Christian Standard Bible
Romans 6:16
16Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey — either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
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 will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace. 15What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not! Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey — either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, 18and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.
Read all of Romans 6Romans 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
Words taken from the KJV.
- Know yeεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
- notοὐou · noG3756
- thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
- to whomὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- ye yieldπαρίστημιparistēmi paristanō · to stand byG3936
- yourselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
- servantsδοῦλοςdoulos · slaveG1401
- toεἰςeis · towardG1519
- obeyὑπακοήhupakoē · obedienceG5218
- ye areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- ye obeyὑπακούωhupakouō · to obeyG5219
- whetherἤτοιētoi · whetherG2273
- of sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
- deathθάνατοςthanatos · deathG2288
- orἤē · orG2228
- righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
Cross-references for Romans 6:16
- Romans 6:3Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
- Romans 6:13And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
- Joshua 24:15But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship — the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”
- Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
- John 8:34Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
- 2 Peter 2:19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.
- 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
In the dictionaries
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
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