Skip to main content

Romans 14:7-8: For None Of Us Lives To Himself, And None Of Us Dies To Himself


Romans 14:7–8
[7] For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. [8] For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. (ESV)

The Christian walk of faith is counter-cultural. Far too many people view Christianity as some sort of club that we belong to that just makes us all a little better. We are in control of everything that we do, and occasionally, if it suits us, we will do what pleases the Lord. This way of thinking goes against the very clear teaching of Scripture.

We are not to live to ourselves, we live to the Lord. Think about that for a moment. Do you think that most Christians truly live out this truth? If we lived our lives to the Lord we would not be upset when suffering and persecution came our way. We would not be overwhelmed when the trials and circumstances of life came our way.

How about death? We are to die to the Lord, not to ourselves. What does that mean? The Apostle Paul is telling us that our lives belong to the Lord. Even our death is in the Lord's hands. This ought to be incredibly freeing to us. We do not need fear death! The one who has conquered death for us, and given us eternal life, dictates when we die.

When we are choosing what we are going to do with our career we should be more concerned with what God wants us to do, not what is going to give us the most money. When we go through life's challenges we should be more concerned about God getting glory than ourselves getting temporal happiness. When we consider our mortality, we can rest in a heavenly eternity.

Our you living for yourself? Or are you living for the Lord? If you are truly a Christian the only thing that matters is what God wants for you. It is a matter of life and death.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Romans 8:18: For I Consider That The Sufferings Of This Present Time Are Not Worth Comparing

Romans 8:18 [18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (ESV) Perspective. What an important word. Let's be honest. We do not like the idea of suffering. We will do almost anything to avoid any kind of suffering. Some churches have gone so far as to preach against the idea of suffering, declaring it to not be a part of the true believer's life. Paul is not shy about the topic. Paul uses the sufferings of this present time as a means to consider the greater glory that awaits us. Perspective. Paul is not in any way attempting to diminish our suffering. A view toward eternity puts our suffering in a proper understanding. Yes, our suffering is terrible. In the grand scheme of eternity it is not even worth comparison. Maybe you are thinking that Paul does not know what he is talking about when it comes to suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul describes countless beatings, often near death,

Romans 15:20-21: And Thus I Make It My Ambition To Preach The Gospel, Not Where Christ Has Already Been Named

Romans 15:20–21 [20] and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, [21] but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (ESV) We need to be reminded continually that the message of the Gospel is intended to move all across the world. Jesus said that his followers were to preach the Gospel, starting in Jerusalem, and continue preaching the Gospel to the whole world. Christians have not always been good at delivering the Gospel message as far and as often as they should. In the first century church it took intense persecution to motivate the disciples in Jerusalem to bring the Gospel to Judea and Samaria. Once the disciples fled to new regions they shared the Gospel wherever they went. Would the disciples have preached the Gospel without the persecution? We may never know. Some probably would have stayed in their co

James 2:18: I Will Show You My Faith By My Works

James 2:18 [18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (ESV) There are certain things in life that go together. Peanut butter and jelly. Double stuff Oreo cookies and milk. Faith and works. James raises the point that someone might argue that faith and works can be separated. "One will say, "You have faith and I have works." Is it ok for works to be separated from faith? James is making the argument that faith and works are not to be separated. James is saying to the one who has faith only, with no works, that he wants them to see his faith by his works. In other words, if you are going to claim to have faith, but have no works, you have no evidence of faith. If I am to believe that a person has genuine faith I can only see that by their works. Faith brings action. There are so many people to claim to have some kind of faith, yet when it comes down to it, their