{"id":2382,"date":"2011-03-14T23:04:27","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T04:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.com\/blog\/?p=2382"},"modified":"2011-03-14T23:04:27","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T04:04:27","slug":"romans-148-still-on-the-altar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-148-still-on-the-altar\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 14:8 – Still On The Altar?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h2>\n

Romans 14:8 <\/strong>– Still On The Altar?<\/span><\/h2>\n

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Living to the Lord is submission to His will.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The subtlety of this verse is in the mood of the verbs in the translated phrases, \u201cif we live\u201d and \u201cif we die.<\/span>\u201d Greek verbs can be expressed in four different moods. In the indicative mood the action is conceived of as fact. The subjunctive mood expresses action that is possible or probable (one step away from actually happening). The optative mood expresses action that is wished for or questioned (two steps away from actually happening). Finally, the imperative mood expresses a command, indicating action that is not a fact but that needs to be.<\/p>\n

The word translated \u201cif<\/em><\/span>\u201d is the Greek word ean<\/em><\/span>, which is a conditional particle, and the words translated \u201cwe live<\/span>\u201d and \u201cwe die<\/span>\u201d are in the subjunctive mood. As explained above, the subjunctive mood in Greek expresses the notion of possibility. Therefore, in this verse Paul is stating that it is possible that we will continue to live, but it is also possible that we will die; however, we don\u2019t know which will happen to us.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

What Paul is saying is, \u201cIf we should continue to live, it is our Lord\u2019s doing; therefore, we live in relation to Him, at His discretion. If we should die, it is our Lord\u2019s doing; therefore, we will die at His discretion. Either way it is the Lord who controls when we will die. We are not in control, He is!<\/p>\n

Now, tie this in with what Paul has been talking about: whether or not to eat certain foods and whether or not to hold a particular day of the week more sacred than the rest. It doesn\u2019t really matter whether we believe some foods are forbidden or not, and it doesn\u2019t matter whether we hold one day more sacred than the others, as long as we hold these beliefs because God has convicted us about them. Notice I said, because God<\/span> has convicted us about them. We do not have the freedom to behave however we please. Our convictions have to be based on what God\u2019s Word teaches us. These convictions must be based on a continual study of the Bible and a close daily walk with Almighty God. An immature Christian who doesn\u2019t yet have a firm understanding of God or a close intimate relationship with God will not have the same convictions that a mature Christian has.<\/p>\n

Therefore, since this is a matter of conviction and not of doctrine, we should not judge our brother or sister in Christ for acting differently than we do. If we live to the Lord, we will follow what He wants for us and not be concerned about what a brother or sister is eating or how they treat a certain day of the week. Only when we are completely submitted to Him can we be completely living, or dying, for Him.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The important matter is whether or not we are submitted to God\u2019s lordship over us and committed to doing His will, not what kind of food we eat or how we treat days of the week. If we have our gaze fixed on our fellow Christians and are judging what they do or don\u2019t do, then we don\u2019t have our gaze where it should be: fixed on our Lord and Master. If we are a living sacrifice, we are living for Him and we are submitted to His will. Are you still on the altar or have you climbed off?<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –<\/p>\n

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 14:8 – Still On The Altar? For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Truth to Learn Living to the Lord is submission to His will. Behind the Words The subtlety of this verse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1593,1317,1594,1595,1596,1597,1598],"class_list":["post-2382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ean","tag-if","tag-imperative","tag-indicative","tag-mood","tag-optative","tag-subjunctive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-Cq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}