Romans 6.23-The Sin Nature Pays Out Spiritual Death But God Graciously Gives Eternal Life In The Person Of Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 7, 2008
Romans: Romans 6:23-The Sin Nature Pays Out Spiritual Death But God Graciously Gives Eternal Life In The Person Of Christ
Lesson # 206
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 6:15.
This evening we will complete our study of Romans chapter six by noting verse 23, which teaches that the wages of sin is spiritual death resulting in physical death and ultimately the second death in the eternal lake of fire but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:15-23, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 explains Paul’s statements that appear in Romans 6:21-22.
In verse 21, Paul teaches that serving the sin nature results in spiritual death whereas in verse 22 he teaches that serving God results in eternal life.
Then, in verse 23 he explains why this is the case, namely that the wages of sin is spiritual death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you notice in this passage, there are three contrasts that present three absolutes.
There is first the contrast between two masters, either sin is your master or God.
Then there is the contrast in results in serving sin versus God in that the former results in spiritual death resulting in physical and ultimately the second death whereas the latter results in eternal life.
Lastly, there is the contrast between the means by which these results are arrived at in that the penalty of sin, spiritual death is merited whereas eternal life is not merited since it is received as a gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ.
“The wages” is the noun opsonion (o)ywvnion) (op-so-nee-on), which signifies a transfer of imagery from that of slavery to that of a general paying his soldiers wages since this is how it is used in classical Greek literature, the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament.
The word personifies the sin nature as a general who pays off his soldiers.
The idea behind it in verse 23 is that the wages that sin pays out is spiritual death, which eventuates in physical death and ultimately, the second death, i.e. eternal condemnation in the lake of fire.
The wages of sin is set in contrast with the gift of God, which is eternal life.
Sin promises life but produces death, thus it deceives (See Romans 7:11).
This term opsonion also denotes that spiritual death is merited.
“Of sin” is the noun hamartia (a(martiva) (ham-ar-tee-ah), which refers again to the sin nature and as we noted earlier, it is being personified as a general paying out wages to his soldiers.
The noun hamartia functions as a “subjective genitive” meaning that it is functioning semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun opsonion, “the wages.”
This is indicated in that we can convert the verbal noun opsonion into a verbal form such as “pays out” and turn hamartia into its subject.
Therefore, the passage would read, “the sin nature pays out death.”
“Death” is the noun thanatos (qavnato$) (than-at-os), which refers to real spiritual death.
Although, thanatos is used of spiritual death, we must be aware of the fact that spiritual death also resulted in three other categories of death: (1) Physical death is the separation of the human soul (and in the case of the believer, the human spirit also) from the body (Matt. 8:22; Rom. 8:38-39; 2 Cor. 5:1-8; Phil. 1:20-21; 2:27, 30). (2) Second death is the perpetuation of spiritual death into eternity or eternal separation from God and it is the final judgment of the unbelievers in the human race and fallen angels whereby they are cast in the Lake of Fire (Matt. 25:41; Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20:12-15). (3) Unique voluntary substitutionary spiritual death of the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union on the cross (Matt. 27:45-46; Mark 15:34; Phlp. 2:8; Hb. 2:9, 14).
The problem of “real spiritual death” is resolved when God gives life to those members of the human race who exercise faith alone in Christ alone (John 3:16-18).
The fact that the noun thanatos in Romans 6:23 is referring to “real spiritual death” rather than “physical death” is indicated in that spiritual death is the root problem of the human race in relation to a holy God and not physical death since the spiritual death of Adam resulted in his physical death.
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces a statement that presents a contrast with Paul’s previous statement in verse 23 that the sin nature pays out death.
This word introduces a statement that presents the contrast with serving the sin nature, namely serving God.
This statement also presents the contrast with spiritual death, namely eternal life.
Lastly, it presents the contrast with the fact that spiritual death is merited by stating that eternal life is not merited.
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“The free gift” is the noun charisma (xavrisma) (khar-is-mah), which refers to the free gift of eternal life that is given to the sinner who trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
“Eternal life” does not simply emphasize that it is a life that never ends but it is also a particular quality of life.
It is a life in which the believer has knowledge of the Trinity in an experiential sense of personally encountering them through the process of fellowship as They are revealed in the pages of Scripture and prayer by God the Holy Spirit.
It also involves being affected by this encounter with the Trinity resulting in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
“Of God” is the noun theos (qeov$), which refers to God the Father since He is the member of the Trinity who the Bible teaches gave the gift of eternal life in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ to unregenerate mankind for their salvation.
The word as we noted earlier is functioning as a “subjective genitive” meaning that it is functioning semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun charisma, “the free and gracious gift.”
This is indicated in that we can convert the verbal noun charisma into a verbal form such as charizomai, “to give graciously” and turn theos into its subject.
Therefore, the passage would read, “God the Father gives graciously eternal life.”
“In Christ Jesus” indicates that eternal life is located in the Person of Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”
1 John 5:11-12, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”