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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 1:20According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
- 1 Th 5:10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
- Acts 21:13Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
- 1 Cor 15:23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
- Rev 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
- Phil 2:17Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
- Acts 20:24But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
- Acts 13:36For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
- 1 Cor 3:22–23Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
- John 21:19This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
- 1 Th 4:14–18For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
- Phil 2:30Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.