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 to 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. Our verses today deal with conduct of Christians in matters non-essential; matters not doctrinal or matters on which the Bible is silent and do not affect one’s salvation. In Christ we have religious liberty and we are not under the Mosaic law any longer. The essence of religious liberty is that we do what we do “for the Lord”. We are not to judge others in these matters as we don’t know what’s in their hearts and it’s easy to judge people wrongly. To be clear, Paul is just dealing here in non-essential matters. We are warned not to violate our own conscience – glorifying God in all that we do is the issue; not judging others but judging ourselves.

An example of nonessential matters would be observation of the Christian sabbath. There is not a single commandment in the New Testament requiring the Gentile church to observe Sunday as the Christian sabbath.
This is not doctrine and smacks of legalism. There is a principle to gather on Sunday but not a command. Instead our verses today tell us to live to the Lord and while the faithful might believe Sunday worship glorifies God, it’s not sinful not to and we are applying biblical principles to a nonessential issue. We shouldn’t do what we do because of habit or because everyone else does it; motive is the key. Since God is judge of all we must not judge other believers in matters of indifference.

We don’t live for our own pleasure but regulate our heart, conscience and life for Christ – scripture requires this of us. The duty of devotion is not founded on creation but on redemption – Christ bought us at a price. Christ is Lord of the dead and the living and our verses refer to HIs death and resurrection. The authority of Christ over His people is not confined to this world but extends beyond the grave.