Alive or Dead it Must be For The Lord

Romans 14:7–12
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In the previous passage Paul asked the weak Christian, “Why are you judging your brother?” Then he asked the strong Christian, “Why are you despising your brother?” Both the strong and the weak will one day stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. They will not be judging each other, but they will be judged by the Lord (v. 10).

The weak brother is to be accepted into the fellowship without discussion or debate. The truth to remember is that unity, not uniformity, is truly what displays the oneness of the body of Christ. There is always the temptation, however, to criticize the brother because of areas of difference in his life. Of course, “God’s Judgment Seat” (II Corinthians 5:10) is only for believers in Christ. The issue of the believer’s eternal destiny will not be at stake. That was settled once and for all when a person accepted Christ as Savior. It is the believer’s life of service that will be under review at the “Judgment Seat.” Therefore, instead of judging other Christians, we need to be judging our own lives and making sure that we are ready to stand before the Lord.

Each Christian, in both life and death, is seen by the Lord, and is accountable to Him and not to other Christians. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (v. 8). Paul is stressing here the principle of Lordship. We need to not only make Jesus Christ the Lord of our life, but we need to let Him be the Lord in the lives of other Christians as well. Someone has said, “When Christ is truly Lord of our life we will permit Him to deal with other Christians as He wishes.” Whenever it comes to questionable matters, believers should be able to disagree without being disagreeable.

Application

How does it make me feel to know that I will have to give an account of my life to the Lord? If my life ended today what have I accomplished in this life that has a lasting value for all eternity? I will only be able to live today one time.