We are responsible to the Lord, and He is responsible for us.

Romans 14:7-8 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Paul gave a description of a believer. We should not take this as prescriptive—something we should do to be Christian. I take this to be a description of the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Before the Holy Spirit works in the heart, a person lives for himself. Every concern is with his own will, desires, happiness, and convenience. The “why” behind all of his actions is self. When he does something good, it’s because the deed gratifies self in some way. His chief motivation is self pleasure and glory. The Holy Spirit makes deep changes in the person’s life. He is the spirit of life in Christ (8:2). He changes who we live for. Paul taught the Roman believers that not one believer lives or dies for himself for or because we are alive to God. Paul wrote about what happened to Jesus and His impact on those who are in Christ in Rom. 6: 10-11 “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Being alive to God, changes our purpose in life. We live for the Lord, which I think means our greatest concern in everything we do is what pleases and glorifies the Lord. I say that because of what Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 5:9. “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.” As we love with Jesus, there will be times when we live for Him. We express His life in our relationships. There will also be times when we die for the Lord. We put to death the deeds of the body or the flesh with its desires as Paul wrote in 8:13. When we do that, Paul said that’s living with Jesus. In the context of Rom. 14 and relating to a brother or sister who has a different opinion than you do, your main concern is the name of the Lord, not yourself. So we are encouraged today to do all that we do for the glory of God and for the glory of His name as we love one another. We exalt Him when we receive one another as God has received us in Christ. We express His love when we encourage our brothers and sisters to walk according to the faith God has given them to love Him and others. We glorify Jesus when we trust Him to make them stand where He wants them to stand as we love them with Him. Bottom line, we all belong to the Lord, so we are responsible to Him and He is responsible for all of us. This line of thinking flows out of a heart transformed by the spirit of life in Christ who has poured out His love in our hearts. This is what living to love with Jesus looks like in the context of differences of opinion on matters where God’s Word is silent. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com