“To Titus, mine own son after the common faith.” (Titus 1:4)

Paul was ultimately a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, but his ministry of evangelism, discipleship, church planting/establishing was not an island unto itself. Rather, it was “in accordance with the faith of God’s elect.” (Titus 1:1) Paul’s calling was from God, his anointing was from God, his orders were from the Lord Jesus; but all of it was designed to be carried out within the context of the Church – “the faith of God’s elect.” As he addressed this letter to Titus he begins by saying, “To Titus, mine own son after (according to) the common faith.” Paul was unique, special, and set apart, but the message he was preaching, and the churches he was building was not a particular brand or sect of The Faith, but his service was rather among all of God’s people – the faith which was common to all of God’s elect. In this article I would like to explore what is meant by the phrase, “the common faith,” and how we can apply that knowledge to how we minister in the world today? 

The word “common” here is the greek word koinos (κοινός), which means shared by all. The word is used in both a negative and a positive way. Negatively, it is the idea of unclean, defiled, or profane, whether physically or spiritually. If we think of a “common bath” that is “shared by all” then we get the idea. In the Jewish mind, any belief or practice of worship that was not unique to Yahweh and according to His Law were considered “unclean” or “common,” and therefore sinful. When Peter saw the vision of the heavenly sheet with various kinds of meat which were forbidden by the Law of Moses, the Lord told him to rise and eat, but Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” That which is sacred is pure, special, unique and holy, because it is in union with God and separate from the world and other false religious systems. A special faith is one that is not base or ordinary. In this sense a “common faith” would be a bad thing, it would be a faith that is shared by everyone and would be based on the least common denominator of beliefs and practices that are shared by all. 

But here in Titus the word is used in the positive sense, meaning, that the faith is communal –  the invitation into this faith is offered to all; acceptance into the faith is granted to all who repent and come through Jesus; all of the benefits of this faith are equally accessible to all, etc. “The Faith” of Christianity is not a faith only for Jews, or men, or priests, or the rich, or the intelligent. It is not a faith which is reserved to a particular camp, or sect among the Christian church either. The Faith is common to all who are in it. Christ is shared as Savior and Lord equally by all. The Spirit knows no denominational boundaries. The Bible, and it’s correct interpretation is not retained by one particular school of thought. 

The major point of emphasis which jumps out to me about these verses is that Paul identified himself with The Faith which was common to all of God’s elect. His vision was not to minister only among churches that he started, or only among churches that were “Pauline” or “Gentile” or “Asian.” He saw himself as part of a Body that included all of the apostles, all of the prophets, all of the nations, all ethnicities, all languages; all the different kinds of people in the world, with all of the differences and difficulties that arise from having this mix. I think too often in the Evangelical, Bible-believing, Born-Again Christian world, too many believers focus their identity more on their denominational identity rather than simply on the faith that is common to all of God’s elect. It is “cleaner” that way. We have our particular flavor and style and kind that we all like, and we can serve Jesus together in this way. But what this does is rob us from showing the power of the cross and the glory of the Gospel to reconcile all things to Himself. In environments that are highly focused on their own distinctives there tends to be an emphasis more on the superficial rather than on the heart of what we truly have in common.

What is common to all true Christians? Without getting too much in depth here, (I am planning to write on this more particularly, and to cite all of this with support) I think it would suffice to simply state that mostly all believers pretty much already know what is common to us all: every Christian believes that Jesus is God in the flesh, who died on the cross for all of our sins. He rose from the dead and ascended back into heaven. He gives eternal life and the gift of the Holy Spirit to anyone and everyone who repents and trusts in Him as Savior. He is our Lord whom we ought to obey. All of this is in accordance with the Word of God, which we have been born again by: which we love, and confess is the Word of God, which we live by. What kinds of practices are common to all born again Christians? We gather for worship; we sing praises to God; we share communion together; we preach the gospel and teach the believers the Word of God; we strive to live holy lives and to obey the Word of God. These beliefs and practices are the common faith. This is not a comprehensive list, and there may be variation and nuance in the way we understand and practice these things, but all of this is the foundation and heart of what it means to be a Christian. It is not to say that we cannot have variations among us – that is healthy and is to be expected. But we should not see the things that make us different as things that make us any more special to God or superior to others. The things which are truly foundational and essential are things that are shared by us all. 

May the Lord be pleased to lead us into all truth, and at the same time to love and embrace all of God’s true children who are humbly seeking after Him.  

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Book of Jude, verse 3)

“Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.” (Romans 15:7)