A person needs a certain level of knowledge of what God is trying to communicate, but that knowledge itself will never provide the life that the sinner needs. For example, John 3:16 gives the gospel "in a nutshell" as some would say - but it will have no effect on the listener unless he or she actually hears what is being said in that verse - personally. Unless he or she individually comes into contact with the person of whom it is speaking - the Lord Jesus Christ himself.