Commentary - Romans 16:21-24

Bird's-eye view

As Paul brings his monumental letter to the Romans to a close, he does not do so in sterile isolation. The final chapter is a cascade of personal greetings, a reminder that the profound theology of the preceding fifteen chapters is not an abstract treatise but is the very lifeblood of a real, interconnected community of saints. This section, verses 21 through 24, is a burst of salutations from Paul's companions in Corinth, where he was writing. It serves as a powerful illustration of the organic unity of the body of Christ. These are not just names on a page; they are fellow workers, kinsmen, a scribe, a host, and a city official, all bound together in the fellowship of the gospel. The passage underscores that the Christian faith is profoundly personal and communal. The grand doctrines of justification, sanctification, and glorification are worked out in the context of real relationships with real people, extending across cities and provinces, all united under the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This list of names demonstrates the breadth and texture of the early church. We see Jews and Gentiles, close companions in ministry, and even a man of civic prominence. Tertius's personal interjection is a charming and humanizing touch, reminding us of the mechanics of letter-writing in the ancient world and the personal investment of those involved. Gaius is commended for a hospitality so vast it encompasses not just Paul but the "whole church." These greetings are not a mere postscript; they are a practical exhibition of the doctrine of the church that Paul has so carefully constructed. The gospel creates a new humanity, a new family, whose members are scattered but deeply connected in a shared life and a shared Lord.

Outline

Context In Romans

Romans 16 is the culmination of Paul's letter, and it functions as the practical application of the unity he urged in chapters 14 and 15. Having laid out the glorious doctrines of the gospel and called the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome to receive one another, he now provides a living example of that unity. The chapter is filled with greetings to specific individuals in Rome (vv. 1-16), a stark warning against those who cause division (vv. 17-20), and then these greetings from his own companions (vv. 21-24). This list of names is not an afterthought but a demonstration that the gospel creates a tangible, international family. Paul, writing from Corinth, connects the saints there with the saints in Rome, weaving the churches together through personal affection and shared faith. This section, therefore, grounds the entire epistle in the soil of real-world Christian fellowship, showing that robust theology and warm personal relationships are not mutually exclusive but are, in fact, two sides of the same coin.

Key Issues

The Gospel Creates a People

It is a great temptation for the modern, individualistic Christian to read a book like Romans and treat it as a theological textbook delivered directly to his own private study. But Paul is not writing a systematic theology for disconnected individuals. He is writing a letter to a church, a body of people. And he concludes this letter by having his friends, who are with him, wave hello to his friends who are far away. This is not trivial. It is a profound statement about what the gospel does. The gospel does not just save isolated souls; it creates a people. It forges a new family, a new community, that transcends ethnicity, social standing, and geography.

These lists of names are the sinews and ligaments of the body of Christ made visible. Timothy, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, Tertius, Gaius, Erastus, Quartus. These men are part of the story. The grand, sweeping plan of redemption that Paul has just outlined, from Adam's fall to the final glory, is not an ethereal concept. It is a reality that is being worked out in the lives of these men, in their service, their kinship, their hospitality, and their shared labor. The Christian faith is not a solo endeavor; it is a corporate project. We are saved into a family, and these greetings are the family chatter, the sounds of a household that is alive and well and spread across the Roman Empire.

Verse by Verse Commentary

21 Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

Paul begins this section of greetings by mentioning his most well-known and beloved associate, Timothy. He calls him his fellow worker, a title of honor that puts Timothy on the same level of kingdom labor as the apostle himself. This is the Timothy of Lystra, Paul's true son in the faith, his companion on numerous missionary journeys. His name here at the top of the list is a weighty endorsement. Following Timothy are three others: Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater. Paul identifies them as his kinsmen, which most likely means they were fellow Jews. Jason is probably the same Jason who hosted Paul and Silas in Thessalonica and got into a great deal of trouble for it (Acts 17:5-9). Sosipater is likely the Sopater from Berea mentioned as one of Paul's traveling companions in Acts 20:4. The gospel creates a new kind of kinship, but it does not erase the old ones. Paul's natural kinsmen have become his spiritual brothers and fellow laborers, and together they send their greetings to the church in Rome, a body of believers made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

22 I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

This is a fascinating and delightful interruption. Paul, as was his custom, used a scribe, or an amanuensis, to write his letters. Here, the scribe himself, a man named Tertius, sticks his head around the corner, as it were, and adds his own personal greeting. This is the only place in Paul's letters where the scribe is named and sends his own salutation. It reminds us of the humanity behind these inspired documents. A real man, with ink-stained fingers, was carefully taking down the words that would become holy Scripture. But he was not a mere machine. He was a brother in Christ, and his heart was united with Paul's and with the Roman believers. His greeting in the Lord signifies that his connection to them is not based on personal acquaintance, but on their shared union with Jesus. He is part of the family, and so he adds his own "hello."

23 Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.

The greetings continue, showcasing the diversity of the church in Corinth. First is Gaius, whose hospitality was apparently legendary. Paul says he is host not just to him, but to the whole church. This likely means that the church in Corinth met in Gaius's home. His generosity and willingness to open his house for the sake of the gospel was a cornerstone of the Christian community there. This is the same Gaius whom Paul had baptized (1 Cor 1:14). Next is Erastus, who holds a significant public office as the city treasurer of Corinth. This is a powerful testimony. The gospel had penetrated the upper echelons of civic life. A man in charge of the city's finances was a brother in Christ, part of this little community of saints. His presence demonstrates that the gospel is for every station of life, from the public official to the humble artisan. Finally, there is Quartus, about whom we know nothing except the most important thing: he is the brother. No great deeds are listed, no office is named. His identity is simply "brother," which in the economy of the kingdom, is the highest honor of all. He is one of us.

24 [The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]

This verse, a benediction, is included in many manuscripts and is certainly Pauline in character, echoing similar blessings at the end of his other letters. It serves as a fitting capstone to these personal greetings. All of this fellowship, all this shared life, all this hospitality and kinship, is made possible by one thing: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is the atmosphere that the church breathes. It is the unmerited favor of God that saved us, and it is the ongoing power of God that sustains us and binds us together. It is this grace that unites Timothy the evangelist, Tertius the scribe, Gaius the host, Erastus the treasurer, and Quartus the brother. And it is this same grace that Paul prays will be with all the saints in Rome. It is the beginning, middle, and end of the Christian life.

Application

This little section of Romans is a potent corrective to a detached, academic, or overly-individualized Christianity. Our faith is not meant to be lived out in a bubble. We are called into a vibrant, messy, and glorious fellowship. The names listed here ought to prompt us to consider the names in our own lives. Who are our fellow workers? Who are the kinsmen, both natural and spiritual, with whom we share the life of Christ? Who is our Gaius, the one whose hospitality is a bedrock for the local body? And are we, like Quartus, content to be known simply as "the brother" or "the sister?"

Theology must have a street address. The doctrines of grace are not meant to terminate in our notebooks; they are meant to produce the kind of community we see reflected here. A community where leaders and scribes and city officials and ordinary brothers are all united in their love for Christ and for one another. We should be people who send greetings, who maintain friendships, who open our homes, and who see ourselves as part of a grand, international family. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is not an abstract concept. It is the power that enables us to love one another, to bear with one another, and to work alongside one another for the sake of the gospel. Let us, therefore, cultivate the grace of fellowship, knowing that it is one of the principal ways that the truth of the gospel is made visible to a watching world.