Titus 1:4

4 To ¹Titus, ²my true child ^[a]in a ³common faith: ⁴Grace and peace from God the Father and ⁵Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Titus 1:4

To Titus, mine own son after the common faith
Not in a natural, but in a spiritual sense; the apostle being the instrument of his conversion, as he was of the conversion of Onesimus, and of many of the Corinthians, and therefore is said to beget them, ( Philemon 1:10 ) ( 1 Corinthians 4:15 ) and so was their spiritual father, and they his children: Titus was, in this sense, his "own son", or a true son, a legitimate one; a true convert; one really born again; a sincere believer, an Israelite indeed: and this he was "after the common faith"; either the doctrine of faith, which is but one, and is common to all the saints; or the grace of faith, which though different in degrees, yet is alike precious faith in all; the same for nature, kind, object, operation, and effects: and this phrase is used to show in what sense Titus was son to the apostle; as he was a believer, and no otherwise.

Grace, mercy, and peace
which is the apostle's usual salutation; see ( 1 Timothy 1:2 ) . The word "mercy" is left out in the Claromontane copy, and in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions.

Titus 1:4 In-Context

2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,

3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,

4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,

6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 8:23; Galatians 2:3; 2 Timothy 4:10
• 2. 2 Timothy 1:2
• 3. 2 Peter 1:1
• 4. Romans 1:7
• 5. 1 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 1:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "according to"