Shall we sin because we are not under the law - Shall we abuse our high and holy calling because we are not under that law which makes no provision for pardon, but are under that Gospel which has opened the fountain to wash away all sin and defilement? Shall we sin because grace abounds? Shall we do evil that good may come of it? This be far from us! read more
To whom ye yield yourselves - Can you suppose that you should continue to be the servants of Christ if ye give way to sin? Is he not the master who exacts the service, and to whom the service is performed? Sin is the service of Satan; righteousness the service of Christ. If ye sin ye are the servants of Satan, and not the servants of God. The word δουλος , which we translate servant, properly signifies slave; and a slave among the Greeks and Romans was considered as his master's... read more
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin - This verse should be read thus: But thanks be to God that, although ye were the servants of sin, nevertheless ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered unto you; or, that mould of teaching into which ye were cast. The apostle does not thank God that they were sinners; but that, although they were such, they had now received and obeyed the Gospel. The Hebrew phrase, Isaiah 12:1 , is exactly the same as that... read more
Being then made free from sin - Ελευθερωθεντες is a term that refers to the manumission of a slave. They were redeemed from the slavery of sin, and became the servants of righteousness. Here is another prosopopoeia: both sin and righteousness are personified: sin can enjoin no good and profitable work; righteousness can require none that is unjust or injurious. read more
I speak after the manner of men - This phrase is often used by the Greek writers to signify what was easy to be comprehended; what was ad captum vulgi , level with common understandings, delivered in a popular style; what was different from the high flights of the poets, and the studied sublime obscurity of the philosophers. Because of the infirmity of your flesh - As if he had said: I make use of metaphors and figures connected with well-known natural things; with your trades and... read more
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 endeavored 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 colors than the apostle does here, by saying they were Free... read more
What 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 and soul. read more
But now being made free from sin - As being free from righteousness is the finished character of a sinner, so being made free from sin is the finished character of a genuine Christian. And become servants to God - They were transferred from the service of one master to that of another: they were freed from the slavery of sin, and engaged in the service of God. Fruit unto holiness - Holiness of heart was the principle; and righteousness of life the fruit. read more
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,... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 6:23
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:... read more