The thesis of this paper is that contrary to some scholarly views to the effect that creedal language in the early church started with the first ecumenical creed of Nicaea in AD 325, earlier documents such as Paul’s letters are littered with pre-creedal language. This language serves as the precursor to the second-century regula fidei, itself the basis for the later creeds of the church. In other words, in Pauline corpus, there are clear markers of orthodoxy. The thesis will be defended through an examination of formulaic style, content and structure of some of the key pre-creedal texts in the Pastoral epistles. These texts, often referred to as “pre-performed creedal texts” (PCT), which are believed to predate the NT, include sayings, poems, hymns and prose that form a confession or an encapsulation of the Christian faith. In the Pastoral Epistles, they are normally introduced by the phrase πιστὸς ὁ λόγος (“this is a trustworthy saying”) or simply referred to as deposit (παραθηκην— “what has been deposited to you”). The opening formula is followed by a summary of the Christian faith. Thus, rather than being a later concept, Christian creedal language predates the composition of the NT and is preserved in it.