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Salutation[a]

Chapter 1

Address. Paul, a servant of God[b] and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of those whom God has chosen and their knowledge of religious truth, with its hope of eternal life that God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and who now at his appointed time has revealed his word through the proclamation with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior, to Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share:[c] grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Titus 1:1 In this beautiful salutation the author highlights the centrality of the Letter’s salvation theme in two ways. (1) He defines the role of an apostle—to tell all people of God’s plan to lead them to eternal life. (2) He specifically mentions Christ’s role as Savior, which he does in no other salutation.
  2. Titus 1:1 Servant of God: this is the only place Paul applies the phrase to himself; elsewhere he calls himself “servant of Christ” (see Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Phil 1:1). Apostle: see note on Mk 6:30.
  3. Titus 1:4 God our Savior . . . Christ Jesus our Savior: the term “Savior” is applied three times to God the Father (here and Tit 2:10; 3:4; see also 1 Tim 1:1; 2:3; 4:10) and three times to Jesus (Tit 1:4; 2:13; 3:6; see also 2 Tim 1:10).
  4. Titus 1:4 My loyal child in the faith we share: Titus is Paul’s true child because he accepts and will proclaim the faith that Paul preaches. This links Titus with the developing chain of tradition.