Thursday 2 May 2024
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. (v. 8)
Background
We are back to the closing chapters of Romans. This is a passage that begins with personal testimony from Paul and closes with a serious challenge to all Christians.
Paul’s testimony is that it does not matter whether he is alive or dead, only that he is in Christ and with Christ. His whole sense of identity – who he is and what matters to him – is tied up with the person of Jesus Christ. As a Christian he is the servant of Christ and shares in his death and resurrection. That seems counter-cultural to those of us who live at a time when personal independence and self-direction seem to be most important.
As so often with Paul, what begins as a profound theological statement moves on to some practical consequences. Romans began with a long section in which Paul addressed the tension between Jewish and Gentile Christians in the Roman churches. He argues that neither Jews nor Gentiles have any grounds for claiming superiority as “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). That tension may be in his mind again as he urges Christians not to adopt a judgemental attitude towards each other. Again, the emphasis is on our equality before God. If there is any judging to be done, that’s God’s job rather than ours.
This passage ends with a quotation from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 45:23), that every knee will bow before God and every togue confess God as Lord. It’s a quotation many of us are familiar with from the hymn “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow”.
To Ponder:
- What examples can you think of, where Christians have adopted a judgemental attitude towards one another? How have you reacted to them?
- How might your life change if you shared Paul’s sense that it didn’t matter whether he lived or died, only that he was with Christ?
Bible notes author: The Revd Dr Richard Clutterbuck
Richard is a supernumerary presbyter, living in Gloucestershire after a ministry that has taken him to Tonga, London, Gloucester and Belfast. He was formerly principal of the West of England Ministerial Training Course and of Edgehill Theological College.