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Romans 14:9 – Lord Of All

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Will

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

Truth to Learn

Jesus Christ is Lord of all!

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “rose” is anhistēmi, which is made up of ana, meaning “again” and histēmi, meaning “to stand.” Hence, anhistēmi means “to stand-up again” or “to rise again.” This word, however, is missing in many manuscripts and is rejected by many Biblical scholars. Fortunately, this does not materially alter the meaning or intent of this verse because it is the fact that Christ both died and lives again that makes Him the Christ and our Savior.

The verb translated “might be Lord” is from the Greek word, kurieuō, which is based on the noun kurios, meaning “lord.” Kurieuō means “to have or exercise rule or authority over.” This word carries the idea of His being “proprietor” or “owner” as well as “ruler.” It means that He exercises entire dominion over us, as our sovereign Lord and Master.

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse we talked about the fact that we don’t have control of the time of our death. That is strictly up to our Lord. He is our owner and our master if we have truly submitted to Him and accepted Christ’s death on the cross as payment for our sins. That’s Paul’s point in this verse. It is that Lordship of Christ over us for which He died and lives again. He shed His blood and came back from the dead so that He might be our Lord whether we are alive or dead.

Since both “life” and “death” are used throughout the New Testament in reference to both the physical and spiritual realms, it is unclear whether Paul’s statement is regarding all living creatures, all of mankind, or only those whom God has declared righteous. The context up to this point in Paul’s letter would seem to indicate that he is referring to the righteous ones. In verse eleven, however, it becomes clear that Paul is including every intelligent creature (both physical and spirit).

Jesus Christ, the second person of the godhead, has always been Lord over all created beings; however, it is a result of belief in His resurrection from the dead, the fact that He is alive, that descendants of Adam are declared righteous. Thus, it appears that Paul’s reference here is to both saved and unsaved (spiritually alive and spiritually dead), whether they are physically alive or dead. It is not unlike Paul at all to use such a “play on words” to drive home the truths of his teaching. Jesus Christ is Lord of all—those who are alive physically as well as those who are dead physically, and He is Lord of those who are alive spiritually as well as those who are dead spiritually. He is Lord of all!

Application

After death, those who have rejected Christ will learn, to their horror, that they have rejected God Himself. Their eternal fate will have been sealed with no chance to change their mind. For those of us who have believed in His death and resurrection, we know Him as Savior right now. We also have a choice to believe and live like Jesus Christ is our Lord. After death we will completely know His lordship over us. Are you living now as if He is your Lord, or is He just your Savior?

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 7:1 – Our Savior, Our Husband

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Will

Or do you not know, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has Lordship over a man as long as he lives?

Truth to Learn

Christians are in a marriage relationship with Jesus Christ.

Behind the Words

The word translated “brothers” is adelphos, which is made up of a, denoting unity and delphus, meaning “a womb.” Literally it means those who have come from the same womb. In the New Testament it is used metaphorically of all Christians.

The Greek word translated “has lordship” is kurieuō, which we looked at a couple of times in chapter six (verses 9 and 14). It is the verb form of kurios, meaning “master, lord, or owner.” Thus, kurieuō refers to “lordship or ownership.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous chapter, Paul told us that sin should not have lordship over us because we are not under the Law but under Grace (Romans 6:14). When we got saved, we died to sin and now we live to God as our new ruler. In this chapter he will tell us why we are still affected by the Law even though we are not under obligation to it.

The metaphor that he used in the previous chapter was that of the master-slave relationship. In actuality, it is more than a metaphor because God is the Master of all creation and all things are in subjection to Him. In this chapter he uses a different metaphor, the marriage relationship. And once again, it is more than a metaphor, because those of us who are saved are declared to be the Bride of Christ.

Paul now shows how this new relationship is related (or not, as the case may be) to the Law. He starts out this section of his letter with another rhetorical question. He uses the question as an attention grabber. He says that he is speaking to those who know the Law. This certainly would apply to any Roman Christian who had been converted from the Jewish religion. All Jews know the Law. So when he asks, “Are you ignorant, brothers, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?” the answer is clearly, “No, I’m not ignorant of that fact!” He will talk more about the marriage relationship in the next few verses.

We moved from a master-slave relationship with God to a marriage relationship when we were saved. Marriage is a picture of the intimate relationship that God wants to have with each one of us. One of my favorite proofs of this comes from the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 3:5,6 we are told:

trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

The word translated “acknowledge” is the Hebrew word yawdah, which means “to know someone relationally and intimately.” It is the same word translated as “knew” in Genesis 4:1:

And Adam knew Eve his wife. And she conceived and bore Cain …

Therefore, we could translate Proverbs 3:6 as, “In all your ways become intimately familiar with God, and He will make your paths straight.” That’s what God wants from each and every one of us who is a born again Christian; He wants an intimate relationship with us!

Application

Do you want God to direct your paths? If so, then you need to have an intimate personal relationship with Him? That requires a lot of effort on your part.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 6:14 – Freed by Grace

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Will

For sin shall not have lordship over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Truth to Learn

Christians do not have sin ruling over them.

Behind the Words

The phrase “shall not have lordship over” is the translation of the Greek word kurieuō, which we looked at back in verse nine. It is the verb form of kurios, meaning “master, lord, or owner.” Thus, kurieuō refers to “lordship or ownership.” However in the current verse this particular verb is in the “future active indicative” form. The “indicative” is called the mood of the verb in Greek. There are four moods in the Greek language which are indicative, subjunctive, optative, and imperative. The indicative expresses the writer’s portrayal of real action whereas the others express the writer’s portrayal of potential action to varying degrees.

“Law” is translated from the Greek word nomos, which is the noun form of the verb nemō, meaning “to divide among” or “to parcel out.” So, technically nomos refers to that which has been parceled out, which someone has in his or her possession. It is also used to express regulations that have been delivered or parceled out, such as the Law of Moses.

Meaning Explained

Paul started off this chapter telling us that we were buried with Christ by baptism and that our old man (our sin nature) was crucified with Him. As a result we should consider ourselves dead to sin so that we won’t be brought under the constant control of sin. Back in chapter four Paul made the doctrinal declaration that we are no longer under the Law, rather we are set free from the Law by the gracious gift of God when He declared us as righteous.

Since we were figuratively buried with Christ through baptism and our sin nature was crucified with Him, Paul now tells us that sin will not have ruling power over us.

So why did we spend so much time and energy on a Greek grammar lesson regarding the verb kurieuō? It’s because of what is being said in this verse regarding sin having power or control over us. Since this verb is in the indicative mood it refers to real action, not potential action. So, Paul is not saying that sin may not have ruling power over us or that sin should not have ruling power over us but that sin will not have ruling power over us.

And why will sin not have ruling power over us? Because we are no longer under the ruling power of Law; rather, we are under the grace of God. We have already been declared righteous! Knowing this, it would seem easy for us to cast aside all restraints and live as sinful as we want because we’re no longer bound by Law. But if we did, then we would be letting sin have ruling power over us. And, this brings us right back around to the beginning, doesn’t it? If we are truly saved then we have died with Christ and sin will not have ruling power over us.

Application

Since sin is no longer our master, we should be demonstrating by our attitude and actions that we have been freed from the bondage of sin! Is that what your attitude and actions are demonstrating?

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 14:9 – Lord Of All

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Will

Romans 14:9 – Lord Of All

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

Truth to Learn

Jesus Christ is Lord of all!

Behind the Words

“Lived again” is from the verb anadzaō, made up of ana, meaning “again” and dzaō, meaning “to live.”

Meaning Explained

Application

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 6:14 – Freed by Grace

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Will

Romans 6:14

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Truth to Learn

Christians do not have sin ruling over them.

Behind the Words

The phrase “shall not have dominion over” is the translation of the Greek word kurieuō, which we looked at back in verse nine. It is the verb form of kurios, meaning “master, lord, or owner.” Thus, kurieuō refers to “lordship or ownership.” However in the current verse this particular verb is in the “future active indicative” form. The “indicative” is called the mood of the verb in Greek. There are four moods in the Greek language which are indicative, subjunctive, optative, and imperative. The indicative expresses the writer’s portrayal of real action whereas the others express the writer’s portrayal of potential action to varying degrees.

Meaning Explained

Since we were figuratively buried with Christ through baptism and our sin nature was crucified with Him, Paul now tells us that sin will not have dominion over us.

So why did we spend so much time and energy on a Greek grammar lesson regarding the verb kurieuō? It’s because of what is being said in this verse regarding sin having power or control over us. Since this verb is in the indicative mood it refers to real action, not potential action. So, Paul is not saying that sin may not have dominion over us or that sin should not have dominion over us but that sin will not have dominion over us.

And why will sin not have control over us? Because we are no longer under the dominion of Law; rather, we are under the grace of God. We have already been declared righteous! Knowing this, it would seem easy for us to cast aside all restraints and live as sinful as we want because we’re no longer bound by Law. But if we did, then we would be letting sin have lordship over us. And, this brings us right back around to the beginning, doesn’t it? If we are truly saved then we have died with Christ and sin will not have lordship over us.

Application

Since sin is no longer our master, we should be demonstrating by our attitude and actions that we have been freed from the bondage of sin! Is that what your attitude and actions are demonstrating?

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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