- In hoc enim et mortuus est Christus, et
resurrexit, et revixit,^421 ut vivis dominetur et
mortuis. - For to this end Christ both died, and rose,
and revived,^420 that he might be Lord both of the
dead and living.
7.For no one of us, etc. He now confirms the former verse by an argument derived from the
whole to a part, — that it is no matter of wonder that particular acts of our life should be referred
to the Lord’s will, since life itself ought to be wholly spent to his glory; for then only is the life of
a Christian rightly formed, when it has for its object the will of God. But if thou oughtest to refer
whatever thou doest to his good pleasure, it is then an act of impiety to undertake anything whatever,
which thou thinkest will displease him; nay, which thou art not persuaded will please him.
8.To the Lord we live, etc. This does not mean the same as when it is said in Romans 6:11, that
we are made alive unto God by his Spirit, but that we conform to his will and pleasure, and design
all things to his glory. Nor are we only to live to the Lord, but also to die; that is, our death as well
as our life is to be referred to his will. He adds the best of reasons, for whether we live or die, we
are his: and it hence follows, that he has full authority over our life and our death.
The application of this doctrine opens into a wide field. God thus claims authority over life and
death, that his own condition might be borne by every one as a yoke laid on him; for it is but just
that he should assign to every one his station and his course of life. And thus we are not only
forbidden rashly to attempt this or that without God’s command, but we are also commanded to be
patient under all troubles and losses. If at any time the flesh draws back in adversities, let it come
to our minds, that he who is not free nor has authority over himself, perverts right and order if he
depends not on the will of his lord. Thus also is taught us the rule by which we are to live and to
die, so that if he extends our life in continual sorrows and miseries, we are not yet to seek to depart
before our time; but if he should suddenly call us hence in the flower of our age, we ought ever to
be ready for our departure.
9.For to this end Christ also died, etc. This is a confirmation of the reason which has been last
mentioned; for in order to prove that we ought to live and to die to the Lord, he had said, that
whether we live or die we are under the power of Christ. He now shows how rightly Christ claims
this power over us, since he has obtained it by so great a price; for by undergoing death for our
salvation, he has acquired authority over us which cannot be destroyed by death, and by rising
again, he has received our whole life as his peculiar property. He has then by his death and
resurrection deserved that we should, in death as well as in life, advance the glory of his name. The
words arose and lived again mean, that by resurrection he attained a new state of life; and that as
the life which he now possesses is subject to no change, his dominion over us is to be eternal.
Romans 14:10-13
(^421) The words, , are dismissed by Griesbach as spurious, and he substitutes for. The difference in meaning is
none; only it comports with the style of the Apostle to add words of similar import for the sake of greater emphasis, as the case
often is in the Prophets. — Ed.
(^420) The words, , are dismissed by Griesbach as spurious, and he substitutes for. The difference in meaning is
none; only it comports with the style of the Apostle to add words of similar import for the sake of greater emphasis, as the case
often is in the Prophets. — Ed.