Romans 14:6–8

Context

Romans is a letter that Paul sent to the church in Rome, which he had not yet visited. In chapter 14, Paul addresses a situation in which members of the church were judging one another over food and the observance of days. Some abstained from meat and ate only vegetables, while others esteemed certain days above others. Paul calls such people "weak in the faith" (Romans 14:1). A widely accepted interpretation holds that they were Jewish believers who kept the dietary regulations and festivals of the Jewish law, though some scholars propose a different background.

Verse 6 states that the one who eats, the one who does not eat, and the one who regards the day all do so "unto the Lord" and give God thanks. Verses 7–8 broaden this point, confessing that the whole of the believer's life and death belongs to the Lord. Verse 9 then states that Christ died and rose again "that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."

Interpretation

• As a principle of forbearance: This reading takes the passage as teaching that believers should not judge one another's differing practices in matters that are not essential to the faith. The Lutheran and Reformed traditions have called such matters adiaphora (nonessential matters not directly related to salvation) and cite Romans 14 as a supporting text.
• As a confession of Christ's lordship: This reading locates the center of verses 7–8 in the confession that Christ is the believer's Master. Interpreters often note that the confession in Question 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism—that in life and in death I am not my own but belong to Christ—echoes this passage.

Debates and Issues

• What "the day" refers to: Many Protestant interpreters take this "day" to refer to the festivals and Sabbath regulations of the Old Testament and cite the passage as evidence that Christians are not bound by them. Those who keep the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath, as in the Westminster tradition, hold that the days in view here are Jewish festivals and that the Lord's Day is not included. The Seventh-day Adventist Church understands this day as a fast day or a festival of the ceremonial law and maintains that the seventh-day Sabbath of the Ten Commandments falls outside this discussion (see Sabbath and the Lord's Day).
• Textual variant: Later manuscripts of the Byzantine tradition include an additional clause in verse 6, "he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it," which is reflected in the King James Version. The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version follow a text that lacks this clause.
• Quotation out of context: The words of verse 7, "none of us liveth to himself," are sometimes quoted as a communal ethic meaning that "no one can live alone." Critics of this usage point out that in its original context the verse means that believers belong to the Lord.

In the Korean Church

Verse 8, "whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's," is known to be frequently read at funeral services and memorial services. Romans 14 is also cited in discussions of lifestyle questions on which denominational standards differ, such as alcohol and tobacco.

Related Passages

• Romans 14:5–6
• Colossians 3:17
• Galatians 4:9–11
• 1 Corinthians 10:23–24
• Philippians 1:21–23