Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, November 27th, 2024
the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Romans 6:20

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Depravity of Man;   Holiness;   Regeneration;   Righteous;   Righteousness;   Servant;   The Topic Concordance - Death;   Righteousness;   Servants;   Sin;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Doctrines of the Gospel, the;   Liberty, Christian;   Righteousness;   Titles and Names of the Wicked;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Freedom;   Holiness;   Sanctification;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Body;   Freedom;   Philippians, Theology of;   Slave, Slavery;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Antinomianism;   Flesh;   Human Free Will;   Life;   Romans, Book of;   Sanctification;   Slave/servant;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Redeemer, Redemption;   Romans, Epistle to the;   Sanctification, Sanctify;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Bondage;   Debt, Debtor;   Free Will;   Hell;   Liberty (2);   Regeneration;   Righteousness;   Sin;   Sin (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Liberty;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for November 25;   My Utmost for His Highest - Devotion for October 9;  

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
In the past you were slaves to sin, and you did not even think about doing right.
Revised Standard Version
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For when ye were the servauntes of synne ye were not vnder rightewesnes.
Hebrew Names Version
For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
International Standard Version
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free as far as righteousness was concerned.John 8:34;">[xr]
New American Standard Bible
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relation to righteousness.
New Century Version
In the past you were slaves to sin, and goodness did not control you.
Update Bible Version
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard of righteousness.
Webster's Bible Translation
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
English Standard Version
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
World English Bible
For when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Weymouth's New Testament
For when you were the bondservants of sin, you were under no sort of subjection to Righteousness.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For whanne ye weren seruauntis of synne, ye weren fre of riytfulnesse.
English Revised Version
For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness.
Berean Standard Bible
For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness.
Contemporary English Version
When you were slaves of sin, you didn't have to please God.
Amplified Bible
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness [you had no desire to conform to God's will].
American Standard Version
For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness.
Bible in Basic English
When you were servants of sin you were free from righteousness.
Complete Jewish Bible
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relationship to righteousness;
Darby Translation
For when ye were bondmen of sin ye were free from righteousness.
Etheridge Translation
For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.
Murdock Translation
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were emancipated from righteousness.
King James Version (1611)
For when yee were the seruants of sinne ye were free from righteousnesse.
New Life Bible
When sin had power over your life, you were not right with God.
New Revised Standard
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For when ye were the seruants of sinne, ye were freed from righteousnesse.
George Lamsa Translation
For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, when ye were servants of sin, ye were free as to righteousness; -
Douay-Rheims Bible
For when you were the servants of sin, you were free men to justice.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For when ye were the seruauntes of sinne, ye were free from ryghteousnesse.
Good News Translation
When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
Christian Standard Bible®
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.
King James Version
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Lexham English Bible
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with respect to righteousness.
Literal Translation
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free as to righteousness.
Young's Literal Translation
for when ye were servants of the sin, ye were free from the righteousness,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For whan ye were the seruauntes of synne, ye were lowse from righteousnes.
Mace New Testament (1729)
for when ye were the vassals of sin, ye were not in the service of virtue.
THE MESSAGE
As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
New English Translation
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.
New King James Version
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Simplified Cowboy Version
When you rode for sin, it didn't matter how things were done on God's outfit.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Legacy Standard Bible
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Contextual Overview

1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the servants: Romans 6:16, Romans 6:17, John 8:34

from: Gr. to

Reciprocal: Psalms 107:10 - bound Romans 6:18 - servants Colossians 3:7 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 1:28
Then God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground."
Genesis 2:19
So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.
Genesis 6:8
But Noah found favor with the Lord .
Genesis 6:11
Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence.
Genesis 6:12
God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.
Genesis 6:16
Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.
Genesis 6:20
Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.
John 5:40
Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For when ye were the servants of sin,.... This is an argument used, or a reason given, why regenerate persons should be diligent in the service of righteousness; because when they were employed in the drudgery of sin, they

were free from righteousness; they had no righteousness, nor were they desirous of any; yea, averse to it, threw off the yoke of the law of righteousness, and lived in a very unrighteous manner: hence may be observed what is the free will of man in an unregenerate state; not free to, but "from" righteousness; free enough to evil, but from all that is good; and also what obligation lies upon believers, who are delivered from the bondage of corruption, and the servitude of sin, to a life and service of righteousness; inasmuch as they were before free from it, and unconcerned about it, but are now made by the grace of God free to it, they ought therefore cheerfully to pursue it, and neglect no opportunity of performing it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye were free from righteousness - That is, in your former state, you were not at all under the influence of righteousness. You were entirely devoted to sin; a strong expression of total depravity. It settles the question; and proves that they had no native goodness. The argument which is implied here rather than expressed is, that now they ought to be equally free from sin, since they had become released from their former bondage, and had become the servants of another master.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Romans 6:20. Ye were free from righteousness. — These two servitudes are incompatible; if we cannot serve God and Mammon, surely we cannot serve Christ and Satan. We must be either sinners or saints; God's servants or the devil's slaves. It cannot be as a good mistaken man has endeavoured to sing: -

"To good and evil equal bent,

I'm both a devil and a saint."


I know not whether it be possible to paint the utter prevalence of sin in stronger colours than the apostle does here, by saying they were FREE from righteousness. It seems tantamount to that expression in Genesis, Genesis 6:5, where, speaking of the total degeneracy of the human race, the writer says, Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. They were all corrupt; they were altogether abominable: there was none that did good; no, not one.


 
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