but the end of the charge is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith;

 (b) There is a pagan background. It so happened that just at this time the title soter ( G4990) , Saviour, was much in use. Men had always used it. In the old days the Romans had called Scipio, their great general, "our hope and our salvation." But at this very time it was the title which the Greeks gave to Aesculapius, the god of healing. And it was one of the titles which Nero, the Roman Emperor, had taken to himself. So in this opening sentence Paul is taking the title which was much on the lips of a seeking and a wistful world and giving it to the only person to whom it belonged by right. 