Romans 6:16

Romans 6:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
• New International Version (NIV)Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Context of Romans 6:16

14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Romans 6:16 word by word

οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ᾧ παριστάνετε ἑαυτοὺς δούλους εἰς ὑπακοήν, δοῦλοί ἐστε ᾧ ὑπακούετε, ἤτοι ἁμαρτίας εἰς θάνατον ἢ ὑπακοῆς εἰς δικαιοσύνην;Read the interlinear

• Do you not knowοὐou · noG3756
• Do you not knowεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ·ὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• you offerπαρίστημιparistēmi paristanō · to stand byG3936
• yourselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• ·εἰςeis · towardG1519
• obedientὑπακοήhupakoē · obedienceG5218
• slavesδοῦλοςdoulos · slaveG1401
• you areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• you obeyὑπακούωhupakouō · to obeyG5219
• whetherἤτοιētoi · whetherG2273
• to sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• deathθάνατοςthanatos · deathG2288
• orἤē · orG2228
• righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343

Cross-references for Romans 6:16

• Romans 6:3Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
• Romans 6:13Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.
• Joshua 24:15But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
• Matthew 6:24No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
• John 8:34Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
• 2 Peter 2:19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
• Romans 6:12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

Commentaries on Romans 6:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16To whom ye yield yourselves - Can you suppose that you should continue to be the servants of Christ if ye give way to sin? Is he not the master who exacts the service, and to whom the service is performed? Sin is the service of Satan; righteousness the service of Christ. If ye sin ye are the servants of Satan, and not the servants of God. The word , which we translate servant, properly signifies slave; and a slave among the Greeks and Romans was…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Know ye not … - The objection noticed in Romans 6:15, the apostle answers by a reference to the known laws of servitude or slavery, Romans 6:16-20, and by showing that Christians, who had been the slaves of sin, have now become the servants of righteousness, and were therefore bound by the proper laws of servitude to obey their new master: as if he had said, “I assume that you know: you are acquainted with the laws of servitude; you know what is required…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-20Verses 16-20 Every man is the servant of the master to whose commands he yields himself; whether it be the sinful dispositions of his heart, in actions which lead to death, or the new and spiritual obedience implanted by regeneration. The apostle rejoiced now they obeyed from the heart the gospel, into which they were delivered as into a mould. As the same metal becomes a new vessel, when melted and recast in another mould, so the believer has become a…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16righteousness (Greek dikaiosunē): In the first part of Romans, Paul uses this Greek word in a legal sense. It refers either to God’s action of placing people in a right relationship with himself or to the right standing believers receive because of Christ’s work (see, for example, 1:17; 3:21–22; 4:3, 5). Here, Paul uses the same word in the way it is often used in the Old Testament. It means the right kind of behavior that God expects from his people.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-1615-16. What then? ... Know ye not--it is a dictate of common sense.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 6:16

• Consecration
• Death
• Holiness
• Regeneration
• Righteous
• Servant
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Destroy
• Fruit
• Newness
• Obey
• Reign
• Sin
• Wages
• Works, Good
• Baptismal Regeneration
• Bible, the

Commentaries on Romans 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings