For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;
Parallel translations
- WEB For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.
- KJV For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
- BSB For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone.
- NKJV For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
- NLT For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No Christian lives or dies as an isolated self; we belong to another. Our existence is not our own private possession to dispose of as we please.
Overview
Paul lifts the discussion to a deeper principle. The believer does not live or die merely for himself, because he has been claimed by the Lord. This undercuts both pride and self-will in disputes over liberty. Our whole life and death are referred to Christ, which both relativizes secondary quarrels and dignifies every moment as lived before Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Pet 4:2that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
- 2 Cor 5:15He died for all, that those who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who for their sakes died and rose again.
- 1 Cor 6:19–20Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
- Titus 2:14who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
- 1 Th 5:10who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
- Gal 2:19–20For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God.
- Phil 1:20–24according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death.
- Rom 14:9For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 14:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.