ROMANS 16:22

“I, Tertius, who have written this letter, greet you in the Lord.”

There is an organization today called “I Am Second.” People give their testimonies of how they put others before them. That’s pretty biblical, isn’t it? But putting others first without the motive of Christian love is simply unsustainable. You will wear yourself out doing that. If we allow Christ to love others through us, we can do that all day. It’s Christ’s love that compels us, not our own effort.

Why do I bring that up? Because the scribe who wrote this letter to the Romans has a name that means “third.” It was a common name usually given to lower class people or even slaves (enumerating the number in which they were bought). We do know this name was a Roman name. Since he was writing this from Corinth, he was introducing himself to the church in Rome. Paul could have used scribes to take dictation other letters, but Tertius is the only person specifically named as the scribe.

APPLICATION

You may never be chosen to write or dictate a letter to a church, but your life is writing volumes. How so? The world is watching you. If you are known to your neighbors as a Christian, they will observe how you live. We could be giving a great testimony by how we treat our spouses and children or we could be a terrible witness of Christ’s love.

I am willing to bet that Tertius never thought his name would appear in a canonized book of Scripture. His duty was only to write down exactly what the Holy Spirit was telling Paul to say. Do you realize that same Holy Spirit is still telling us what to say and to whom? That’s another volume you write. Your obedience to the Spirit’s leading tells others how to live their own lives.

Tertius appears nowhere else in Scripture. Just one small verse in which he sent his personal greeting (I’m sure with Paul’s permission) “in the Lord.” Shouldn’t that be how we all greet others? When we do that, we would be sure to treat them as Christ would. We wouldn’t need a bracelet to remind us WWJD. We would know! My pastor said recently, “When you don’t know what to do, do what you do know to do.” Pretty good advice. Now go be a Tertius to someone today. Greet them and treat them as Jesus would.

Father, let me be a humble servant who cares nothing about recognition or prestige.

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