Romans 6:23

For The "for" refers to the last statement. The verse may be paraphrased, "For whereas the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is, as we have now said, eternal life."

wages The Gr. is same word as Luke 3:14; 1Co 9:7; 2 Corinthians 11:8. It strictly denotes pay for military service; and the metaphor here therefore points not to slaveryso much as to the warfareof Romans 6:13 (where see note on weapons). The word is full of pregnant truth. Death, in its most awful sense, is no more than the reward and result of sin; and sin is nothing less than a conflict against God.

gift The Gr. is same word as free gift, ch. Romans 5:15. This word here is, so to speak, a paradox. We should have expected one which would have represented life eternal as the issue of holiness, to balance the truth that death is the issue of sin. And in respect of holiness being the necessary preliminaryto the future bliss, this would have been entirely true. But St Paul here all the more forcibly presses the thought that salvation is a giftwholly apart from human merit. The eternal Design, the meritorious Sacrifice, the life-giving and love-imparting Spirit, all alike are a Gift absolutely free. The works of sin arethe procuringcause of Death; the course of sanctification is notthe procuringcause of Life Eternal, but only the training for the enjoyment of what is essentially a Divine gift "in Jesus Christ our Lord."

through Lit., and better, in. The "life eternal" is to be found only "in Him," by those who "come to Him." His work is the one meritorious cause; and in His hands also is the actual gift. (John 17:2-3).