Romans 6:21

Romans 6:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
• New International Version (NIV)What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
• New King James Version (NKJV)What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
• New Living Translation (NLT)And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.

Context of Romans 6:21

19I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:21 word by word

τίνα οὖν καρπὸν εἴχετε τότε, ἐφ᾽ οἷς νῦν ἐπαισχύνεσθε; τὸ γὰρ τέλος ἐκείνων θάνατος.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• ·οὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• Whatτίςtis · which?G5101
• fruitκαρπόςkarpos · fruitG2590
• had yeἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• thenτότεtote · thenG5119
• inἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• those things whereofὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ye areἐπαισχύνομαιepaischunomai · be ashamed ofG1870
• nowνῦνnun · nowG3568
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• the endτέλοςtelos · goal/taxG5056
• of those thingsἐκεῖνοςekeinos · thatG1565
• deathθάνατοςthanatos · deathG2288

Cross-references for Romans 6:21

• Romans 7:5For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
• Proverbs 1:31therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
• Proverbs 5:10lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
• Proverbs 9:17"Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."
• Isaiah 3:10Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
• Jeremiah 17:10"I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
• Jeremiah 44:20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer:
• Galatians 6:7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
• Ezra 9:6saying: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
• Job 40:4"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
• Job 42:6therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
• Jeremiah 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed.
• Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 31:19For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
• Ezekiel 16:61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you.
• Ezekiel 36:31Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.

Commentaries on Romans 6:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21What fruit had ye then in those things - God designs that every man shall reap benefit by his service. What benefit have ye derived from the service of sin? Whereof ye are now ashamed? - Ye blush to remember your former life. It was scandalous to yourselves, injurious to others, and highly provoking to God. The end of those things is death - Whatever sin may promise of pleasure or advantage, the end to which it necessarily tends is the destruction of body…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21What fruit, then … - What reward, or what advantage. This is an argument drawn from the experience of Christians respecting the indulgence of sinful passions. The question discussed throughout this chapter is, whether the gospel plan of justification by faith leads to indulgence in sin? The argument here is drawn from the past experience which Christians have had in the ways of transgression. They have tried it; they know its effects; they have tasted its…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-23Verses 21-23 The pleasure and profit of sin do not deserve to be called fruit. Sinners are but ploughing iniquity, sowing vanity, and reaping the same. Shame came into the world with sin, and is still the certain effect of it. The end of sin is death. Though the way may seem pleasant and inviting, yet it will be bitterness in the latter end. From this condemnation the believer is set at liberty, when made free from sin. If the fruit is unto holiness, if…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21death: Throughout chapters 5–8, Paul uses death to describe the eternal consequences of sin (5:12, 14, 15, 17, 21; 6:16, 23; 7:5, 9–10, 13, 24; 8:2, 6, 13). This language refers back to God’s warning to Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:17). This death is not mainly physical. It means human separation from God's fellowship or union with God. If not reversed through faith in Christ and, it will last forever.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death--What permanent advantage, and what abiding satisfaction, have those things yielded? The apostle answers his own question:--"Abiding satisfaction, did I ask? They have left only a sense of 'shame.' Permanent advantage? 'The end of them is death.'" By saying they were "now ashamed," he makes it plain that he is not referring to that disgust at…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 6:21

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

In the dictionaries

• Destroy
• Fruit
• Newness
• Obey
• Reign
• Wages
• Works, Good
• Ashamed
• 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