Romans 14:7-9 For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself.… I. THE NEGATIVE PRESENTMENTS OF THE TRUTH INVOLVED. 1. None of us ought to live to himself; for God has an original claim upon the service of every one of us, based upon the right of creation, the mercy of continued being, the mystery of redemption, the derivation from Him of a spiritual nature, gifts, and covenants, and revelations, and hopes of heaven. 2. None of us can do so. We have duties to discharge, which it must be to the injury of others if we neglect; a moral example to hold up, which must influence, either for good or evil, some subordinate mind. A man cannot dwell apart; nor divest himself of the necessity of doing some good or harm every day. 3. Nor is this view to be limited to the present generation. Our good or our evil deeds live after us. No man dieth to himself. We believe in the joyous meetings of the redeemed. To their unutterable sorrow the ungodly shall have meetings likewise, as well with those whom they have tempted, as with those who have tempted them. II. THE AFFIRMATIVE VIEW. 1. "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord." This expression — (1) Implies the possession of a life derived from, centred in, devoted to Christ. A man must live before he acts. (2) Asserts a great rule of duty. We "live unto the Lord" when we live for the good of His people, for the honour of His cause, for the extension of His Church, for the glory of His name. And the consciousness that we are so living, and must so live, is one of the first indications of the renewed mind. 2. "Whether we die, we die unto the Lord."Christians can neither live useless lives, nor die useless deaths. 1. God gets to Himself honour from the dying hours of a Christian by the blessing to survivors, often occasioned by the affecting circumstances of his removal. A man may be permitted to win souls to Christ by his death, whom he could never win to seriousness in his life. 2. A good man dies unto the Lord, because his removal may assume the aspect of a witness or a judgment, and so become a vindication to a faithless world of the rectitude of our Maker's ways. It is the world's loss; the loss of so many fervent prayers, so much of beneficent influence, so much of bright example to lure to heaven and lead the way. 3. A Christian "dies unto the Lord," because he dies to the glory of the Lord; to the honour of His grace, to the vindication of His faithfulness, to the magnifying of His gospel, to the illustration of His unchanging love, to the swelling of His redeeming triumphs in the life of the world to come. He dies to the Lord who dies in the Lord. 4. "Whether, therefore, we live or die, we are the Lord's." Such is the apostle's conclusion of the whole matter. It tells of — (1) Our safety in all worldly changes. The Great Ruler of the universe has a property in us, and He will guard and keep His own. (2) Our original; of our kindred with immortal natures; of our designation to endless life. (3) Our perseverance in faith and holiness, and of our final triumph over death and the grave. Jesus "having loved His own which were in the world, loves them unto the end."' (D. Moore, M.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.WEB: For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. |
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