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

14Sin will no longer have authority over you. You do not have a new life because you obey the Law which God gave to Moses. You have a new life because God is very kind to you. 15Someone might say: ‘So we have a new life because God is kind to us. God's Law that he gave to Moses does not rule us any more. Then maybe we should continue to do wrong things. It will not make any difference.’ No, that is not true! Remember this: When you agree to serve someone as a slave, you have to obey that person as your master. You may choose to serve sin as your master. If you do that, you will die. Or you may choose to obey God. If you do that, you will live in a way that is right. 17At one time, you were slaves to sin. But then you received God's true message, and you were happy to obey it. I thank God because of that! 18As a result, God has made you free from the power of sin. You are now like slaves who serve everything that is right and good.

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

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 6:3Remember what your baptism shows: When they baptized you, it shows that you are united with Christ Jesus. It also shows that, because Christ died, your old life also died.
• Romans 6:13Sin can use your body to do things that are wrong. So do not let any parts of your body serve sin as their master. Instead, be ready to serve God as your Master. You can do that because you now have a new life. Your old life is dead. So give every part of your body to God. Then he will use you to do right things.
• Joshua 24:15But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then you should choose another god to worship. Decide today! Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshipped across the river? Will you serve the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living? You choose! But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.’
• Matthew 6:24Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.
• John 8:34Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: Everyone who does wrong things is a slave to sin.
• 2 Peter 2:19The false teachers tell these believers to do whatever they want to do. They promise that this will make them really free. But the false teachers themselves are not free. Instead, they are like slaves. They cannot stop doing the bad things that will destroy them. We know that if something has power over a person, then that person is its slave.
• Romans 6:12So do not let sin rule your life in this world. Do not do the wrong things that your body wants to do.

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