Hi EACF family,
We have just come through the season of Lent and have celebrated Christ's death and resurrection through Good Friday and Easter- Praise be to God!
But we know that our celebration is not yet finished. While Christ's death and resurrection and thus his victory over death is undoubtedly accomplished- it is also a preview- the firstfruits and foretaste of the renewed heavens and earth that is to come when Jesus returns to judge and rule as King forever! (Maranatha Lord!)
Likewise, we who are in Christ Jesus through faith are already called new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). We who are sealed with His Holy Spirit are also meant to be signposts to the coming reality of a renewed cosmos- the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God in full. I believe that our passage has some things for us to consider regarding how we live as faithful signposts in the meantime.
"For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 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."
In thinking upon this passage, there are two themes that emerge.
1) Security in the Lord
When one reads this passage in isolation, there is a clear and simple takeaway at the end of it- that in life or in death, "we are the Lord's." That on its own is true, and is an unshakeable comfort we have as those who have been united with Christ through both his death and in his resurrection (Romans 6:4-11). This is why we celebrate Easter as we just have! We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God!
2) Serious implications of belonging to the Lord
This second theme requires a bit more of us- not only in our reading, but for the way we apply this passage to our lives. If we take a step back and read this passage in its context, we'll see that it is embedded in a discourse on life in the Christian community- namely about ways that believers despise and judge one another due to quarreling over strongly-held opinions.
It is into such a scenario that Paul writes, "For none of us lives to himself...." How should belonging to Christ affect the way we deal with brothers and sisters who disagree with us on views/practices that we hold dear? What if acceding to another's preference/practice would result in a restriction on our own freedoms and preferences? How would you respond? Would such conflict be the point where you cancel them? Would you more or less ignore them and just say that "I don't hold any ill will toward them...." but functionally exclude them from your life? Would you despise them in your heart for being too prudish/legalistic, or judge them for being too liberal?
Or, if a believer sins against you personally, would you love them enough to openly confront them for their wrong- but for the ultimate purpose of restoring fellowship and not harming them? Or would you out of spite want to make them feel as much shame as possible? I know this scenario is rather stark and seems easy to answer- but perhaps in practice our hearts may not always be so willing to choose forgiveness and restoration over condemnation.
Do you see how this passage does so much more than just reminding us of our belonging to Christ- how it points us to inevitably real implications for our lives in community as believers?
Will we choose to live unto the Lord amidst conflict in the Body of Christ? If you haven't experienced such conflict, you will at some point- and if you've already experienced conflicts within church life in the past or even the present- have you thought upon how our belonging to Him should shape or reshape our perspectives through conflict?
As those who belong to Christ Jesus, we have crucified our fleshly desires and passions (Galatians 5:24). That doesn't mean that such desires and passions disappear- but it means that they are no longer the defining ruler in our lives. We by the Spirit no longer have to obey such desires. So may we live unto the Lord, and die unto the Lord- rejoicing that we belong to Christ- and out of that joy live in faithful love and harmony amidst real conflict living as a community of Christ followers.
I encourage you to read through all of Romans 14 and up to Romans 15:7.
In closing, I'm just reminded of the title an old Rich Mullins song:
"Oh We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are"
Grace and Peace,
Mike
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