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Romans 6
New International Version
Romans 6
New International Version
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
6 What shall we say, then?(A) Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?(B) 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin;(C) how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized(D) into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death(E) in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead(F) through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.(G)
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.(H) 6 For we know that our old self(I) was crucified with him(J) so that the body ruled by sin(K) might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin(L)— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.(M)
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.(N) 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead,(O) he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.(P) 10 The death he died, he died to sin(Q) once for all;(R) but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin(S) but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign(T) in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness,(U) but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.(V) 14 For sin shall no longer be your master,(W) because you are not under the law,(X) but under grace.(Y)
Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?(Z) By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey(AA)—whether you are slaves to sin,(AB) which leads to death,(AC) or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God(AD) that, though you used to be slaves to sin,(AE) you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching(AF) that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin(AG) and have become slaves to righteousness.(AH)
19 I am using an example from everyday life(AI) because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness(AJ) leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin,(AK) you were free from the control of righteousness.(AL) 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!(AM) 22 But now that you have been set free from sin(AN) and have become slaves of God,(AO) the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.(AP) 23 For the wages of sin is death,(AQ) but the gift of God is eternal life(AR) in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes
- Romans 6:6 Or be rendered powerless
- Romans 6:23 Or through
Romans 6
Common English Bible
Romans 6
Common English Bible
Our new life in Christ
6 So what are we going to say? Should we continue sinning so grace will multiply? 2 Absolutely not! All of us died to sin. How can we still live in it? 3 Or don’t you know that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore, we were buried together with him through baptism into his death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life. 5 If we were united together in a death like his, we will also be united together in a resurrection like his. 6 This is what we know: the person that we used to be was crucified with him in order to get rid of the corpse that had been controlled by sin. That way we wouldn’t be slaves to sin anymore, 7 because a person who has died has been freed from sin’s power. 8 But if we died with Christ, we have faith that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and he will never die again. Death no longer has power over him. 10 He died to sin once and for all with his death, but he lives for God with his life. 11 In the same way, you also should consider yourselves dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.
12 So then, don’t let sin rule your body, so that you do what it wants. 13 Don’t offer parts of your body to sin, to be used as weapons to do wrong. Instead, present yourselves to God as people who have been brought back to life from the dead, and offer all the parts of your body to God to be used as weapons to do right. 14 Sin will have no power over you, because you aren’t under Law but under grace.
Freedom from sin
15 So what? Should we sin because we aren’t under Law but under grace? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, that you are slaves of the one whom you obey? That’s true whether you serve as slaves of sin, which leads to death, or as slaves of the kind of obedience that leads to righteousness. 17 But thank God that although you used to be slaves of sin, you gave wholehearted obedience to the teaching that was handed down to you, which provides a pattern. 18 Now that you have been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. 19 (I’m speaking with ordinary metaphors because of your limitations.) Once, you offered the parts of your body to be used as slaves to impurity and to lawless behavior that leads to still more lawless behavior. Now, you should present the parts of your body as slaves to righteousness, which makes your lives holy. 20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What consequences did you get from doing things that you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves to God, you have the consequence of a holy life, and the outcome is eternal life. 23 The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6
The Message
Romans 6
The Message
When Death Becomes Life
6 1-3 So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!
3-5 That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country.
6-11 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.
12-14 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.
What Is True Freedom?
15-18 So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
19 I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
20-21 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.
22-23 But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.
Romans 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Romans 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Dying and Rising with Christ
6 What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase?(A) 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?(B) 3 Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?(C) 4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.(D)
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin.(E) 7 For whoever has died is freed[a] from sin. 8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.(F) 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.(G) 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.(H)
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, so that you obey their desires.(I) 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments[b] of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments[c] of righteousness.(J) 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.(K)
Slaves of Righteousness
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?(L) 17 But thanks be to God that you who were slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted(M) 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become enslaved to righteousness.(N) 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your limitations.[d] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, leading to even more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.(O)
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.(P) 21 So what fruit did you then gain from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death.(Q) 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the fruit you have leads to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.(R) 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(S)
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.