Titus 1:1-4  Salutation

A standard epistle salutation but a little long for such a short letter.  Contains the basic three parts – writer, reader and greeting.  Each part could be expanded according to the occasion and the writer’s purpose.

1:1 – Paul, “a servant of God” – only used here – elsewhere “a servant of Jesus Christ.”  A servant – used to show Paul’s complete submission and dependence on God.  This letter was to show the authority Paul had as well as to identity Titus as the one carrying that authority in Crete.  Paul uses this lengthy introduction of himself not for Titus but for the churches in Crete to hear.  Paul is God’s agent and Jesus’ “apostle” (one called, equipped, and sent forth as His authoritative messenger).

           Paul’s mission was to promote Christian faith and knowledge.  This describes his apostolic office.  His apostleship was in accord with the faith and knowledge given to God’s elect, and not regulated by their faith (Gal. 1:11-17).

          “God’s elect” – those who respond positively to the call of God to the gospel.  There is a balance between divine initiative and human response.  It assures faithful, struggling Christians that their salvation is all of God from beginning to end.

         Christian faith is linked with knowing the truth.  Faith is a heart response to the truth of the Gospel (Rom. 10:17; 1 Thes. 2:13; Eph. 1:13).  Once we believe, there is also a moral aspect that “leads to godliness.”  Our desire should be for our conduct to be pleasing to God as a result of our changed attitude because of reverence.  There is an intimate connection between a vital possession of truth and genuine godliness.  This was a lesson the Cretan church desperately needed to learn. 

1:2 – NIV adds:  “a faith and knowledge” to the verse to help solidify that the believer’s hope is in eternal life.  Ad this hope is not a mere aspiration.  It is grounded on infallible facts which we are sure of based on knowledge of the Word and by faith in the truth taught to us in the Scripture.

The reason we can be so sure of this hope of eternal life is because it is based on the trustworthiness of God – “who does not lie.”  This is a great contrast with the Cretans who only lie.  They were pathological liars and therefore did not believe anyone else either.  God promised this eternal life before time began (2 Tim. 1:9).  It is rooted in God’s eternal purpose for humankind, and was established in the Godhead before the creation of the world.

1:3 – “His word” – (not Logos) – is referring to the Gospel of salvation rather than Christ Himself, The Word – John 1:1 (Logos).  This message was made known at the perfect time established by God in His eternal wisdom (“at his appointed time”).  There may be many factors involved in God’s time but we need to know and accept that the revelation of Christ to the world happened at the perfect time in God’s plan for mankind and all history had been the preparation.

“through the preaching entrusted to me”  is not referring to preaching as much as it is to the “message” which was entrusted to him.  He had to establish that this message had been given to him directly by God for distribution to the people and must be kept or preserved intact without alteration especially in Crete.  Paul was amazed that the “message” was give to him directly as unworthy as he felt he was (1Cor. 15:9; Eph. 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:11-13).

The assignment came to him by “God our Savior.”  This is Paul’s divine commission and shows the authority behind this letter.  In these Pastoral letters God is referred to as Savior as well as Jesus.  Ultimately it is God the Father who orchestrated the plan of salvation and so it is appropriate to refer to Him as Savior as well as His Son who brought this gift into being.

1:4 – The recipient of the letter is identified here.  Titus, “my true son in our common faith.”  A close relationship is revealed, intimate and endearing.  He was Paul’s convert, and “true” indicates that Titus was staying true to his spiritual parentage and represented Paul’s position – (genuine or legitimate).  “Common” refers to this universal faith among all God’s elect in the salvation of God to eternal life.

Paul’s usual greeting follows – a double blessing of “grace and peace.”  “Grace” being unmerited favor of God at work in the life of the believer, and “peace”, the resultant experience of well being in the life of those reconciled by Christ.  This double blessing comes “from God the Father and Jesus Christ the Savior.”  Both Father and Son are involved in bestowing the same salvation. “Our” – granted to all who accept it.