the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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King James Version
Romans 6:23
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When people sin, they earn what sin pays—death. But God gives his people a free gift—eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the rewarde of synne is deeth: but eternall lyfe is the gyfte of God thorow Iesus Christ oure Lorde.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.Genesis 2:17; Romans 2:7; James 1:15; 1 Peter 1:4;">[xr]
For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin [is] death: but the gift of God [is] eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For death is the wages of sin; but eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wagis of synne is deth; the grace of God is euerlastynge lijf in Crist Jhesu our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin pays off with death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the reward of sin is death; but what God freely gives is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.
For the wages of sin [is] death; but the act of favour of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death; and the gift of Aloha the life of eternity by our Lord Jeshu Meshiha.
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is life eternal, through our Lord Jesus Messiah.
For the wages of sinne is death: but the gift of God is eternall life, through Iesus Christ our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
You get what is coming to you when you sin. It is death! But God's free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sinne is death: but the gift of God is eternall life, through Iesus Christ our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through our LORD Jesus Christ.
For, the wages of sin, is death; but, God's gift of favour, is life age-abiding, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the rewarde of sinne is death: but the gyft of God is eternall lyfe, thorowe Iesus Christe our Lorde.
For sin pays its wage—death; but God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the compensation due sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
for the wages of the sin [is] death, and the gift of God [is] life age-during in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For death is the rewarde of synne, but the gifte of God is euerlastinge life.
for the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Workin' for sin's outfit pays ya in death, but God offers ya eternal life through Jesus.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
For the wages: Romans 5:12, Genesis 2:17, Genesis 3:19, Isaiah 3:11, Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:20, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:10, Galatians 3:10, Galatians 6:7, Galatians 6:8, James 1:15, Revelation 21:8
but the: Romans 2:7, Romans 5:17, Romans 5:21, John 3:14-17, John 3:36, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 5:39, John 5:40, John 6:27, John 6:32, John 6:33, John 6:40, John 6:50-58, John 6:68, John 10:28, John 17:2, Titus 1:2, 1 Peter 1:3, 1 Peter 1:4, 1 John 2:25, 1 John 5:11, 1 John 5:12
Reciprocal: Genesis 6:17 - shall die Genesis 12:13 - Say Numbers 27:3 - died in his Psalms 37:18 - their Psalms 133:3 - even life Proverbs 10:16 - the fruit Proverbs 12:28 - General Proverbs 19:6 - and Isaiah 54:17 - the heritage Zechariah 3:4 - I have Matthew 19:16 - eternal Matthew 25:46 - the righteous Mark 10:17 - eternal Mark 10:30 - eternal Luke 12:32 - the kingdom Luke 20:38 - for all John 3:15 - eternal John 4:15 - give Acts 10:43 - through Acts 15:11 - that Romans 5:15 - and the gift Romans 6:11 - through Romans 6:21 - for the Romans 8:6 - to be carnally minded Romans 8:13 - ye live Romans 8:32 - how 1 Corinthians 15:21 - by man came also 1 Corinthians 15:56 - sting 2 Corinthians 1:20 - all 2 Corinthians 9:15 - his 1 Timothy 1:16 - believe 2 Timothy 1:1 - the promise Hebrews 9:15 - eternal James 1:17 - good
Gill's Notes on the Bible
For the wages of sin is death,.... By sin, is meant every sin, original sin, actual sin, every kind of sin, lesser and greater: the "death" which sin deserves, is a corporeal death; which is not owing to the original nature and constitution of men; nor merely to the divine appointment; but to sin, and the decree of God, on account of it; which is inflicted on Christless sinners, as a punishment for sin, though not on believers as such, because Christ has took away the sting and curse of it: a death of diseases and afflictions also follows upon sin, as its proper demerit; which are properly punishments to wicked men, and are occasioned by sin in believers: there is a death of the soul, which comes by sin, which lies in an alienation from God, in a loss of the image of God, and in a servitude to sin; and there is an eternal death, the just wages of sin, which lies in a separation of soul and body from God, and in a sense of divine wrath to all eternity; and which is here meant, as is clear from its antithesis, "eternal life", in the next clause. Now this is "the wages" of sin; sin does in its own nature produce it, and excludes from life; it is the natural issue of it; sin is committed against an infinite God, and righteously deserves such a death; it is its just wages by law. The Greek word οψωνια, signifies soldiers' wages; see Luke 3:14 and in
"At which time Simon rose up, and fought for his nation, and spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation and gave them wages,'' (1 Maccabees 14:32)
Sin is represented as a king, a mighty monarch, a tyrannical prince; sinners are his subjects and vassals, his servants and soldiers, who fight under him, and for him, and all the wages they must expect from him is death. So the word is interpreted in the Glossary,
μισθος στρατιωτικος, "soldiers' wages"; and so it is used by the Jewish writers, being adopted into their language; of a king, they say a, that he should not multiply to himself gold and silver more than to pay אספניא, which they b interpret by שכר חיילות, "the hire of armies", or the wages of soldiers for a whole year, who go in and out with him all the year; so that it denotes wages due, and paid after a campaign is ended, and service is over; and, as here used, suggests, that when men have been all their days in the service of sin, and have fought under the banners of it, the wages they will earn, and the reward that will be given them, will be death: and it is frequently observed by the Jewish doctors c, that
אין מיתה בלא חטא, "there is no death without sin": sin is the cause of death, and death the fruit and effect of sin:
but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. These words, at first sight, look as if the sense of them was, that eternal life is the gift of God through Christ, which is a great and glorious truth of the Gospel; but their standing in opposition to the preceding words require another sense, namely, that God's gift of grace issues in eternal life, through Christ: wherefore by "the gift of God" is not meant eternal life, but either the gift of a justifying righteousness, or the grace of God in regeneration and sanctification, or both, which issue in eternal life; the one is the saints' right and title, the other their meetness for it: so that as death is the wages of sin, and is what that issues in, and brings unto, eternal life is the effect of grace, or what the grace of God in justifying and sanctifying his people issues in; even a life free from all sorrow and imperfection; a life of the utmost perfection and pleasure, and which will last for ever: and as the grace of God, which justifies and sanctifies them, is "through Christ", so is the eternal life itself which it brings unto: this is in Christ, comes through his righteousness, sufferings, and death; is bestowed by him, and will greatly consist in the enjoyment of him. All grace is the gift of God, and is freely given, or otherwise it would not be grace; particularly the justifying righteousness of Christ is the gift of God; and the rather this may be meant here, since the apostle had been treating of it so largely before, and had so often, in the preceding chapter, called it the gift of righteousness, the free gift, and gift by grace, and justification by it, the justification of life, because it entitles to eternal life, as here: it may be said to issue in it; for between justification and glorification there is a sure and close connection; they that are justified by the righteousness of Christ, are certainly glorified, or enjoy eternal life; and though this may be principally intended here, yet is not to be understood to the exclusion of other gifts of grace, which have the same connection and issue: thus, for instance, faith is the gift of God, and not of a man's self, and he that has it, has eternal life, and shall, Or ever possess it; repentance is a free grace gift, it is a grant from the Lord, and it is unto life and salvation; and on whomsoever the grace of God is bestowed, so as to believe in Christ for righteousness, and truly repent of sin, these shall partake of eternal glory. It may be observed, that there is a just proportion between sin, and the wages of it, yet there is none between eternal life, and the obedience of men; and therefore though the apostle had been pressing so much obedience to God, and to righteousness, he does not make eternal life to be the fruit and effect of obedience, but of the gift of the grace of God.
a Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 4. b Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. Vid. Cohen de Lara, Ir. David, p. 17. c T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 55. 1. Vajikra Rabba, parash. 37. fol. 176. 3. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 70. 4. Zohar in Gen. fol. 44. 4. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 115. 1.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
For the wages of sin - The word translated here “wages” ὀψώνια opsōnia properly 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 its proper reward. Death is thus called the wages of sin, not because it is an arbitrary, undeserved appointment, but
(1) Because it is its proper desert. Not a pain will be inflicted on the sinner which he does not deserve. Not a sinner will die who ought not to die. Sinners even in hell will be treated just as they deserve to be treated; and there is not to man a more fearful and terrible consideration than this. No man can conceive a more dreadful doom than for himself to be treated forever just as he deserves to be. But,
(2) This is the wages of sin, because, like the pay of the soldier, it is just what was threatened, Ezekiel 18:4, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” God will not inflict anything more than was threatened, and therefore it is just.
Is death - This stands opposed here to eternal life, and proves that one is just as enduring as the other.
But the gift of God - Not the wages of man; not what is due to him; but the mere gift and mercy of God. The apostle is careful to distinguish, and to specify thai this is not what man deserves, but what is gratuitously conferred on him; Note, Romans 6:15.
Eternal life - The same words which in Romans 6:22 are rendered “everlasting life.” The phrase is opposed to death; and proves incontestably that that means eternal death. We may remark, therefore,
(1) That the one will be as long as the other.
(2) As there is no doubt about the duration of life, so there can be none about the duration of death. The one will be rich, blessed, everlasting; the other sad, gloomy, lingering, awful, eternal.
(3) If the sinner is lost, he will deserve to die. He will have his reward. He will suffer only what shall be the just due of sin. He will not be a martyr in the cause of injured innocence. He will not have the compassion of the universe in his favor. He will have no one to take his part against God. He will suffer just as much, and just as long, as he ought to suffer. He will suffer as the culprit pines in the dungeon, or as the murderer dies on the gibbet, because this is the proper reward of sin.
(4) They who are saved will be raised to heaven, not because they merit it, but by the rich and sovereign grace of God. All their salvation will be ascribed to him; and they will celebrate his mercy and grace forever.
(5) It becomes us, therefore, to flee from the wrath to come. No man is so foolish and so wicked as he who is willing to reap the proper wages of sin. None so blessed as he who has part in the mercy of God, and who lays hold on eternal life.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Romans 6:23. For 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: no, but that this eternal life, even to the righteous, is το χαρισμα του θεου, THE gracious GIFT of GOD. And even this gracious gift comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. He alone has procured it; and it is given to all those who find redemption in his blood. A sinner goes to hell because he deserves it; a righteous man goes to heaven because Christ has died for him, and communicated that grace by which his sin is pardoned and his soul made holy. The word οψωνια, which we here render wages, signified the daily pay of a Roman soldier. So every sinner has a daily pay, and this pay is death; he has misery because he sins. Sin constitutes hell; the sinner has a hell in his own bosom; all is confusion and disorder where God does not reign: every indulgence of sinful passions increases the disorder, and consequently the misery of a sinner. If men were as much in earnest to get their souls saved as they are to prepare them for perdition, heaven would be highly peopled, and devils would be their own companions. And will not the living lay this to heart?
1. In the preceding chapter we see the connection that subsists between the doctrines of the Gospel and the practice of Christianity. A doctrine is a teaching, instruction, or information concerning some truth that is to be believed, as essential to our salvation. But all teaching that comes from God, necessarily leads to him. That Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification, is a glorious doctrine of the Gospel. But this is of no use to him who does not die to sin, rise in the likeness of his resurrection, and walk in newness of life: this is the use that should be made of the doctrine. Every doctrine has its use, and the use of it consists in the practice founded on it. We hear there is a free pardon-we go to God and receive it; we hear that we may be made holy-we apply for the sanctifying Spirit; we hear there is a heaven of glory, into which the righteous alone shall enter-we watch and pray, believe, love, and obey, in order that, when he doth appear, we may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless. Those are the doctrines; these are the uses or practice founded on those doctrines.
2. It is strange that there should be found a person believing the whole Gospel system, and yet living in sin! SALVATION FROM SIN is the long-continued sound, as it is the spirit and design, of the Gospel. Our Christian name, our baptismal covenant, our profession of faith in Christ, and avowed belief in his word, all call us to this: can it be said that we have any louder calls than these? Our self-interest, as it respects the happiness of a godly life, and the glories of eternal blessedness; the pains and wretchedness of a life of sin, leading to the worm that never dies and the fire that is not quenched; second most powerfully the above calls. Reader, lay these things to heart, and: answer this question to God; How shall I escape, if I neglect so great salvation? And then, as thy conscience shall answer, let thy mind and thy hands begin to act.
