In his epistle to young Pastor Titus, the Apostle Paul spoke of his apostleship in a unique way, saying,
βPaulβ¦an apostleβ¦according to the faith of Godβs electβ¦β (Titus 1:1)
What could Paul have meant when he said that he was made an apostle βaccording to the faith of Godβs elect?β
Well, the word βelectβ means chosen, of course. When we have an election, we choose a candidate to be our leader. And when it comes to Godβs elect, even the Lordβs enemies knew that He was Godβs chosen (Lu. 23:35). You yourself became part of Godβs elect when you believed the gospel and God placed you βin Christβ (I Cor. 1:30). Thatβs how it has always worked, in every dispensation. Isaiah identified the Lord Jesus as Godβs elect (Isa. 42:1 cf. Mt. 12:18,19), but later identified believers in Israel as Godβs elect (65:9,22).
But when Paul said that heβd been made an apostle according to the faith of Godβs elect, that canβt be talking about the faith that we put in Christ to become part of the elect. Our faith didnβt come along until long after Paul was made an apostle, so he couldnβt have been made an apostle according to that faith. Whatever faith heβs talking about here, it must have existed before Paul was an apostle, and he was made an apostle according to it.
Here it helps to remember that the phrase βthe faithβ can refer to a body of truth, as it does when Paul and Barnabas βreturned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antiochβ¦exhorting them to continue in the faithβ (Acts 14:21,22). We see this same definition of the phrase βthe faithβ when Paul later helped some churches become βestablished in the faithβ (Acts 16:5). In these verses βthe faithβ clearly referred to the body of truth given to Paul. Thatβs the thing in which believers should be established, and thatβs the thing in which they need to continue, as those versesβand othersβinsist (cf. Rom. 16:25; Acts 13:43, I Tim. 4:16, II Tim. 3:14).
And thatβs what the phrase βthe faithβ means in Titus 1:1 as well. The body of truth that was given to Paul existed in the mind of God before the world began, and Paul was made an apostle according to it. That is, he was made an apostle to reveal that faith and preach it, and make known that body of truth. Paul calls it βthe faith which should afterwards be revealedβ (Gal. 3:23) because while it existed in the mind of God before the world began, he says that God βmanifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto meβ (Tit. 1:3). It is the message of Godβs grace, and it is the reason Paul wrote that he had βreceived grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nationsβ (Rom. 1:5).
Have you been obedient to the faith, and βobeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered youβ through Paul (Rom. 6:17)? Paul says that God will impute His very own righteousness to us βif we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. source
