John Calvin Commentary Romans 14:9

"For to this end Christ died and lived [again], that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living." — Romans 14:9 (ASV)

For to this end Christ also died, etc. This is a confirmation of the reason which has been last mentioned; for in order to prove that we ought to live and to die to the Lord, he had said that whether we live or die, we are under the power of Christ.

He now shows how rightly Christ claims this power over us, since he has obtained it by so great a price.

For by undergoing death for our salvation, he has acquired authority over us which cannot be destroyed by death, and by rising again, he has received our whole life as his own special possession.

He has then by his death and resurrection deserved that we should, in death as well as in life, advance the glory of his name. The words arose and lived again mean that by resurrection he attained a new state of life, and that as the life which he now possesses is subject to no change, his dominion over us is to be eternal.