John Calvin Commentary Titus 1:2

"in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal;" — Titus 1:2 (ASV)

In the hope (or, on account of the hope) of eternal life. This undoubtedly denotes the cause, for that is the force of the Greek preposition ἐπί; and therefore it may be translated, “On account of the hope,” or “On the hope.”

True religion and the practice of godliness begin with meditation on the heavenly life. Similarly, when Paul (Colossians 1:5) praises the faith and love of the Colossians, he makes their cause and foundation to be the hope laid up in heaven.

The Sadducees and all who confine our hope to this world, whatever they may pretend, can do nothing but produce contempt for God, as they reduce people to the condition of cattle. Accordingly, it should always be the aim of a good teacher to turn people’s eyes away from the world, so that they may look up to heaven.

I readily acknowledge that we should value the glory of God more highly than our salvation, but we are not now discussing which of these two should be first in order. All I am saying is that people never seek God in the right way until they have the confidence to approach Him; and, therefore, we never apply our minds to godliness until we have been instructed about the hope of the heavenly life.

Which God promised before the times of ages. As Augustine translated the words Πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων to mean not “the times of ages” but “eternal times,” he struggles greatly with “the eternity of times,” until he finally explains “eternal times” as denoting those which go beyond all antiquity.

Regarding the meaning, he and Jerome and other commentators agree that God determined, before the creation of the world, to give that salvation which He has now manifested by the gospel. Thus, Paul would have used the word promise incorrectly instead of decree, for before people existed, there was no one to whom He could promise.

For this reason, while I do not reject this explanation, yet when I take a close survey of the whole matter, I feel compelled to adopt a different interpretation: that eternal life was promised to people many ages ago, and not only to those who lived at that time, but also for our own age. It was not for the benefit of Abraham alone, but with a view to all who would live after him, that God said, In your seed shall all nations be blessed (Genesis 22:18).

Nor is this inconsistent with what he says, in another sense (2 Timothy 1:9), that salvation was given to people before the times of ages. The meaning of the word is still the same in both passages. For, since the Greek word αἰών denotes an uninterrupted succession of time from the beginning to the end of the world, Paul declares in that passage that salvation was given or decreed for the elect of God before times began to flow. But because in this passage he treats of the promise, he does not include all ages, so as to lead us back beyond the creation of the world, but shows that many ages have elapsed since salvation was promised.

If anyone prefers to view “the times of ages” as a concise expression for the ages themselves, they are free to do so. But because salvation was given by the eternal election of God before it was promised, the act of giving salvation is placed in that passage (2 Timothy 1:9) before all ages, and therefore we must supply the word all. Here, however, it means nothing more than that the promise is more ancient than a long course of ages, because it began immediately after the creation of the world.

In the same sense, he shows that the gospel, which was to be proclaimed when Christ rose from the dead, had been promised in the Scriptures by the prophets. For there is a wide difference between the promise which was formerly given to the fathers and the present manifestation of grace.

Who cannot lie. This expression, ἀψευδής, is added for glorifying God and, still more, for confirming our faith. And indeed, whenever our salvation is the subject, we should remember that it is founded on the word of Him who can neither deceive nor lie. Moreover, the only proof of all religion is the unchangeable truth of God.