Romans 14:9

9 And for this purpose Christ went into death and came back again, that he might be the Lord of the dead and of the living.

Romans 14:9 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 14:9

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived,
&c.] This last word "revived" is omitted by the Vulgate Latin, but very naturally placed by the Syriac, between Christ's dying and rising. The Alexandrian copy reads, "died and lived": and the Ethiopic version, "died and revived": the end of all which was,

that he might be the Lord both of the dead and living;
that is, of believers, whether dead or alive; for though he is Lord of all, as God and Creator, yet his appearing to be Lord by his dying, rising, and living again, can only have respect to them, for whom dying he has abolished death, and destroyed Satan; whom he has redeemed from sin, and delivered from this present evil world; and so having freed them from those other lords which had the dominion over them, shows himself to be their one and only Lord: and by rising again from the dead, ascending to heaven, and sitting at the right hand of God, all creatures and things being subject to him, he is made or declared both Lord and Christ; and living again, and continuing to live for ever, he appears to have the keys of hell and death; and will open the graves, and raise from thence, and judge both quick and dead, those that will be found alive at his coming, and such as he will cause to rise from the dead then; till which time, the apostle suggests, the decision of these differences about meats and days was to be left; and in the mean time the saints were to cultivate peace and love among themselves.

Romans 14:9 In-Context

7 For every man's life and every man's death has a relation to others as well as to himself.
8 As long as we have life we are living to the Lord; or if we give up our life it is to the Lord; so if we are living, or if our life comes to an end, we are the Lord's.
9 And for this purpose Christ went into death and came back again, that he might be the Lord of the dead and of the living.
10 But you, why do you make yourself your brother's judge? or again, why have you no respect for your brother? because we will all have to take our place before God as our judge.
11 For it is said in the holy Writings, By my life, says the Lord, to me every knee will be bent, and every tongue will give worship to God.
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