Titus 1:1; 2 Peter 1:5-11

Who was Paul?  He was the bondservant of God, and specifically, an apostle of Jesus Christ.  Now we concern ourselves with the purpose of his ministry as an apostle.  What was God doing through Paul?  

·        Paul’s ministry was according to the faith of God’s elect.

What does this mean?  Some take “the faith” to be sound doctrine, the body of “faith” for the Church.  If that is so then faith and truth in Titus 1:1b are the same.  And Paul certainly was an apostle God used to reveal sound doctrine.  But others would say it means Paul’s ministry was aimed at providing the elect with the opportunity they needed to exercise their faith.  Faith needs a preacher.  To believe we must hear the Shepherd’s voice (John 10:27).  Rom. 10:14-17 makes this clear: faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.  The Apostles preached the gospel of Christ, the good news of His death and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  Paul especially preached for the faith among all nations (Rom. 1:5).  The Thessalonian elect believed through Paul’s preaching (2 Thess. 2:13-14) as did the Gentiles at Antioch (Acts 13:48).  So Paul was certainly that apostle whose choice by God fit perfectly with God’s desire to call people from every nation and language to faith in Christ.

Matthew Henry says faith is the first principle of sanctification.  Why is that important?  Because there is a second statement that reveals Paul’s aim as God’s slave and Christ’s apostle.  His ministry is according to … the full-knowledge of the truth that accords with godliness.  The term translated acknowledgment is one of Paul’s favorite: it is the word knowledge with the prefix epi.  It signifies knowing something through and through so that it becomes your natural way of thinking.  In the Pastoral Epistles we see clarifying uses of this term.

ü 1 Tim. 2:4: God desires that men be saved AND come to a full knowledge of the truth.

ü 2 Tim. 2:23-25 refers to hindrances to coming to the truth.  Devotion to foolish disputes or a lack of humility or repentance keep us from truth.

ü 2 Tim. 3:7 refer to those who are always learning (perhaps the latest fads) but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

Sound doctrine (the truth Paul is speaking of here) accords with godliness (1 Tim. 6:3).  It is in sync with godliness and will lead to godliness.  This was the aim of Paul’s ministry.  He preached Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:23) because it was necessary to the faith of God’s elect AND because it is the truth that leads to godliness.  Like Paul (in Phil. 3:7-11) after our initial faith in Christ, and to the end of our earthly days, we must be willing to count everything else loss and rubbish and make our daily and life-long aim to be: I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST!  More and more we will grow into the full knowledge of the truth and will grow more and more into the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ.