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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Tit_1:4
4To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Tit_1:4 "to Titus" This letter is addressed to Titus, but it was to be read publicly to all the house churches (cf. the plural of "you" of Tit_3:15). Titus was Paul's faithful Gentile Apostolic legate. It is unusual that he is not named in Acts (see Introduction II. C.).
▣ "my true child" Paul uses this same terminology for Timothy in 1Ti_1:2 and "my son" in 2Ti_1:2 of Onesimus in Phm_1:10. It is a familial metaphor for Paul's converts and friends.
▣ "in a common faith" "Common" is not used here with the connotation of unclean as in Act_10:14; Act_11:8, but in its connotation of universal or normal. A similar phrase is used in Jud_1:3. It is common in the sense that it is for all humans and available to all humans. This may be a direct antithesis to the false teachers' elitism and exclusivism.
▣ "Grace and peace from God the Father" These two terms often form Paul's opening prayers. It is possible that "grace" (charis) is a wordplay on "greetings" (charein, cf. Jas_1:1; Act_15:23), the similar Greek word that opened most Greek letters. Paul takes the normal cultural opening, charein, and changes it to the uniquely Christian charis.
The term "peace" may reflect the common Hebrew greeting "Shalom." If so, Paul combines both Greek and Hebrew greetings into one Christian greeting.
The Textus Receptus (cf. KJV) and the Greek manuscripts A, C2, and K, add "mercy" to grace and peace. This is probably an assimilation from 1Ti_1:2 and 2Ti_1:2. The shorter form is found in manuscripts à , C*, D, F, G, and P as well as the Latin Vulgate. The UBS4 gives the shorter reading an "A" rating (certain).
For "Father" see Special Topic at 1Ti_1:2.
▣ "Christ Jesus our Savior" This phrase links God the Father, YHWH of the OT, and Jesus the Messiah by the use of the term "Savior" (cf. Tit_1:3-4; Tit_2:10; Tit_2:13; Tit_3:4; Tit_3:6). It is used of God in Tit_1:3 and of Jesus in Tit_1:4. Using OT titles of God applied to Jesus was a common way for the NT authors to assert the deity of Jesus.