If we don’t belong in this world, where do we belong? What does that have to do with living and dying? This daily devotional looks at – living or dying – giving God top billing in our lives.
Nuggets
- If we live or die, it doesn’t matter — we do it for the Lord.
- We need to consider ourselves dead to the world.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Transformed to Perfection series
We’ve been looking at Romans Part II. It seems like we’ve slowed down to a verse-by-verse review.
I guess I should have anticipated that. This is Paul’s writings we are looking at.
So, let’s jump back in.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“For none of us lives for himself and no one dies for himself” (Rom. 14: 7 CSB)
Paul started on the live and die theme in verse 7. He was trying to get us to think outside of ourselves.
Living for the Lord
“If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Rom. 14: 8 CSB)
If we live or die, it doesn’t matter — we do it for the Lord.
God is in control of our lives regardless of what is going on in them. When things are rolling along smoothly, we are to live the way He expects us to.
When life is falling apart — and it looks like we will lose our lives — God expects us to live our lives for Him. Why?
“For none of us lives for himself and no one dies for himself” (Rom. 14: 7 CSB). We are witnessing to someone even when we are on our deathbeds.
Hull had an interesting take on this. Our service to God must be voluntarily. He wrote, “Our voluntary actions are most powerfully influenced by silent currents of emotion which only now and then flash into sight.”
Resource
Now, you may think that strange, but I don’t. I think the silent current of emotions are those that are just so much a part of us that we may or may not be conscious of them. They are the thoughts and feelings that govern our lives.
Those thoughts and feelings must be governed by God.
Lyth said what we were talking about here was a consecrated life. Consecration, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, “refers to persons or things being separated to or belonging to God.”
Resource
Isn’t that what our redo for godliness is all about this year? Setting ourselves apart more so that our relationship with God is better?
I know Lyth was talking the hard stuff.
- Complete submission
- Complete devotion
- Subserviency
If we don’t do complete submission, we won’t achieve complete set apart.
If we don’t get complete set apart, we don’t get complete perfection.
If we don’t get complete perfection, we don’t get final salvation.
Ooo, baby. We don’t want that.
Burn also talked about the consecrated life. He listed some of the aspects of seeking God: reading and studying His Word. Thinking on Him is meditating on Him.
Resource
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Where Hull talked about these being voluntary actions, Walker talked about them being conscious actions. This is our conduct — our way of life.
Resource
Our way of life has to be by God’s rule. Our goal should be to bring Him glory.
Walker cautioned this bringing God glory isn’t a one-and-done deal. It isn’t a when-we-think-about-it option.
God wants it to be a 24/7/365 commitment.
Dying for the Lord
“… and if we die, we die for the Lord. …” (Rom. 14: 8 CSB)
We need to consider ourselves dead to the world.
We have to remember that we are to be in the world but not of the world. “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn. 15: 19 ESV).
Jesus told us that there were three things to avoid in this world. They were lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and pride of life.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We need to focus on God instead of this earth. This world is temporary. God’s world isn’t.
Smith brought up a good point. He wrote, “Fretfulness and impatience, excessive concern about personal indulgences, and discomposure at apparent neglect sit ill on a dying Christian.”
Resource
After we’ve asked God to forgive us of our sins, we can’t hang on to them. We have to forgive ourselves.
I know I sometimes sound like a broken record, but I am going to say it again in case someone hasn’t heard it. We can’t use this as a license to go on sinning. Repentance is turning away from our sin — stopping doing it and turning to God.
Yes, it is hard. No, we don’t always succeed. Yes, we ask forgiveness again and try again. Yes, God forgives us again and helps us do better the next time. We can’t do better the next time without Him.
Emmons reminded us of all the churchy words that makes us the Lord’s: election, redemption, sanctification, and adoption.
Resource
Election is God’s plan to bring salvation to His creation, a gift of His grace because of His mercy. When we choose to accept the gift of salvation, we become the elect.
- Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart. Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Grace is a free and unmerited gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers by the work of the Holy Spirit.
- God’s mercy is an act of sovereign will that produces an unexpected and undeserved response from God as He responds in love to our needs.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Redemption is where something is used in exchange for something else to gain or regain something. Jesus is our Redeemer because He was born of a virgin, making Him 100% God and 100% man; gave His life on the cross for us so that His blood could pay the price for our sins; and because of God’s great might and power, rose from the grave, conquering death and paying the price for our sins. Redemption allows us to receive forgiveness for our sins.
Glossary
Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration, gradually changes our nature through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal requickening in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- The perfected state indicates the combination of the spiritual graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
Glossary
Adoption is the gift of acceptance into God’s family when Jesus redeems us and changed to be spiritually alive like God.
God adopts us into His family. We belong to Him.
Making the Connections
Why is living for God so important? I loved what Walker said. He wrote, “Unless we live unto the Lord we shall counteract the very design of that marvellous love He hath manifested towards us in giving Himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.”
Resource
We counteract the very design. We go against His plan.
God wants the very best for us, but we want our way. And we mess it up. Big time.
Did you read that last part? God gave the sacrifice. He gave the offering. It cost us nothing. N-o-t-h-i-n-g.
“Oh, but I had to give up my free will to accept salvation.” Oh, no, you didn’t. You still get to choose. God is not a dictator.
How Do We Apply This?
Burn said that we need “to make Him the object of our love, joy, hope.” This means that we have to make the conscious choice to make God the object of these major components of our lives.
Resource
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
What bigger things in our lives do we have than our love, joy, and hope?
Smith told us to keep it simple. We tend to think we have to do this, and this, and this, and this.
Resource
God summed all of the commandments up into two.
Walker had some really great questions, but I needed a thesaurus to understand them. I rewrote them and made a worksheet.
- Did God have authority in my life today?
- Did I seek to please God or someone else today?
- What consideration did I give to living for God today?
- What got top billing in my life today?
Resource
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
Okay. Let’s regroup a second. I know, I need to.
Paul started this chapter talking about supporting those weak in the faith. Then, he basically told us to not sweat the small stuff, but live in unity.
Now, Paul is telling us, in essence, to make sure our lives are right. Top billing has to go to God. Live or die, we have to focus on God.
Father God. We want to live every day where You are our focus. Help us to look to You instead of the world. May we be a witness to all we come into contact with to show Your love and mercy. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.