Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

For the kingdom of God - or, as we should say, Religion; i:e., the proper business and blessedness for which Christians are formed into a community of renewed men in thorough subjection to God (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:20),

Is not meat and drink, [ broosis (G1035 ) kai (G2532 ) posis (G4213 ), 'eating and drinking,'] but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit - a beautiful and comprehensive division of living Christianity. The first - "righteousness" - has respect to God, denoting here 'rectitude,' in its widest sense (as in Matthew 6:33); the second - "peace" - has respect to our neighbours, denoting 'concord' among brethren (as is plain from Romans 14:19: cf. Ephesians 4:3; Colossians 1:4; Colossians 1:15); the third - "joy in the Holy Spirit" - has respect to ourselves. This phrase, "joy in the Holy Spirit," represents Christians as so thinking and feeling, under the workings of the Holy Spirit, that their joy may be viewed rather as that of the blessed Agent who inspires it than their own. (See the note at Romans 8:15; at Galatians 5:25; and at Jude 1:20.)