Romans 14:8

The proof of Romans 14:7 is given in Romans 14:8 (for). Our life and death being through the fact of faith at the Lord's service, the contrast between living and dying is thus completely dependent on the higher direction impressed on our being. Comp. 2 Corinthians 5:15 and Romans 12:1. For the believer to live, is to serve Christ; to die, is to be united to Him more perfectly (Philippians 1:21-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-9). Hence it follows (οὖν, therefore) that he remains in every state of the case the Lord's property. As the dative τῷ κυρίῳ, to the Lord, in the first part of the verse, expressed consecration; so the genitive τοῦ κυρίου, literally, of the Lord, in the last proposition, expresses possession. We remain His in both cases. The bond which unites us to Him can only be strengthened by the so varied circumstances summed up in the two words: life and death.

The first and third time we should probably read the subjunctive ἀποθνήσκωμεν; for ἐάν, if, whether, is construed in the N. T. only with the subjunctive. But the second time the indicative ἀποθνήσκομεν must certainly be read; for it is a fact which Paul is stating. Those who have read the subjunctive, have mistaken it for an exhortation.

The solidity of the bond of possession which unites the believer to the Lord, rests on his side on the subjective fact of faith, but on the Lord's side on an objective fact which nothing can shake: the sovereignty of the glorified Christ, in virtue of which He evermore controls the contrast between life and death (Romans 14:9).