God Our Saviour

I  Timothy 1:1

The fact that here in the Pastorals the name Saviour is frequently applied to God is, after all, not at all surprising, for even in his earlier epistles Paul frequently ascribes the work of saving man to "God"; for example, "It was God's good-pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe"; "but God . . . made us alive together with Christ....for by grace have you been saved through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God"; your salvation, and that from God".  To "God" he also ascribes thedistinct acts in the programme of salvation.It is God who spared not his Son but delivered him up for us all.  It is God who sets forth his son as a propitiation for our sins.  It is he who commends his love toward us.  It is God who blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

Foreknowledge, foreordination, calling, justification, glorification are all ascribed to him.  It is he who chose us.  It is he who causes the gospel to be proclaimed.  It is he who bestows his grace upon us.  Faith is his gift.  In view of all this we can almost say that it would have been strange if somewhere in his epistles the apostle would not have called God "our saviour".  Calling God "our Saviour" is entirely proper.  And since for Paul God ever saves through Christ, verse 1 is also a fitting prelude to verse 15: "Christ Jesus came into the world sinners to save."

(Rev. William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Banner of Truth Trust, Aug.-Sept 2014)