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1:1-32
‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith’(16). Do you think it was easy for Paul to maintain such commitment to Christ, such confidence in Christ? What kind of world did he live in? - A world of ‘ungodliness and wickedness’(18-31). Many times, Paul could have given up in despair - ‘There is too much ungodliness and wickedness all around me. How can I go on?’. When you feel like giving up, when everything seems to be so difficult, remember Paul. Remember his longing to ‘impart some spiritual gift’, his desire to ‘reap some harvest’ his eagerness to ‘preach the gospel’(12-15). Let us say, with Paul, ‘God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’(Galatians 6:14). Let us be ‘set apart for the gospel of God’(1).

2:1-29
None of us can ‘escape the judgment of God’. None of us can ‘presume upon the riches of His kindness’(3-4). We dare not come to God like the Pharisee, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other men...’. We can only come to Him with the prayer of the tax collector, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’(Luke 18:11-13). We must not pretend that we are ‘righteous’. We must confess that we are ‘sinners’(Luke 5:32). Sinners, lost, dead - We must hear this ‘bad news if we are to come to a true appreciation of the Good News: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), ‘The Son of man came to seek and save the lost’(Luke 19:10), ‘God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved’(Ephesians 2:4-5).