So many people in Rome had already met Paul.  In this chapter he mentions 26 people by name.  They, like the Apostle, had travelled: at some point they heard the gospel and gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Then, with Christ in them, they became changed people - living for Christ, loving the church and releasing God's Word wherever they went.  

Most of the people mentioned in today's verses had Latin or Greek names; they were Gentiles who had previously worshipped other gods.  Once they were considered to be unable to join God’s people, but they now belonged together with Jewish believers because they all belonged to Christ (Ephesians 2:11-13).  To Paul, it did not matter where people had come from, spiritually, but where they were going … and these people were all looking to Jesus, placing their trust and hope in Him … in difficult circumstances (Hebrews 12:1-3).

A real sense of brotherly affection breathes through these verses: words like 'love', ‘fellow-worker', 'dear', 'tested and approved' and 'in the Lord' show the depth of confidence that the Apostle had in these men and those who loved Christ in their households.  We know little about them, but in different ways they had shown their loyalty to the Lord and the Apostle in tough circumstances and, like Apelles, had become 'approved through testing' (1 Timothy 3:10).

In production engineering, a finished product is only fit for sale when it has been tested to see if it will perform according to its design.  The same is true for believers in Jesus.  He allows us to be tested to show that we will be true to Him.  Our reaction to such testing is evidence that we will be good fellow workers, with others who have been 'through the fire' of refining.  Belonging to a church is relatively easy; for some it is enough to attend meetings.  But to be considered a 'fellow worker' will involve sacrifice and suffering.  Yet that is Christ's intention for all who believe in Him (Philippians 1:29).  We are all called to be workers together with Christ (2 Corinthians 6:1).  Today, decide to make that your ambition too.