Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
All Commentaries on Titus 1:1 Go To Titus 1
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect.
You observe how he uses these expressions indifferently, sometimes calling himself the servant of God, and sometimes the servant of Christ, thus making no difference between the Father and the Son.
According to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. In hope of eternal life.
According to the faith of God's elect. It is because you have believed, or rather because you were entrusted? I think he meant, that he was entrusted with God's elect, that is, not for any achievements of mine, nor from my toils and labors, did I receive this dignity. It was wholly the effect of His goodness who entrusted me. Yet that the grace may not seem without reason, (for still the whole was not of Him, for why did He not entrust it to others?) he therefore adds, And the acknowledging of the truth that is after godliness. For it was for this acknowledgment that I was entrusted, or rather it was of His grace that this too was entrusted to me, for He was the author of this also. Whence Christ Himself said, You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. John 15:16 And elsewhere this same blessed one writes, I shall know, even as also I am known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 And again, If I may apprehend that, for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12 First we are apprehended, and afterwards we know: first we are known, and then we apprehend: first we were called, and then we obeyed. But in saying, according to the faith of the elect, all is reckoned to them, because on their account I am an Apostle, not for my worthiness, but for the elect's sake. As he elsewhere says, All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos. 1 Corinthians 3:21
And the acknowledging the truth that is after godliness. For there is a truth in other things, that is not according to godliness; for knowledge in matters of agriculture, knowledge of the arts, is true knowledge; but this truth is after godliness. Or this, according to faith, means that they believed, as the other elect believed, and acknowledged the truth. This acknowledging then is from faith, and not from reasonings.
In hope of eternal life. He spoke of the present life, which is in the grace of God, and he also speaks of the future, and sets before us the rewards that follow the mercies which God has bestowed upon us. For He is willing to crown us because we have believed, and have been delivered from error. Observe how the introduction is full of the mercies of God, and this whole Epistle is especially of the same character, thus exciting the holy man himself, and his disciples also, to greater exertions. For nothing profits us so much as constantly to remember the mercies of God, whether public or private. And if our hearts are warmed when we receive the favors of our friends, or hear some kind word or deed of theirs, much more shall we be zealous in His service when we see into what dangers we had fallen, and that God has delivered us from them all.
And the acknowledging of the truth. This he says with reference to the type. For that was an acknowledging and a godliness, yet not of the Truth, yet neither was it falsehood, it was godliness, but it was in type and figure. And he has well said, In hope of eternal life. For the former was in hope of the present life. For it is said, he that does these things shall live in them. Romans 10:5 You see how at the beginning he sets forth the difference of grace. They are not the elect, but we. For if they were once called the elect, yet are they no longer called so.
