For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.
- BSB The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.
- NKJV For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
- NASB For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
- NLT When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Christ died to sin once for all and now lives wholly to God. His finished work is the pattern for the believer's new orientation.
Overview
The 'once' emphasizes the complete, unrepeatable sufficiency of Christ's atoning death. Having dealt fully with sin, the risen Christ now lives entirely unto God. Believers united to Him are called to reckon themselves in this same finished reality.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Cor 5:21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
- 1 Pet 4:6For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
- 1 Pet 3:18For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
- 2 Cor 5:15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
- Rom 8:3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
- Rom 14:7–9For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
- Heb 9:26–28For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
- Rom 6:11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Luke 20:38For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 6:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.