If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
- KJV For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
- NLT If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
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
Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Belonging to Christ in life and death is the believer's deepest identity and security.
Overview
Christ's ownership is total and unbreakable, spanning life and death alike. This is one of Scripture's great comforts: nothing, not even death, removes the believer from Christ's possession. The redeemed are His because He purchased them. Such belonging reorders all our choices around His honor and assures us we are safe in His hands forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Phil 1:20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
- 1 Th 5:10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
- Acts 21:13Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
- 1 Cor 15:23But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
- Rev 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”
- Phil 2:17But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
- Acts 20:24But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
- Acts 13:36For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.
- 1 Cor 3:22–23whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you,
- John 21:19Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told him, “Follow Me.”
- 1 Th 4:14–18For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
- Phil 2:30because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.
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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 14:8 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.