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For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • KJV For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • NKJV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • NASB For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • NLT For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

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

Sin pays the wage of death, but God gives the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. Salvation is grace, not earnings.

Overview

This climactic verse contrasts what sin earns with what God freely bestows. Death is the just wage of sin, while eternal life is an unmerited gift grounded in Christ. The deliberate language of 'wages' versus 'free gift' magnifies grace and locates all hope of life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 32

  • John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
  • Rom 5:12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
  • Jas 1:15Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
  • John 6:40For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
  • Ezek 18:20The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.
  • Matt 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
  • John 5:24Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
  • Ezek 18:4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
  • Rom 2:7To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.
  • Rom 5:21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • Gen 2:17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
  • John 10:28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
  • Rev 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
  • Gal 6:7–8Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
  • Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
  • Rom 5:17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
  • 1 Jn 5:11–12And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
  • Rom 6:16Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?
  • John 17:2For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
  • 1 Pet 1:3–4Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
  • John 5:39–40You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
  • John 3:14–17Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
  • John 6:32–33Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
  • Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
  • John 6:68Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
  • 1 Cor 6:9–10Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
  • John 6:27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”
  • 1 Jn 2:25And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.
  • Gen 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
  • John 6:50–58This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.
  • John 4:14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
  • Gal 3:10All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 6:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 6:23 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.