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21 Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you. 22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. ~ Romans 16:21-24
Today, we return to our study of the letter written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Rome during the first century. The main goal that the Apostle had in mind in writing this book was to challenge the believer in Christ to focus on being the servant of the Lord. Clear understanding of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will cause us to embrace the role of the servant of Christ simply out of gratitude for what the Lord Jesus for him on the cross. When we serve others, we are chiefly thanking God for his goodness in giving his Son in our place.
In v.21 of today's passage we read, "Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you."
Here, the Apostle Paul reveals those who were with him in Corinth as he wrote this letter. The first was Timothy who was Paul's son in the faith and his number one disciple. In Philippians 2 the Apostle wrote of Timothy that there was no one who was as like-minded with himself. All through all of Paul's epistles we learn of Paul's affection for Timothy.
And then there was Lucius of Cyrene who was also a Gentile. According to Acts 13, he was one of the five men who led the church at Antioch. And then Paul adds "Jason and Sosipater." According to Acts 17, Jason was Paul's host on his first visit to Thessalonica. He was a man who gave hospitality to him and he was saved at that time. Paul stayed in Jason's home when a riot broke out in the city. Sosipater was from the town of Berea and was probably one of those noble Old Testament students who studied the Scriptures. He was in Paul's group at this time as well and is mentioned in Acts 20.
Here were six members of Paul's family, kinsmen who had all become believers in the Lord Jesus. Some were Christians before him, but some Paul influenced toward Christ. They came from various places. Sosipater was the man from Beroea, mentioned in Acts 20 as "Sopater." Paul met him in Macedonia and may have accompanied him to Jerusalem with the offering to the churches there.
In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother."
Up to this point the Apostle Paul dictated this letter to Tertius, who wrote it down. His name indicates that he, too, was a slave, because his name means "third." In slave families they did not bother to think up names; they just numbered the children. The brother of Tertius, Quartus, was also with the Apostle in Corinth, as well. We know that these two were educated slaves because they could read and write.
These men were gathered together with the Apostle in the home of Gaius, this gracious, generous host of the city, mentioned in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Gaius opened his house to the entire Christian community, so here is Paul, sitting there with his friends. Tertius is writing down the letter, and the others are gathered around listening to Paul as he dictates, and profiting much from the writing of these great truths.
The final name is Erastus, director of public works in the city of Corinth. You can see how the gospel penetrated all levels of society, with slaves, public officials, consuls, leaders of the empire, all sharing an equal ground of fellowship in the church of Jesus Christ. All class distinctions disappeared within the church and that is what happens whenever the church works. All of these believers in the Lord Jesus were noted for their faithfulness to the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
In v.24 of today's passage we read, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
God has called us believers in Christ to participate in the ministry that He is bringing to fruition in this world. Without His grace operative in our lives, we will not be successfully involved in anything the Lord desires to do in and through us in this world. Two things in this world will last for eternity: the souls of people and the word of God. It is our calling to be involved in investing our time, talents and treasures in getting these two together. Be used for eternity in the lives of those with whom you have appointment with today! God is in it!
