Romans 14:7-9 - None of us lives to himself

14:7

“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.” We live in an “I” society, the kingdom of God is very different, it is a “God” society.  So the one who eats meat does so thanking God, but also not judging others. Likewise, the one who abstains does so not judging others. If we do judge others then we are actually putting the focus on ourselves, saying “Aren’t I good!”. 

14:8

So when we live, i.e. when we enjoy ourselves (which we are allowed to do, the problem arises if our enjoyment becomes an idol), we do so for the Lord, we do it with hearts of gratitude. Likewise, when we die (e.g. abstain from something, or suffer for the sake of Christ and the gospel) we do so for the Lord. The focus in all cases is to be on the Lord, not on ourselves.

14:9

Paul then puts the focus well and truly on Christ. Christ died and lived again. It is always good to remind ourselves of this, this is the centrepiece of our faith, the cross and resurrection. Paul then applies Christ being the Lord of both the living and the dead in a rather unusual way, i.e. to the “living” and “dead” in the sense that he used in 14:8. Christ is Lord of all.