thus preaching the gospel is of prime concern to evangelical christians, for it is "the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes" (romans 1:16). it explains also why many evangelical christians view the bible so highly – for to remove "sola scriptura" is to essentially remove everything we can know about god. it explains why the new testament was written, and why churches need people to teach and build up the body of christ. it also explains why evangelism and missionary activity was and is necessary – both by the apostles and by the church today.