Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and Christ Jesus our hope;
"The opening and closing sections of the pastoral epistles vary considerably from the standard formulae. This suggests a calculated focus toward certain aspects of the author/reader relationship." [Note: Tom Thatcher, "The Relational Matrix of the Pastoral Epistles," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 38:1 (March 1995):43.] 