For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“But again, those who assert that He was simply a mere man, begotten by Joseph, remaining in the bondage of the old disobedience, are in a state of death having been not as yet joined to the Word of God the Father, nor receiving liberty through the Son, as He does Himself declare: "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." But, being ignorant of Him who from the Virgin is Emmanuel, they are deprived of His gift, which is eternal life; and not receiving the incorruptible Word, they remain in mortal flesh, and are debtors to death, not obtaining the antidote of life. To whom the Word says, mentioning His own gift of grace: "I said, Ye are all the sons of the Highest, and gods; but ye shall die like men." He speaks undoubtedly these words to those who have not received the gift of adoption, but who despise the incarnation of the pure generation of the Word of God, defraud human nature of promotion into God, and prove themselves ungrateful to the Word of God, who became flesh for them. For it was for this end that the Word of God was made man, and He who was the Son of God became the Son of man, that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might become the son of God. For by no other means could we have attained to incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to incorruptibility and immortality. But how could we be joined to incorruptibility and immortality, unless, first, incorruptibility and immortality had become that which we also are, so that the corruptible might be swallowed up by incorruptibility, and the mortal by immortality, that might receive the adoption of sons?”

“We must, then, as is fit, in investigating the nature of the body and the essence of the soul, apprehend the end of each, and not regard death as an evil. "For when ye were the servants of sin," says the apostle, "ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things in which ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." The assertion, then, may be hazarded, that it has been shown that death is the fellowship of the soul in a state of sin with the body; and life the separation from sin.”

“After speaking of the wages of sin, in the case of the blessings, he has not kept to the same order: for he does not say, the wages of good deeds, "but the gift of God;" to show, that it was not of themselves that they were freed, nor was it a due they received, neither yet a return, nor a recompense of labors, but by grace all these things came about. And so there was a superiority for this cause also, in that He did not free them only, or change their condition for a better, but that He did it without any labor or trouble upon their part: and that He not only freed them, but also gave them much more than before, and that through His Son. And the whole of this he has interposed as having discussed the subject of grace, and being on the point of overthrowing the Law next. That these things then might not both make them rather listless, he inserted the part about strictness of life, using every opportunity of rousing the hearer to the practice of virtue. For when he calls death the wages of sin, he alarms them again, and secures them against dangers to come. For the words he uses to remind them of their former estate, he also employs so as to make them thankful, and more secure against any inroads of temptations.”

“After the Apostle showed, by an argument taken from the divine benefit, that we ought not to remain in sin but should serve God, here he shows the same thing by an argument taken from the custom of our former life. And concerning this he does three things. First he sets forth the condition of the teaching he supposes, which he adds; second he sets forth the expression of the teaching, at "for as you have yielded," etc.; third he assigns the reason for the teaching, at "for when you were servants." He says therefore first: I have warned that you yield yourselves to God; I still say to you a certain human thing, that is, something fitting to human weakness. For thus "man" is sometimes taken in Scripture, namely insofar as it signifies the condition of human weakness; Wisdom 9:5: "a weak man, and of short time, and too little for the understanding of judgment and laws." 1 Corinthians 3:3: "since there is among you zeal and contention, are you not carnal, and walk according to man?" He assigns the cause, adding "because of the weakness" of your flesh; for to the perfect more perfect precepts are to be handed down. 1 Corinthians 2:6: "we speak wisdom among the perfect." Hebrews 5:14: "solid food is for the perfect." To the weaker, lighter precepts are to be given. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2: "as to little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat." Hebrews 5:12: "you have become such as have need of milk." But this weakness comes not from the spirit but from the flesh, because "the corruptible body weighs down the soul," as is said in Wisdom 9:15. And therefore he adds "of your flesh." Matthew 26:41: "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Then, when he says "for as you have yielded," etc., he sets forth the teaching which he says is human, in which he teaches that the body is to be yielded equally to serve justice, according as we have yielded it to serve sin. And this is what he means when he says "for as you have yielded your members to serve," namely through the carrying out of evil work, uncleanness and iniquity conceived in the heart: so that uncleanness refers to carnal sins, Ephesians 5:3: "let all fornication, or uncleanness... not so much as be named among you," etc.; while iniquity refers to spiritual sins, and especially those by which the neighbor is harmed. Psalm: "he has plotted iniquity on his bed." When these are conceived in the heart, the members serve unto iniquity, namely, so as to carry it out in deed. And here he sets down "iniquity" for both uncleanness and iniquity, 1 John 3:4, according as every sin is iniquity. And this insofar as it is discordant from the equity of the divine law. So now, namely having been freed from sin, yield your members, namely through the carrying out of good works, to serve justice, as set before us in the divine law: and this unto sanctification, that is, unto the carrying out and increase of holiness. Apocalypse, last chapter: "let him who is holy be sanctified still." He says this is human, because according to right judgment it would be required that man serve justice much more than he had before served sin. Baruch 4:28: "as it was your mind to go astray from God ten times as much, so returning again you shall seek him." He accordingly assigns the reason for this teaching, saying "for when you were servants," etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth the reason for what was said above; second he proves what he had supposed, at "the wages of sin is death," etc. He shows the reason for what was said before by preferring the state of grace to the state of fault. For if more goods come to us from justice than from fault, we ought the more to press on to serve justice, than we had striven to serve sin. First therefore he sets forth the condition of the state of sin; second, the condition of the state of justice, at "but now being made free," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets forth the condition of sin; second, the effect of sin, at "what fruit therefore," etc. Third, the end, at "for the end of those things," etc. Concerning the first, it must be considered that man is naturally of free will, on account of reason and will, which cannot be compelled, yet can be inclined by certain things. Always therefore man, as regards the judgment of reason, remains free from coercion, yet is not free from inclination. For sometimes free will is inclined to good through the habit of grace or of justice: and then it has the servitude of justice and is free from sin. But sometimes the will is inclined to evil through the habit of sin: and then it has the servitude of sin and the freedom of justice. The servitude of sin indeed is that by which it is drawn to consent to sin, against the judgment of reason. John 8:34: "he who commits sin, is the servant of sin." And as to this he says: "for when you were the servants of sin." But freedom from justice is this, that man without the rein of justice hurls himself headlong into sin. And as to this he says "you were free from justice," which especially happens to those who sin from a fixed resolve. For those who sin from weakness or passion are held back by some rein of justice, so that they do not appear entirely free from justice. Jeremiah 2:20: "of old time you have broken the yoke, you have burst the bands, and said, I will not serve." Job 11:12: "a vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinketh himself born free like a wild ass's colt." It must be known, however, that this state has true servitude, but not true freedom, only apparent freedom. For since man is what he is according to reason, then a man is truly a servant when he is led away by something foreign from that which belongs to reason. But that someone is not restrained by the rein of reason from following concupiscence is freedom only according to the opinion of him who thinks the highest good is to follow the things desired. Then when he says "what fruit therefore," etc., he shows the effect of sin. And he indeed excludes one effect, namely a fruitful effect, when he says "what fruit therefore," namely when you sinned in those, namely, sins. For the works of sin are fruitless, because they do not help man to attain to beatitude. Isaiah 59:6: "their works are unprofitable works." Micah 2:1: "woe to you that devise that which is unprofitable, and work evil in your beds." He then adduces a shameful effect, saying "in which," namely, sins, that is, of which now, namely in the state of repentance, you are ashamed, because of their baseness. Jeremiah 31:19: "after you showed me, I struck my thigh with confusion, and I blushed." Isaiah 1:29: "you shall be ashamed of the gardens," namely, of pleasure, "which you had chosen." Then when he says "for the end," etc., he sets forth the end of sin, saying "for the end of those things," namely of sins, "is death." This, indeed, even if it is not the end intended by the one committing the sin — because in sinning he does not intend to incur death — is nevertheless the end of the sins themselves, because of themselves they are apt to bring on temporal death, since when the soul separates God from itself, it is fitting that its body be separated from it; and eternal death, because when someone wishes to be separated from God for a time, on account of the concupiscence of sin, it is fitting that he be separated from God eternally, which is eternal death. Above, 1:32: "they that do such things, are worthy of death." Then when he says "but now," etc., he shows the character of the state of justice. And first he sets forth the condition of the state of justice; second, the effect, at "you have your fruit," etc.; third he sets forth the end, at "but the end," etc. Concerning the first, it must be considered that just as when someone is inclined to evil by sin, he is free from justice, so when someone is inclined to good by the habit of justice and grace, he is free from sin, namely so that he is not overcome by it even to the point of consent. Hence he says "but now," namely in the state of justice, "made free from sin." John 8:36: "if the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." Likewise, conversely, just as in the state of sin someone is a servant of sin, whom he obeys, so in the state of justice someone is a servant of God, obeying voluntarily, according to Psalm 99:2: "serve the Lord with gladness." And this is what he adds, "but become servants to God." Psalm 115:16: "O Lord, for I am your servant," etc. This, however, is true freedom, and the best servitude; because through justice man is inclined to that which is fitting to him, which is proper to man, and is turned away from that which is fitting to concupiscence, which is most bestial. Then when he says "you have your fruit," etc., he sets forth the effect of justice, saying "you have your fruit unto sanctification," that is, sanctification itself, that is, the carrying out of holiness through good works, is your fruit, insofar as this delights you spiritually and holily. Ecclesiasticus 24:23: "my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches," etc. Galatians 5:22: "the fruit of the Spirit is joy, peace," etc. Accordingly he sets forth the end, saying "but the end you have is life everlasting." This indeed is the end of the just themselves, who do all things for the sake of having eternal life. Matthew 6:33: "seek first the kingdom of God," etc. And also of their works themselves, which, since they are done out of obedience to God and in imitation of God, merit eternal life. John 10:27-28: "my sheep hear my voice, and follow me, and I give them life everlasting." Then when he says "for the wages of sin," etc., he makes clear what he had said about the ends of evils and goods. And first as to evils. He says: it has been said that the end of sins is death, "for the wages of sin is death." Now "wages" are called the pay of soldiers, from the stips to be weighed out, that is, weighed: because the money to be distributed to soldiers used to be weighed. Since therefore sinners serve as soldiers to sin, yielding their members as weapons to sin, as was said above, death is said to be the wages of sin, that is, the retribution which it renders to those serving it. And from this it is clear that death is the end of sins, not one which those who sin seek, but one which is rendered to them. Psalm 10:6: "fire and brimstone and the storm of winds, shall be the portion of their cup." But as to goods, he says "the grace of God is life everlasting." For since he had said that just men have eternal life, which it is certain cannot be had except through grace: therefore this very fact that we work good things, and that our work is worthy of eternal life, is from the grace of God. Hence also in Psalm 83:12 it is said: "the Lord will give grace and glory." Thus therefore our works, if they are considered in their own nature and according as they proceed from the free will of man, do not merit eternal life condignly, but only according as they proceed from the grace of the Holy Spirit. Hence it is said, John 4:14: "it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting." And this comes about "in Christ Jesus our Lord," that is, through Christ, or insofar as we are in him through faith and charity. John 6:40: "everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, has life everlasting."”

“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: a death of diseases and afflictions also follows upon sin, as its proper demerit; which are properly punishments to wicked men, and are occasioned by sin in believers: there is a death of the soul, which comes by sin, which lies in an alienation from God, in a loss of the image of God, and in a servitude to sin; and there is an eternal death, the just wages of sin, which lies in a separation of soul and body from God, and in a sense of divine wrath to all eternity; and which is here meant, as is clear from its antithesis, "eternal life", in the next clause. Now this is "the wages" of sin; sin does in its own nature produce it, and excludes from life; it is the natural issue of it; sin is committed against an infinite God, and righteously deserves such a death; it is its just wages by law. The Greek word signifies soldiers' wages; see Luk 3:14 and in "At which time Simon rose up, and fought for his nation, and spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation and gave them wages,'' (1 Maccabees 14:32) Sin is represented as a king, a mighty monarch, a tyrannical prince; sinners are his subjects and vassals, his servants and soldiers, who fight under him, and for him, and all the wages they must expect from him is death. So the word is interpreted in the Glossary, , "soldiers' wages"; and so it is used by the Jewish writers, being adopted into their language; of a king, they say (a), that he should not multiply to himself gold and silver more than to pay which they (b) interpret by , "the hire of armies", or the wages of soldiers for a whole year, who go in and out with him all the year; so that it denotes wages due, and paid after a campaign is ended, and service is over; and, as here used, suggests, that when men have been all their days in the service of sin, and have fought under the banners of it, the wages they will earn, and the reward that will be given them, will be death: and it is frequently observed by the Jewish doctors (c), that , "there is no death without sin": sin is the cause of death, and death the fruit and effect of sin: but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. These words, at first sight, look as if the sense of them was, that eternal life is the gift of God through Christ, which is a great and glorious truth of the Gospel; but their standing in opposition to the preceding words require another sense, namely, that God's gift of grace issues in eternal life, through Christ: wherefore by "the gift of God" is not meant eternal life, but either the gift of a justifying righteousness, or the grace of God in regeneration and sanctification, or both, which issue in eternal life; the one is the saints' right and title, the other their meetness for it: so that as death is the wages of sin, and is what that issues in, and brings unto, eternal life is the effect of grace, or what the grace of God in justifying and sanctifying his people issues in; even a life free from all sorrow and imperfection; a life of the utmost perfection and pleasure, and which will last for ever: and as the grace of God, which justifies and sanctifies them, is "through Christ", so is the eternal life itself which it brings unto: this is in Christ, comes through his righteousness, sufferings, and death; is bestowed by him, and will greatly consist in the enjoyment of him. All grace is the gift of God, and is freely given, or otherwise it would not be grace; particularly the justifying righteousness of Christ is the gift of God; and the rather this may be meant here, since the apostle had been treating of it so largely before, and had so often, in the preceding chapter, called it the gift of righteousness, the free gift, and gift by grace, and justification by it, the justification of life, because it entitles to eternal life, as here: it may be said to issue in it; for between justification and glorification there is a sure and close connection; they that are justified by the righteousness of Christ, are certainly glorified, or enjoy eternal life; and though this may be principally intended here, yet is not to be understood to the exclusion of other gifts of grace, which have the same connection and issue: thus, for instance, faith is the gift of God, and not of a man's self, and he that has it, has eternal life, and shall, Or ever possess it; repentance is a free grace gift, it is a grant from the Lord, and it is unto life and salvation; and on whomsoever the grace of God is bestowed, so as to believe in Christ for righteousness, and truly repent of sin, these shall partake of eternal glory. It may be observed, that there is a just proportion between sin, and the wages of it, yet there is none between eternal life, and the obedience of men; and therefore though the apostle had been pressing so much obedience to God, and to righteousness, he does not make eternal life to be the fruit and effect of obedience, but of the gift of the grace of God. (a) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 4. (b) Jarchi & Bartenora in ib. Vid. Cohen de Lara, Ir. David, p. 17. (c) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 55. 1. Vajikra Rabba, parash. 37. fol. 176. 3. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 70. 4. Zohar in Gen. fol. 44. 4. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 115. 1. Next: Romans Chapter 7”

“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, even to the righteous, is το χαρισμα του Θεου, The gracious Gift of God. And even this gracious gift comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. He alone has procured it; and it is given to all those who find redemption in his blood. A sinner goes to hell because he deserves it; a righteous man goes to heaven because Christ has died for him, and communicated that grace by which his sin is pardoned and his soul made holy. The word οψωνια, which we here render wages, signified the daily pay of a Roman soldier. So every sinner has a daily pay, and this pay is death; he has misery because he sins. Sin constitutes hell; the sinner has a hell in his own bosom; all is confusion and disorder where God does not reign: every indulgence of sinful passions increases the disorder, and consequently the misery of a sinner. If men were as much in earnest to get their souls saved as they are to prepare them for perdition, heaven would be highly peopled, and devils would be their own companions. And will not the living lay this to heart? 1. In the preceding chapter we see the connection that subsists between the doctrines of the Gospel and the practice of Christianity. A doctrine is a teaching, instruction, or information concerning some truth that is to be believed, as essential to our salvation. But all teaching that comes from God, necessarily leads to him. That Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification, is a glorious doctrine of the Gospel. But this is of no use to him who does not die to sin, rise in the likeness of his resurrection, and walk in newness of life: this is the use that should be made of the doctrine. Every doctrine has its use, and the use of it consists in the practice founded on it. We hear there is a free pardon - we go to God and receive it; we hear that we may be made holy - we apply for the sanctifying Spirit; we hear there is a heaven of glory, into which the righteous alone shall enter - we watch and pray, believe, love, and obey, in order that, when he doth appear, we may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless. Those are the doctrines; these are the uses or practice founded on those doctrines. 2. It is strange that there should be found a person believing the whole Gospel system, and yet living in sin! Salvation From Sin is the long-continued sound, as it is the spirit and design, of the Gospel. Our Christian name, our baptismal covenant, our profession of faith in Christ, and avowed belief in his word, all call us to this: can it be said that we have any louder calls than these? Our self-interest, as it respects the happiness of a godly life, and the glories of eternal blessedness; the pains and wretchedness of a life of sin, leading to the worm that never dies and the fire that is not quenched; second most powerfully the above calls. Reader, lay these things to heart, and: answer this question to God; How shall I escape, if I neglect so great salvation? And then, as thy conscience shall answer, let thy mind and thy hands begin to act.”

“For the wages, which the tyrant sin gives to his soldiers and slaves, is eternal death; but the wages, the pay, the reward, which God gives to those that fight under him, is everlasting life; which, though a reward of our past labours, as it is often called in the Scriptures, is still a grace, [3] or free gift; because if our works are good, or deserve a reward in heaven, it is God’s grace that makes them deserve it. For, as St. Augustine says, when God crowns our works, he crowns his own gifts. (Witham)”

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through--"in" Jesus Christ our Lord--This concluding verse--as pointed as it is brief--contains the marrow, the most fine gold, of the Gospel. As the laborer is worthy of his hire, and feels it to be his due--his own of right--so is death the due of sin, the wages the sinner has well wrought for, his own. But "eternal life" is in no sense or degree the wages of our righteousness; we do nothing whatever to earn or become entitled to it, and never can: it is therefore, in the most absolute sense, "THE GIFT OF GOD." Grace reigns in the bestowal of it in every case, and that "in Jesus Christ our Lord," as the righteous Channel of it. In view of this, who that hath tasted that the Lord is gracious can refrain from saying, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen!" (Rev 1:5-6). Note, (1) As the most effectual refutation of the oft-repeated calumny, that the doctrine of Salvation by grace encourages to continue in sin, is the holy life of those who profess it, let such ever feel that the highest service they can render to that Grace which is all their hope, is to "yield themselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and their members instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom 6:12-13). By so doing they will "put to silence the ignorance of foolish men," secure their own peace, carry out the end of their calling, and give substantial glory to Him that loved them. (2) The fundamental principle of Gospel obedience is as original as it is divinely rational; that "we are set free from the law in order to keep it, and are brought graciously under servitude to the law in order to be free" (Rom 6:14-15, Rom 6:18). So long as we know no principle of obedience but the terrors of the law, which condemns all the breakers of it, and knows nothing whatever of grace, either to pardon the guilty or to purify the stained, we are shut up under a moral impossibility of genuine and acceptable obedience: whereas when Grace lifts us out of this state, and through union to a righteous Surety, brings us into a state of conscious reconciliation, and loving surrender of heart to a God of salvation, we immediately feel the glorious liberty to be holy, and the assurance that "Sin shall not have dominion over us" is as sweet to our renewed tastes and aspirations as the ground of it is felt to be firm, "because we are not under the Law, but under Grace." (3) As this most momentous of all transitions in the history of a man is wholly of God's free grace, the change should never be thought, spoken, or written of but with lively thanksgiving to Him who so loved us (Rom 6:17). (4) Christians, in the service of God, should emulate their former selves in the zeal and steadiness with which they served sin, and the length to which they went in it (Rom 6:19). (5) To stimulate this holy rivalry, let us often "look back to the rock whence we were hewn, the hole of the pit whence we were digged," in search of the enduring advantages and permanent satisfactions which the service of Sin yielded; and when we find to our "shame" only gall and wormwood, let us follow a godless life to its proper "end," until, finding ourselves in the territories of "death," we are fain to hasten back to survey the service of Righteousness, that new Master of all believers, and find Him leading us sweetly into abiding "holiness," and landing us at length in "everlasting life" (Rom 6:20-22). (6) Death and life are before all men who hear the Gospel: the one, the natural issue and proper reward of sin; the other, the absolutely free "GIFT OF GOD" to sinners, "in Jesus Christ our Lord." And as the one is the conscious sense of the hopeless loss of all blissful existence, so the other is the conscious possession and enjoyment of all that constitutes a rational creature's highest "life" for evermore (Rom 6:23). Ye that read or hear these words, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live!" (Deu 30:19). Next: Romans Chapter 7”