When you strip superstition away from a man, he feels terribly naked for a moment, but until we strip off our superstition the Lord cannot put on us a cloak of truth. The kingdom of God lies in power; its essence is in power. The gospel is not the statement that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (see 1 Cor. 15:3). The gospel is the statement that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures plus the Holy Spirit in that statement, to give it meaning and power. Just the statement itself will never do it.
