The Social Fabric of the Gospel Text: Romans 16:21-24
Introduction: Christianity is Not a Private Club
We come now to the end of this magnificent letter to the Romans, and what do we find? We find a list of names. After sixteen chapters of the most profound, dense, and glorious theology ever put to paper, the apostle Paul does not conclude with a final, abstract flourish. He concludes with greetings. He concludes with people. This is not an accident, and it is not an insignificant addendum, like a P.S. in a modern letter. This is the theology of the previous fifteen chapters taking a bow. This is the doctrine of justification by faith walking around in shoe leather.
Our modern, evangelical sensibilities are often tempted to skip over lists like this. We want the "meat" of the doctrine, and we see these greetings as little more than the closing pleasantries. But in doing so, we reveal a deep misunderstanding of the faith. Christianity is not a gnostic religion of disembodied ideas. It is not a private spiritual journey for you and Jesus alone. The gospel creates a new humanity, a new society. It forges a living, breathing, interconnected body of believers. These names are here to show us that the glorious truths of Romans, truths about sin, grace, redemption, and sovereignty, do not exist in a vacuum. They create a fellowship. They create a church.
Paul is writing from Corinth, and he is sending this letter to Rome, a city he has not yet visited. And yet, the connections are thick. People he knows are there. People with him know people there, or at least know of them. The gospel had created a vast, continent-spanning network of friendship, kinship, and fellowship. This was not an institution; it was a family. And in these closing verses, Paul is weaving the threads together, showing the Romans that they are part of something much larger than their own local assembly. He is showing them the social fabric of the gospel.
These are not just names; they are people with jobs, relationships, and reputations. They are fellow workers, kinsmen, hosts, and city treasurers. They are men who prove that the gospel is not hostile to the mundane realities of life but rather invades and redeems every sphere. This is a crucial lesson for us. The gospel is not just for Sunday morning. It is for the office of the city treasurer. It is for the scribe's desk. It is for the guest room in the host's home. Let us, therefore, look closely at this band of brothers and see what their greetings have to teach us.
The Text
Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.
[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]
(Romans 16:21-24 LSB)
A Band of Brothers (v. 21)
We begin with the men who were with Paul as he wrote.
"Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen." (Romans 16:21)
First up is Timothy, Paul's most trusted companion and son in the faith. Paul calls him "my fellow worker." This is a title of high honor. Paul did not see himself as a solitary superstar with a legion of fans. He saw himself as a team leader, a foreman on God's construction site. The work of the gospel is collaborative. It requires fellow workers, not just admirers. Timothy's name here would have immediately signaled to the Romans the importance of this letter and the unity of the apostolic mission.
Then we have Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater. Paul identifies them as "my kinsmen." This likely means they were fellow Jews. In a letter that has labored so intensely to show how the gospel unites Jew and Gentile in one body, this is significant. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, is surrounded by his Jewish brothers, and together they are sending greetings to a mixed church in the heart of the Gentile world. This is a living demonstration of the middle wall of partition being broken down (Eph. 2:14). The gospel does not erase our ethnic identities, but it redefines them. Our primary identity is no longer Jew or Greek, but "in Christ." These men are Paul's kinsmen in the flesh, but their true and deepest bond is their shared faith in their Messiah, Jesus.
The Scribe's Salutation (v. 22)
Next, we have a fascinating and unusual insertion.
"I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord." (Romans 16:22 LSB)
Paul typically used a scribe, or an amanuensis, to write his letters, often adding a personal signature at the end to authenticate it (cf. 1 Cor. 16:21; Gal. 6:11). Here, the scribe himself gets to add his own greeting. This is a wonderful human touch. Tertius, whose name means "Third," was the man whose hand physically penned these profound words as Paul dictated them. Can you imagine the experience? Hearing the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, unpack the doctrine of justification, the mystery of Israel's salvation, and the practical exhortations of the Christian life, and being the one to write it all down.
Tertius was not an apostle. He was not a famous preacher. He was a man with a necessary skill, and he put that skill to work for the kingdom. He reminds us that every role in the church is valuable. The man who writes the letter is just as much a part of the ministry as the man who dictates it. There are no small roles, only small people. Tertius was not just a hired hand; he was a brother. He was "in the Lord," and so he considers the Roman Christians, whom he has never met, to be his family. He is not a detached stenographer; he is invested. He is part of this great fellowship, and he wants them to know it. His greeting is a reminder that the work of the kingdom is done by ordinary people doing their jobs faithfully before the Lord.
The Host and the Official (v. 23)
The greetings continue, showcasing the breadth of the gospel's reach.
"Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother." (Romans 16:23 LSB)
Here we meet Gaius. Paul describes him as "host to me and to the whole church." This is a remarkable commendation. Gaius was a man of means, and he used his resources to provide hospitality. His home was essentially the hub of the church in Corinth. He was not just putting up Paul and his traveling companions; he was hosting the entire congregation. This was a man who understood that his property was not his own. He was a steward, and he used his wealth to advance the gospel and serve the saints. Hospitality is not a minor virtue in the New Testament; it is a central expression of Christian love and a practical pillar of the church's mission. Gaius embodies this.
Then we have Erastus, "the city treasurer." This is a stunning detail. Erastus held a high-ranking public office in Corinth. The Greek word is oikonomos, the same word used for a steward. He was the chief financial officer of a major Roman city. This demolishes the idea that the early church was composed only of slaves and the lower classes. The gospel penetrates every level of society. It reaches into the halls of government. Erastus is a powerful testimony that one can serve Christ and serve in civil office. He did not have to leave his post to be a faithful Christian; rather, his faith would have made him the most honest and diligent treasurer the city of Corinth ever had. He is a forerunner of the Christian civilization that would one day be built. His presence here shows that the gospel is not just for our private lives; it is for the public square.
And finally, almost as an afterthought, we have "Quartus, the brother." We know nothing else about him. He has no title, no commendation, no job description. He is simply "the brother." And that is enough. In the kingdom of God, that is the highest title any of us can have. It puts him on equal footing with Timothy the fellow worker, Gaius the host, and Erastus the treasurer. It reminds us that our standing is not in our function, but in our family relation to the King. Quartus is a brother, and so he sends his love. That is the economy of the church.
A Benediction of Grace (v. 24)
Paul concludes this section with a familiar and powerful blessing.
"[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]" (Romans 16:24 LSB)
This benediction, or a similar form of it, is Paul's standard closing. It encapsulates the entire message of the book. After all the doctrine, all the exhortation, and all the greetings, it all comes down to this: grace. The Christian life begins with grace, is sustained by grace, and will be consummated in grace. It is the unmerited, unearned, freely given favor of God through the work of Jesus Christ.
Notice the scope: "be with you all." This grace is not for a select few. It is for the whole church at Rome, Jew and Gentile, strong and weak. It is the common possession of every believer. And it is not a distant concept; it is a present reality. Paul prays that this grace would be "with" them, an active, abiding presence in their fellowship. This is what makes everything else possible. It is what enables Timothy to work, Tertius to write, Gaius to host, and Erastus to govern faithfully. It is what makes Quartus a brother. Without the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church is just another human institution, doomed to fail. With it, it is the invincible embassy of the kingdom of God.
Conclusion: The Doctrine Embodied
So what do we take away from this list of names? We see that sound doctrine creates sound fellowship. The high theology of Romans is not meant to produce arrogant intellectuals who sit around debating abstract points. It is meant to produce men like these, men who work together, who embrace their kinsmen, who write letters, who open their homes, who serve their cities, and who love one another as brothers.
The gospel creates a community where a man's identity is found not in his status but in his relationship to Christ and to his people. It is a community that transcends ethnicity, social class, and political position. A Jewish kinsman, a Roman scribe, a wealthy host, and a city official can all be united as one family, sending their shared greetings to another group of believers hundreds of miles away.
This is the power of the gospel made visible. This is the new humanity that God is building in Christ. When the world looks at the church, this is what they should see. They should see a diverse group of people, united by a common grace, who genuinely love and serve one another. The greetings at the end of Romans are not a footnote. They are the point. They are the evidence that the gospel Paul has so brilliantly articulated is not just a theory, but is the power of God for salvation, creating a new world right in the middle of the old.