9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Verses 9 to12 state the motivation for giving place to another Christian’s viewpoint (vv. 1-8). These verses also make the point that both the mature and the immature believer will face evaluation before God at the judgment seat of Christ.
9 For
The word “for” explains the first eight verses of the chapter.
to this end
A purpose for the death and resurrection of Christ is to demonstrate the lordship of Christ. The next verse expands this idea further—“Why do you pass judgment on your brother?”
Christ died
Christ died for our sins as our Mediator. As such He has the indisputable right to exercise lordship over believers.
and rose
These words are not in some manuscripts but the idea is clear in the text, especially by the next three words.
and lived again,
Jesus came alive after His death for our sins. He lived beyond death.
that
The death and resurrection of Christ are the truths on which His authority over His people reside, both here and hereafter.
He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Jesus is the Lord of everybody, both the living and the dead. His lordship will be complete one day. His lordship here relates to what He did for our redemption and future in eternity. This is lordship as it pertains to His humanity.
The lordship of Christ here deals not with His native right as the Son of God but with what He secured by His death and resurrection. This lordship did not inhere in His sovereignty as God, but He achieved it by His mediation for our sins on the cross.
Christ’s authority extends to the “dead” as well as the “living.” He is Lord of both spheres.
PRINCIPLE:
The motivation for not passing judgment on fellow believers is that we have a Lord who died and rose for us.
APPLICATION:
The Christian must be fully aware that he or she has a Lord. To neglect that idea would mean that we go independent of Him and disregard His plan for our lives.
If we do not acknowledge Him as Lord now, we will one day (Ph 2:11). He is the Lord now whether we accept it or not:
1 Ti 6:15, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
