Romans 6:23
in Romans 6For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
KJV
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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This verse in Romans 6
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBut again, those who assert that He was simply a mere man, begotten by Joseph, remaining in the bondage of the old disobedience, are in a state of death having been not as yet joined to the Word of God the Father, nor receiving liberty through the Son, as He does Himself declare: "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
This site's exposition
become slaves to God
on Romans 6:22-23
Those set free from sin and made slaves to God reap fruit that leads to holiness, and eternal life is the outcome. Wages are earned and owed, and a gift is given outright. Sin pays death as a wage, and God gives eternal life in Christ Jesus.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Death - Temporal, spiritual, and eternal. Is the due wages of sin; but eternal life is the gift of God - The difference is remarkable. Evil works merit the reward they receive: good works do not.
Death is as due to a sinner when he hath sinned as wages are to a servant when he hath done his work. This is true of every sin. There is no sin in its own nature venial.
There is no proportion between the glory of heaven and our obedience; we must thank God, and not ourselves, if ever we get to heaven. And this gift is through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is Christ that purchased it, prepared it, prepares us for it, preserves us to it; he is the Alpha and Omega, All in all in our salvation.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For the wages of sin - The word translated here “wages” ὀψώνια opsōnia properly denotes what is purchased to be eaten with bread, as fish, flesh, vegetables, etc. (Schleusner); and thence, it means the pay of the Roman soldier, because formerly it was the custom to pay the soldier in these things. It means hence, what a man earns or deserves; what is his proper pay, or what he merits. As applied to sin, it means that death is what sin deserves; what will be its proper reward.
IN the fifth chapter of this Epistle, Paul had shown, at considerable length, our justification from sin through the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Savior. Our Apostle goes on to speak of our sanctification in Christ, that as by the righteousness of Christ we have been delivered from the guilt and penalty of sin, so by the power and life of Christ in us we are delivered from the dominion of sin, so as not to live any longer therein.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through--"in" Jesus Christ our Lord--This concluding verse--as pointed as it is brief--contains the marrow, the most fine gold, of the Gospel. As the laborer is worthy of his hire, and feels it to be his due--his own of right--so is death the due of sin, the wages the sinner has well wrought for, his own.
The words behind it
19 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| τὰ | ta | The | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ὀψώνια | opsonia | wages | G3800 → | |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἁμαρτίας | hamartias | of sin | G266 → | 173 times |
| θάνατος, | thanatos | [is] death, | G2288 → | 120 times |
| τὸ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | but | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| χάρισμα | charisma | the gift | G5486 → | 17 times |
| τοῦ | tou | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεοῦ | theou | of God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ζωὴ | zoe | life | G2222 → | 135 times |
| αἰώνιος | aionios | eternal | G166 → | 68 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| Χριστῷ | christo | Christ | G5547 → | 523 times |
| Ἰησοῦ | iesou | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κυρίῳ | kurio | Lord | G2962 → | 711 times |
| ἡμῶν.¶ | hemon | of us. | G3165 → | 1936 times |
τὰThe
taG3588 →19766 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ὀψώνιαwages
opsoniaG3800 →
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
ἁμαρτίαςof sin
hamartiasG266 →173 times
θάνατος,[is] death,
thanatosG2288 →120 times
τὸ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
δὲbut
deG1161 →2765 times
χάρισμαthe gift
charismaG5486 →17 times
τοῦ<the>
touG3588 →19766 times
θεοῦof God
theouG2316 →1312 times
ζωὴlife
zoeG2222 →135 times
αἰώνιοςeternal
aioniosG166 →68 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ΧριστῷChrist
christoG5547 →523 times
ἸησοῦJesus
iesouG2424 →908 times
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
κυρίῳLord
kurioG2962 →711 times
ἡμῶν.¶of us.
hemonG3165 →1936 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
it leads to
- John 5:24
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 1:12
But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
- John 5:24
Through
Romans 5:12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:21–22
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
- Genesis 2:17
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 5:19
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
- Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- 1 Corinthians 15:21–22
Through
Ezekiel 18:20The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 14:6
Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not…
- Deuteronomy 24:16
Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
- 2 Kings 14:6
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Salvation35 verses
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
About Romans

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1868: “Death and Life—the Wage and the Gift” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book III; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
