God’s Word Translation
Romans 6:23
23The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Context of Romans 6:23
21What did you gain by doing those things? You’re ashamed of what you used to do because it ended in death. 22Now you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves. This results in a holy life and, finally, in everlasting life. The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Read all of Romans 6Romans 6:23 word by word
τὰ γὰρ ὀψώνια τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατος, τὸ δὲ χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ ζωὴ αἰώνιος ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Forγάρgar · forG1063
- the wagesὀψώνιονopsōnion · compensationG3800
- of sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
- deathθάνατοςthanatos · deathG2288
- butδέde · thenG1161
- the giftχάρισμαcharisma · giftG5486
- of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- eternalαἰώνιοςaiōnios · eternalG166
- lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
- throughἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- JesusἸησοῦςIēsous · JesusG2424
- ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
- ourἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
Cross-references for Romans 6:23
- Romans 5:12Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned.
- Genesis 2:17But you must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because when you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
- Genesis 3:19By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust.”
- Isaiah 3:11How horrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster will strike them. What they have done will be done to them.
- Ezekiel 18:4The life of every person belongs to me. Fathers and their children belong to me. The person who sins will die.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9Don’t you know that wicked people won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Stop deceiving yourselves! People who continue to commit sexual sins, who worship false gods, those who commit adultery, homosexuals,
- Galatians 3:10Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts because Scripture says, “Whoever doesn’t obey everything that is written in Moses’ Teachings is cursed.”
- Galatians 6:7Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest.
- James 1:15Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death.
- Revelation 21:8But cowardly, unfaithful, and detestable people, murderers, sexual sinners, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Romans 2:7He will give everlasting life to those who search for glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good. But he will bring
- Romans 5:17It is certain that death ruled because of one person’s failure. It’s even more certain that those who receive God’s overflowing kindness and the gift of his approval will rule in life because of one person, Jesus Christ.
- John 3:14“As Moses lifted up the snake ⌞on a pole⌟ in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.
- John 4:14But those who drink the water that I will give them will never become thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become in them a spring that gushes up to eternal life.”
- John 5:24I can guarantee this truth: Those who listen to what I say and believe in the one who sent me will have eternal life. They won’t be judged because they have already passed from death to life.
- John 6:27Don’t work for food that spoils. Instead, work for the food that lasts into eternal life. This is the food the Son of Man will give you. After all, the Father has placed his seal of approval on him.”
Commentaries on Romans 6:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23For the wages of sin is death - The second death, everlasting perdition. Every sinner earns this by long, sore, and painful service. O! what pains do men take to get to hell! Early and late they toil at sin; and would not Divine justice be in their debt, if it did not pay them their due wages? But the gift of God is eternal life - A man may Merit hell, but he cannot Merit heaven. The apostle does not say that the wages of righteousness is eternal life…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23For the wages of sin - The word translated here “wages” ̓́ opsōniaproperly 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…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
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. 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. But "eternal life" is in no sense or degree the wages of our righteousness; we do…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 6:23
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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