Chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians begins with Paul alluding back to truths he established in chapter 1: that man's wisdom is foolishness, that it is not by man's ability that he is saved, and that salvation is not based on any standing or merit of our own. While he focuses on the message of the gospel being the very power of God to salvation in chapter 1, he shifts his focus in chapter 2 to the DELIVERY of the message and to the messenger, using himself as the example. Here he downplays the importance of the messenger's own strengths and against emphasizes that the message is what saves people. In doing so, he makes three contrasts which demonstrate the proper approach for the messenger of the gospel. First, Paul exalts the Testimony of the Cross over the Trends of the Culture; secondly, Paul stresses the Simplicity of Preaching over the Seduction of Personality; and thirdly, he extols the Power of an Infinite God over the Persuasion of Incompetent Men.