For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel [of Christ]. These bracketed words are clearly an addition to the genuine text, as nearly all critics agree. [They are found only in K L D*** (a corrector so late as the 9th or 10th century), several cursives, and some late versions; but missing in 'Aleph (') A B C D* E G, a number of cursives, some of the principal copies of the Old Latin, the Vulgate, and both Syriac versions, and the principal fathers.] The language implies that it required some courage to bring to 'the mistress of the world' what "to the Jews was a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness." But its intrinsic glory, as God's life-giving message to a dying world, so filled his soul, that like his blessed Master he "despised the shame."
FOR IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. [There is no sufficient reason for bracketing prooton (G4412), as Lachmann does; for the evidence of its genuineness is decisive.] Here, and in Romans 1:17, the apostle announces the grand theme of his ensuing argument, the substance of which is, SALVATION (the one overwhelming necessity of perishing men) EMBODIED IN A MESSAGE FROM GOD TO MEN (that every hearer of it may be assured that in it he hears God's message to himself), WHICH WHOSOEVER CREDITS SHALL FIND TO BE THE POWER OF GOD TO HIS OWN SALVATION: the Jew first (to whom, in virtue of his ancient standing, the message is first to be carried), but the Greek as well.