For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.  (8) 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. (9) For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul. In chapter 14 of this letter Paul is addressing the question of religious liberty – Christian religious liberty. At the moment of faith in Christ Jesus as our savior we are made right with God and are transformed  into a new man/woman, sealed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit . We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone and are no longer bound by the Mosaic laws – we are set free from man made regulations, rites, ceremonial obligations and diet.  If the Bible doesn’t speak to certain principles  – basically non essential matters – Paul is saying that the faithful are free to act out of personal conviction concerning Christian liberties. We are in faith to live righteously out of love and gratitude, not out of fear.

By Christian conviction Paul is talking about behavioral beliefs – those that guide our behavior. Basically Paul is addressing our freedom in faith to do what we should do, NOT to what we could do. And our actions should be a result of biblical knowledge and conscience.  Paul is nOT talking about practices that add or subtract from our spiritual life – he is not addressing acts identified as sin – but actions we can enjoy if we can do so in a clear conscience.

The religious liberty beliefs of the faithful discussed in chapter 14 are personal and private – they guide actions practiced before God in a mindful life style done out of a desire to please God. .  We are not to impose our beliefs on others nor are we to judge the behavior of others in such non biblical matters.

The faithful now live in Christ and they die in Christ;  we no longer live for ourselves and our pleasure -we do not die for ourselves either. Christian liberty should be referred to God and our lives spent for God’s glory.  If this is so Then any act which the faithful think will displease God should be avoided.