Romans 14:7-8 - Living and Dying to the Lord

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.

Message: Living and Dying to the Lord
 
Time: Written in AD 57 from Greece, to the Christians, both Gentile and Jewish in Rome

What the Lord is Saying:
  
These 2 verses are just fantastic to place here in these sets of verses. Paul is talking about how I am  to conduct ourselves in the midst of disagreements. And sandwiched in these verses is this great proclamation that I am living to the Lord. This is why I conduct myself in this manner. 

The previous verses have dealt with difficult subject matter for disagreements are present all to often, not just as we proclaim Truth to the world, but even more prevalent as we belong in the Body of Christ. And that body is not simply within the walls of one church, but it is the Body that is made up of followers of Christ throughout many different denominational and non-denominational churches. I see too often people dividing over differences than simply acknowledging them, which is what Paul prescribes here:

• welcome him (verse 1)
• not to quarrel (verse 1)
• Do not despise one another for differences (verse 3)
• Do not pass judgment on another for differences (verse 3) 
• God welcomes each person (verse 3)
• Do not pass judgment as we are all servants (verse 4)
• Each person should be full convinced in his own mind (verse 5)
• You who observe, you who eats, you who abstains - honor the Lord and give thanks (verse 6)

This is just a beautiful truth to the believer in Christ.

One thing I notice working at my job is how "perfect" you are expected to be. Mistakes are not tolerated one bit. It is a hard work environment because there is little mercy to error. But, the church should not act in the same way. We are sinners and we are imperfect and we should be allowed to make mistakes. People will hurt each other through thoughtless behavior and obnoxious words. It will happen, but I believe the church, myself, should be quick to forgive and not quick to anger. God shows such great grace to us and we need to show it to one another.

I am to welcome others even when I do not understand why they have a different opinion. My first thought should be thinking the best of them, not the worst. Boy, I have failed on this on so many accounts, before I even leave my house, thinking too often the worst of my kids or wife.

For none of us lives to himself
This phrase begins the justification or reason for why I would not want to create a division among Christians or pass judgment or despise others because of differences that we might have in things that are outside of the Bible. That reason is I do not live for myself. My life is not about me, but it is about giving glory to God in heaven. And this should be the aim of every person and should be the reason why none of us argue with one another.

None of us dies to himself
We do not decide our own day of death. Our death is by his will, according to Him, and He should be glorified in our death. All believers, strong or weak, live out their lives in accountability to God. Our lives are not our own. I've looked at this thought before, in other passages, and to me it comes down to accountability. Being accountable to someone is not natural. It is why women's rights has been such a big issue, because submission has a tone of accountability in it and women's rights does not want to embrace submission or accountability. And man often just doesn't want to see that his life is not his own. He wants to be in charge of his own life.

We are the Lord's
Too often, I want to please man and feel good about man's opinion. But, I am the Lord's.

Promise: All believers, strong or weak, live out their lives in accountability to God.