Commentary - Romans 14:5-9

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, the Apostle Paul continues his practical instruction on how Christians with differing scruples ought to live together in the church. Having addressed the issue of dietary laws (vegetarians vs. meat-eaters), he now turns to the observance of special days. The central issue is Christian liberty in matters of adiaphora, that is, things neither commanded nor forbidden by Scripture. Paul’s solution is not to issue a new set of rules, but to establish the foundational principle that governs all such decisions: the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The motivation for our actions, whether we eat or abstain, whether we observe a day or not, must be the glory of God. The ground of our unity is not found in uniform practice in these secondary matters, but in our shared, absolute allegiance to the one Lord who bought us with His blood. Every action, every conviction, and indeed our very lives and deaths, must be oriented toward Him. He is the Master, we are the servants, and it is to Him alone that we will give an account.

This section is a profound pastoral application of the gospel. Because Christ died and rose again, He established His absolute sovereignty over every square inch of creation, including our calendars and dinner tables. Therefore, the Christian life is not a series of disconnected actions, some religious and some secular. Rather, every moment and every choice is to be an act of worshipful submission to our King. The strong brother must not despise the weak, and the weak brother must not judge the strong, because both belong to the Lord. Our differences in conscience are not opportunities for division, but rather occasions to demonstrate that our ultimate loyalty is not to our own opinions, but to Christ the Lord.

Outline

Context In Romans

Romans 14 is part of the final major section of the epistle (chapters 12-16), where Paul applies the profound theology of the first eleven chapters to the nuts and bolts of Christian living. Having established our justification by faith alone and our sanctification in Christ, Paul now explains what this looks like in community. Chapter 12 began with the call to present our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our spiritual worship. Chapter 13 dealt with submission to civil authorities and the summary of the law as loving our neighbor. Now, in chapter 14, Paul addresses internal church conflicts between the "weak" and the "strong" in faith. These are not conflicts over essential doctrines of the gospel, but over matters of conscience regarding food, drink, and the observance of days. This chapter is a master class in navigating secondary differences without compromising primary loyalties. It flows directly from the gospel: if we are all saved by grace and belong to the Lord, then we have no right to judge or despise one another in matters where Christ has granted liberty.

Key Issues

The Lord is the Lord

The beating heart of this entire passage, and indeed the solution to a thousand church squabbles, is found in the simple, repeated phrase, "for the Lord." The Christian life is not lived for self. It is not lived for the approval of others. It is not lived according to our personal preferences or gut feelings. It is lived, from beginning to end, consciously, deliberately, and gratefully coram Deo, before the face of God, for the Lord.

This principle of "for the Lord" is what elevates Christian liberty from mere selfish individualism. My freedom in Christ is not a license to do whatever I want; it is the freedom to do everything for Him. Whether I eat the meat or pass on it, my motive must be His glory. Whether I set aside a day for special observance or treat every day as the same, my aim must be to honor Him. This radically reorients our perspective. The question is no longer, "What am I allowed to do?" but rather, "In what I do, how can I best acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ?" This is what protects the strong from arrogance and the weak from judgmentalism. Both are servants of the same Master, and the ultimate evaluation of their service belongs to Him, and Him alone.

Verse by Verse Commentary

5 One person judges one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.

Paul now parallels the food issue with the issue of special days. In the Roman church, there were believers, likely from a Jewish background, who continued to esteem certain days of the old covenant calendar, like Sabbaths or feast days, as having special significance. Others, understanding their freedom in Christ, regarded every day as belonging to the Lord and therefore alike in status. Paul does not take a side here on the practice itself. He does not say, "You must all stop observing these days," nor does he say, "You must all start." Instead, he lays down a foundational principle for navigating such differences: Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. This is not a command to be stubborn in your opinion. It is a command to have a conscience that is informed by the Word and captive to the Lord. Your practice in these matters must flow from a settled conviction that what you are doing is pleasing to God, not from mere tradition, peer pressure, or personal taste. To act without this conviction is to sin (v. 23).

6 He who regards the day, regards it for the Lord, and he who eats, eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat, for the Lord he does not eat and gives thanks to God.

Here is the divine criterion. What makes the action of either brother acceptable? It is the orientation of the heart. The one who observes the day does so "for the Lord." He is not doing it to earn salvation or to judge his brother, but as an act of worship to his King. The one who eats everything does so "for the Lord," expressing his dependence and gratitude by giving thanks to God. And the one who abstains from certain foods also does so "for the Lord," and he also gives thanks to God. Notice the common elements: both are directed "for the Lord," and both are accompanied by thanksgiving. This means that two Christians can engage in opposite practices, and yet both can be honoring God. The external action is secondary; the Godward direction of the heart is primary. If your conviction leads you to thank God for what you are doing, you are on solid ground. If it does not, you are not.

7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;

Paul now broadens the principle from specific actions to the whole of life. He grounds the preceding instruction in a fundamental truth of Christian existence. The Christian has been bought with a price. He is no longer his own. Therefore, the autonomous life, the life of the rugged individualist who is the captain of his own soul, is excluded. We are not our own. This is a flat denial of the central creed of secularism. We do not belong to ourselves. This is true in life, and it is equally true in death. We are not at liberty to live as we please, and we are not at liberty to die as we please. Our existence is bound up with another; it is defined by our relationship to our Lord.

8 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.

This is the positive statement of the truth stated negatively in verse 7. Since we do not live for ourselves, for whom do we live? We live for the Lord. Our life is His. Our daily work, our family life, our rest, our worship, it all belongs to Him and is to be conducted for His glory. And the same applies to our death. We die for the Lord. Our death is not a tragic accident or a final defeat; it is the final act of service to our Master, who holds the keys of death and Hades. The conclusion is inescapable and glorious: whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. We are His property. We belong to Him. This is the bedrock of our security and the foundation of our unity. We can afford to be gracious with one another on minor matters because we are all the secure possession of the same gracious Lord.

9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

And here, Paul anchors everything in the gospel itself. What is the ultimate basis for Christ's absolute claim over every moment of our lives and deaths? It is His own death and resurrection. This was the very purpose, the telos, of His redemptive work. He went into death to conquer it and came back to life in order to establish His rightful rule over all of existence. His Lordship is not limited to the living; He is Lord of the dead as well. The saints who have gone before us are with Him, under His authority. We who are alive are under that same authority. The entire universe, seen and unseen, is under His feet. This is why our squabbles over food and holidays are put in their proper perspective. The one who died and rose for us is Lord of all. Therefore, let us stop acting like we are the lord of our brother's conscience and start living like grateful servants of the one true Lord.

Application

The principles in this passage are perpetually relevant because the temptation to bicker over secondary issues is a perennial weed in the garden of the church. We are constantly tempted to bind the consciences of others where Scripture has not bound them. We erect fences of our own making around the law of God, and then judge those who hop over our fences, even if they never transgress God's law.

This passage calls us to a radical re-centering of our lives on the Lordship of Christ. Before you form a strong opinion on some matter of Christian liberty, whether it is music styles, schooling choices, or political strategies, the first question must be, "Is this for the Lord?" Before you criticize a brother who has a different practice, you must ask, "Is it possible that he is doing this 'for the Lord,' with a clear conscience and a thankful heart?"

The application is twofold. For the "strong" brother, who understands his liberty, the call is to exercise that liberty with love, being careful not to flaunt it in a way that causes a weaker brother to stumble. For the "weak" brother, whose conscience is more restrictive, the call is to refrain from judging the one who has more liberty. And for both, the call is to remember that you are not the master of the house. You are both servants, and you both belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our unity is not in our uniformity of practice, but in our shared submission to Him. Because He is Lord of all, we can live at peace with those who see some things differently. Our lives, our deaths, our days, and our diets all belong to Him. Let us therefore live for Him, and grant our brothers the grace to do the same.