The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans

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- Chapter 6 -

(2 Corinthians 4:7–18)

So what shall we say? Should we remain in sin, so that grace may abound?

Let it not be so! For how can we who have died to sin still live in sin?

Do you not know that those of us who have been baptized in Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?

For through baptism we have been buried with him into death, so that, in the manner that Christ rose from the dead, by the glory of the Father, so may we also walk in the newness of life.

For if we have been planted together, in the likeness of his death, so shall we also be, in the likeness of his resurrection.

For we know this: that our former selves have been crucified together with him, so that the body which is of sin may be destroyed, and moreover, so that we may no longer serve sin.(a)

For he who has died has been justified from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live together with Christ.

For we know that Christ, in rising up from the dead, can no longer die: death no longer has dominion over him.

For in as much as he died for sin, he died once. But in as much as he lives, he lives for God.

And so, you should consider yourselves to be certainly dead to sin, and to be living for God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore, let not sin reign in your mortal body, such that you would obey its desires.

Nor should you offer the parts of your body as instruments of iniquity for sin. Instead, offer yourselves to God, as if you were living after death, and offer the parts of your body as instruments of justice for God.

For sin should not have dominion over you. For you are not under the law, but under grace.(b)

The Wages of Sin

What is next? Should we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Let it not be so!

Do you not know to whom you are offering yourselves as servants under obedience? You are the servants of whomever you obey: whether of sin, unto death, or of obedience, unto justice.

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be the servants of sin, now you have been obedient from the heart to the very form of the doctrine into which you have been received.(c)

And having been freed from sin, we have become servants of justice.

I am speaking in human terms because of the infirmity of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of your body to serve impurity and iniquity, for the sake of iniquity, so also have you now yielded the parts of your body to serve justice, for the sake of sanctification.

For though you were once the servants of sin, you have become the children of justice.

But what fruit did you hold at that time, in those things about which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

Yet truly, having been freed now from sin, and having been made servants of God, you hold your fruit in sanctification, and truly its end is eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(d)

Footnotes

(a)6:6 Old man--body of sin:Our corrupt state, subject to sin and concupiscence, coming to us from Adam, is called our old man, as our state, reformed in and by Christ, is called the new man. And the vices and sins, which then ruled in us are named the body of sin.(Challoner)

(b)6:14 Enim is used so frequently in these ancient texts partly because ancient writing had no spaces between words and no difference between capital and small letters, and no punctuation. So certain words have the function of punctuation.(Conte)

(c)6:17 The Latin verb ‘traditi estis’ calls to mind the English word ‘tradition’ (or Tradition), but this is lost in translation.(Conte)

(d)6:23 The translation ‘free gift’ fits the context better than ‘grace,’ because this is a comparison with ‘wages’.(Conte)

(2 Corinthians 4:7–18)

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;

knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.

For he who has died has been freed from sin.

But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him,

knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him!

For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.

Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

For sin will not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

The Wages of Sin

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?

But thanks be to God that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered.

Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh; for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.

For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness.

What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification and the result of eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.