Jonah 2:9-10

THE love of the Father, the work of the Son, and the operations of the Holy Ghost, save the soul. The Father devised the scheme, the Son gave the ransom, and the Holy Spirit puts us in possession of the blessing. It is of God. It is by grace. It is through faith. Deliverance from dangers, trails, and wants, is of the Lord. He delivered Jonah when he cried, though he was a poor, proud, obstinate, peevish, fretful sinner: and He will deliver us. He says, "Look unto me and be delivered, for I...

Salvation is the work of God. It is he alone who quickens the soul "dead in trespasses and sins," and it is he also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both "Alpha and Omega." "Salvation is of the Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful; if I have graces, they are God's gifts to me; if I hold on in a consistent life, it is because he upholds me with his hand. I do nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what God himself first does in me. Whatever I...

We are all familiar with the zealous "soul winner" who dashes around, buttonholing unsuspecting prospects, leading them through a salvation formula, and badgering them until they finally make a profession in order to get rid of him. He chalks up another convert and then looks around for more heads to count. Is this evangelism?

We would have to admit that it is not. It is a form of religious harassment. Like any service performed in the energy of the flesh, it does more harm than...