Many who preach through the book of Romans skip over these verses as a mere list of mostly unknown names that the apostle Paul commends and greets in closing. It’s neither propositional nor prescriptive, so they decide it’s not preach-able. Yet, we can learn much from the personal and affectionate way that Paul begins to close this letter. Paul really knew how to greet fellow believers and commend them for their faith and service!

Do you know how to greet people? Some of us never learn. We just talk about ourselves, our own problems and ailments. We forget to focus our greetings on the other person. Some of you are here today, and you really need to make some friends. You’ve forgotten what it’s like to really be greeted and welcomed, to be commended and edified.

If that’s you today, I pray that you experience the greeting of God’s people and of the Lord Jesus Himself before you leave today! In Romans 16:1-16, the apostle Paul began to close his letter with personal and affectionate greetings and commendations for the believers there. We can learn how to greet one another in the Lord from Paul’s example.