Paul’s Closing Prayer

Romans 16:21–27
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We find here a great roll call of heroes (vv. 21-24). Timothy was mentioned first as he was often in the book of Acts and the Epistles. He was Paul’s “son in the faith” and labored with him in many difficult places. He was a key person in the growth of the early church, traveling with Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts. 16:1-3). Paul wrote two letters to him as he labored to strengthen the churches in Ephesus.

Lucius, Jason and Sosipater were all fellow Jews. Tertius was the secretary who wrote his letter as Paul dictated it. Gaius was the man in whose home Paul was residing in Corinth. Paul had won him to Christ and baptized him. Erastus was probably the treasurer of the city, or at least he had a position of importance. All that we know about Quartus was that he was a brother. Paul conveys greetings from all of these saints to the church in Rome, reminding them of the great kinship they had with each other through God’s marvelous grace. This should remind us of how much we have in common with our brothers and sisters in Christ, even much more than we do with our unsaved kin. This should remind us of the song, “Bless be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.”

Paul now comes to the end of his letter which was probably written by his own hand. Verse 24 was his “official seal” in every letter. His final benediction declares the following:

1. The Work of God is declared (vv. 25-26). It was within both God’s power and purpose to establish His work. This work was completed on the cross of Calvary.
2. The Wisdom of God is declared (v. 27). This draws our attention to the fact that God knows everything, sees everything, and controls everything from beginning to end.

Application

A good question to ask myself is: How much value do I place on my fellowship with other believers in Christ? What am I doing to promote that fellowship? Proverbs 18:24a says, “A man that has friends must show himself friendly.” It is good for me to have “heroes in the faith.”