privilege of sons of God. It comes down to the slaves, whether of ancient or modern times, and certifies them of a love that knows their case, and has identiiied itself with them in their extremity. Thus by bestowing upon them friendship with God, it confers upon them liberty of spirit. It reaches the oppressed, and comfortiS all griefs with the remembrance that God has stooped beneatli the load of human sorrow. It touches those who ha,ve sunk under the burden of sin till they have despaired of manhood ; and giveis them hope, that through the gracious strength of a, Redeemer they may regain their lost rank, and even yet fulfil their destined function. It penetrates so deeply into the mystiery m which our human life is involved that it gives tO' mortal men entrance upon a resurrection power, which neither death nor the grave can defea^t.

II. The Central proclamation of the Gospel. The New Testament carries to its consummation the Old Testament knowledge of God. God is not pure Being or Substance, aiS an Oriental Pantheist might think of Him, in which case salvation would be reached by the absorption of the individual in the universal. Nor is He pure Thought, as Greek philosophy in its greatest days conceived Him, in which case salvation would be reached by the path of intellect. Nor is He the inscrutable One to whom no' predji<?iateis apply, union with whom is to be gained, as Neoplatonism taught, in a, moment of ecstatic rapture. He is the God of personal, ethical energy, who from the beginning of time has been working to perfect what He has designed for men, and, in particular, to redeem them from the moral evil which is their most terrible disaster. And now His long task is finished, though the goal be only the starting point of a new and more splendid history of grace. In the Person of His Son and Servant, Jesus Christ, God is present, in the perfect revelation of His character and the full triumphant manifestation of His saving power. Here is the heart of the Gospel— God in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. From this point of view, salvation is the work of God, which He has historically wrought out in Christ Jesus, and which He now fulfils spiritually and experimentally in the lives of those who acknowledge Christ as Saviour and Lord. It is, indeed, an amazing thing that men, who had no doubt whatever as to the humanity of Jesus, should have preached Him as the living embodiment of God's saving power; and should have claimed on His behalf such faith and worship as can rightly be rendered to God alone ; and should have done this, moreover, without any sense' of possible rivalry with that glory which is a Divine prerogative, and, indeed, should have taught that trust in Jesus is the only way of faith in God, the only condition of that knowledge of God, in which life and salvation consist.

Yet our astonishment ought not t,0' hinder our acknowledgment, to which we are constrained by the evidence, (a) that this faith in Christ was the profound conviction of all the New Testament writers, even the least doctrinal among them, and formed at once the inspiration of their missionary activity and the hearti's core of their evangel: (b) that, in Christ's own consciousness, the sense of a unique relation to God, unshared by other men, and a unique vocation on man's behalf, was deeply rooted, and found expression in revealing words and phrases which may have been misinteTpreted by theologians, but have warranted and indeed demanded the highest ascriptions of Divine glory, which adoring faith has ever rendered to Him. The New Testament, accordingly, is a unit in giving Jesus the place of primacy in the Grospel. He is the First and the Last in it, He is the sum and substance of it. ^^The Gospel is constituted by the Presence of the Son in the world, and the place given to Him in religion *' (Denney, *' Jesus and the Gospel, '* p. 300). He is not a prophet, proclaiming a new truth about God and man ; He is the Truth incarnate. He is not a herald, announcing a coming Kingdom ; the Kingdom has come in His person, and is indeed the power of God centered in Him and mediated by Him. It is to Himself primarily, and not to selected sayings or doings of His that the thoughts of men are directed. It is upon Himself, as a Person, that the movement of the human spirit, variously designated as faith or repentance, is concentrated, and this is the condition of salvation and the very essence of religion.

Men are saved when they come to Him, or give themselves to Him, i. e., when they open their lives to His gracious influence and submit themselves to> His redemptive power. The vindication of this claim that in Jesus Christ the saving power of God has been once for all incarnated, lies in two facts regarding Him. (1) He is the Living Lord. Not all the eloquent and rhetorical phrases that might be applied to Jesus of Nazareth womld make Him] Saviour, or estaMisb His STiprema.cy, imless He is nofw^ living and reigning in absolute lordship in the realm of moral and spiritual being. Even the ascription to Him of individual immortality would not guarantee the universal and eternal triumph of His mission, or warrant the preaching of His Gospel. Nothing can do this save His resurrection. All New Testament evangelism is grounded upon the fact that Christ is risen; and the proof of this fact is the twofold witness: (i) that He has revealed Himself to His disciples in His personal identity; (ii) that He haiS es:ercised the prerogative of God in sending to His waiting servants the gift of the Holy Spirit. Apart from the fact, thus certified, there could have been no New Testament evangelism. It is sober sense to say, regarding the history of the Church in all ages, and in all fields of its operation, that, apart from this fact of the Resurrection, evangelism is impossible. Other things may be preached, but the Gospel of Christ— never ! Other names may be borne, but not, with any historical justification, tlie name of Chlristian. (2) He is the Crucified.

The death of Christ, the risen and glorified Lord, does not need to be apologized for. From the very beginning of the Gospel the death of the Messiah was preached as an integral part of His vocation; and, as that vocation was more deeply understood through study of Scripture, and the interpretation of an actually experienced ChristiaQ salvation, the death was seen to contain inexhaustible ricliesi of meaning and pO'Weir. The NefW Testament evangelist s never reach finality in their descriptions of the work of Christ. But with nnfailing instinct they tnrn to^ the Cross as the instrnment of its fulfilment. The saving power of God, which seemed to be defeated at the Cross, won there its victory. Sin, which lay as a burden upon the heart of Jesus all His life, was carried by Him in unknoiwn anguish! upon the Cross, so* that the guilt and power of it need no longer oppress the conscience and will of men. *^ Christ died for us'' stands out before every Christian, and all that believers know of deliverance, and restoration, and power and joy and hope, they trace to the deed of Calvary, and are awakened thereby to a passion of adoring gratitude, which can scarcely be expressed, far less exhausted, by any service, however abuudant its witness, or profound its sacrifice. The doctrine of atonement was* never stereotyped, but Christ was never preached save as crucified ; and ' ' the Word of the C'roiss" is> the New T'estaimemt synonym for the Gospel. Christ isi never preached in the New Testament sense, unless it be declared that sin, as guilt and power has been vanquished through our Lord's cross and passion, and unless the guiltladen and the enslaved are directed to cast, themselves upon the mercy of God manifest and triumphant in the death of His Son. A preaching which terminates with Christ as teacher, example, reformer, and the like is not the whole message 2 of the New Testament. That Christ should have such rank assigned Him by those who do not claim to be Christians, is good, but not sufficient. That Christ should be preiached in no> higher sense by men, whoi hold office in the Christian Church, is lamentable, and reflects if not upon their intelligence, then upon their honesty. That He should be adoringly conceived as the crucified Saviour, and not be habitually and persistently preached in the glory of His dying and undying love, is impossible. If, through deference to the trend of opinion, mo^re or less scientific, Christ has not so been preached, the call to the Church is, surely, now to return to the spirit and method of New Testament Evangelism, and preach to the change^ less need of the world, with a conviction and fervour too deep for hysteriai, too holy and reverent for sensationalism, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. No; other message is the power of God unto salvation.

Chapter II The Deliveey Of The Message

I. The Messeitgees. In the nature of the case, every man who acknowledges Jesus as Lord, stands pledged to act as herald of the King. The Gospel is an invitation, accompanied by very tender assurances of welcome, and very gracious promises of blessing, Mk. 2 : 17, Matt. 11 : 28-30. But the grace does not disguise the authority; and the invitation does not lower the claim. To accept Christ means also to confess Him before men, Matt. 10 : 32-33, Rom. 10 : 9. The call to enter the Kingdom is not merely a welcome to all its privileges, but is also a summons to serve all its interests, and its most vital interest is the proclamation to all the world of Jesus a,s Saviour and Lord. Evangelism, accordingly, is the business of every Christian. The New Testament does not so much insist on this, as presuppose it. The loyal discharge of this duty was not incompatible with abiding in the ordinary relations and engagements of the home and of society ; though it might very well happen in individual cases that loyalty to Christ involved separation from the normal tasks and joys of life, Mk. 10 : 21, Lk. 9 : 57-62. In every case the call is to a service, the essence of which is the delivery of the message that Jesus saves from sin, and meets the need created by man's alienation from God. It can not be too plainly stated that evangelism is the duty of all to whom the Gospel has approved itself as the power of IGod to salvation.