Romans 16:21-24

Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives. I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. [May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen.]

Paul’s final list of 8 names and greetings is simply a continuation of the previous list, thus continuing to show us both the importance of working in unity for the spread of the Gospel and the reality of the communion of saints. This list, rather than Paul greeting those in and around Rome, represents those with Paul in the Corinthian church greeting the Roman believers. Can you picture these guys standing around Paul and Tertius as they finish writing this letter? We don’t know if they personally knew the Roman believers or if they were just excited to be involved in this fellowshipping between churches. One thing we can say is that these men would have, by having their name in this letter, been consenting to the teaching found within, serving to emphasize early Christian doctrinal unity.

We all know Timothy, Paul’s fellow worker; he, along with Lucius (some consider that this is actually Luke, but this can be refuted by the fact that Paul calls him a relative (likely Lucius was a Jew – and Luke was a Gentile); others think it is the prophet and teacher from Antioch – Lucius from Acts 13:1), Jason (possibly the same man mentioned in Acts 17:5-9 who hosted Paul and Silas and whose house was assaulted by a mob), and Sosipater (perhaps Sopater son of Pyhrrus from Berea from Acts 20:4), send their greetings to the Romans in Paul’s letter. The scribe, Tertius, sends his greetings. Gaius (perhaps of Derbe from Acts 20:4; more likely the one Paul baptized in 1 Corinthians 1:14), who apparently hosted Paul and/or Tertius and the church in Corinth in his home, sends his greetings. And notice the focus on hospitality again. 3 John focuses on the hospitality of Gaius as well (a different Gaius). It should be as if the Lord Jesus Himself was coming to your house. Christian community is important. Christians glorify God by assembling together. Hospitality brings Christians together in unity and love and fellowship. Erastus’ job title is given; as the steward or treasurer of Corinth, he’s a prominent figure, and he’s come to believe the Gospel and join in the fellowship of believers. He and brother Quartus are forever commemorated with their greetings to the Roman church. Paul calls all of these men “brothers.” Let’s be grateful that Jesus Christ our Lord is “not ashamed to call [us] brothers” (Hebrews 2:11).

With of these “to and fro” greetings, we ought to realize that Christians ought to know about one another’s spiritual condition and service. We learn from this passage that we can have a close relationship with certain brothers and sisters within the community of faith without violating the general principle of all of us being brothers and sisters in Christ. The Communion of the Saints is a reality. In Romans 14-15, Paul talked about being the Body of Christ. And chapter 16 shows us how it was lived out in the first century. They were ministering to one another. They were loving one another. They were excited in greeting one another. They were excited to hear from one another. They were caring for one another. They were in deep and significant and distinctively gospel and Christian relationships with one another. They were risking their lives and using their resources and hosting Gospel work in their homes and working hard for the Lord, for the Gospel, for the Kingdom. They had different roles, but they were clearly One Body. Let’s be like that!

And then in v24 we get an identical benediction to the one in v20: “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen.” While some ancient manuscripts omit this one, we can be certain that it has been issued at least once (v20). A benediction is from God to us. A doxology is from us to God. We see this benediction as God blessing His people. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we’ll wrap up the book of Romans by looking at the doxology, which is God’s people blessing God or praising God. The benediction is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ being with all of us.” The doxology is “glory forever through Jesus be to Him who is able to establish us.”