Romans Chapter 6

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.^fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.^fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.^fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Dead to sin, Alive to the Anointed

(Parallel teachings: Col 2:12-13; Eph 2:5-7; Col 3:1-4)

• 1 Therefore, what will we say?  Should we continue in sin so that grace might abound?
• 2 May it never be!  How will we who died to sin still live in it?
• 3 Or do you not know that as many as were immersed into Jesus the Anointed were immersed into His death?
• 4 Therefore, we were buried with Him through immersion into death, so that just as the Anointed was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we might also walk in newness of life.
• 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection,
• 6 knowing this: that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be nullified, in order for us to no longer serve as slaves to sin.
• 7 For the man who died has been freed from sin.
• 8 And if we died with the Anointed, we believe that we will also live with Him,
• 9 *knowing that the Anointed, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies; death no longer has authority over Him.
• 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
• 11 And likewise, you must consider yourselves to be indeed dead to sin, but living to God in Jesus the Anointed, [our Lord].
• 12 Therefore, don’t let sin reign in your mortal body in order to obey its cravings,^fnMany later manuscripts read “…in order to obey [it in] its cravings”
• 13 nor be presenting your parts to sin as war equipment^fn“war equipment” is one word in Greek.  It refers to the various tools, implements, and weapons used to wage war.  The Greek word is “ὅπλον” (hoplon), which was one name for the large wooden shield from which the “Hoplites” in the ancient Grecian military got their name. of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as living from the dead, and your parts as war equipment^fn“war equipment” see previous note. of righteousness to God.
• 14 For sin won’t have authority over you, for you aren’t under the law, but under grace.

Sin into death, obedience into righteousness

(Parallel teachings: John 8:31-36; Gal 6:7-9)

• 15 What then, should we sin because we aren’t under the law but under grace?   May it never be!
• 16 Don’t you *know that whoever you present yourselves to as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to whoever you obey?  (Whether of sin resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness.) ^CFParallel teachings (that sin causes death): James 1:15; Romans 5:12, 6:23, 7:5, 7:13. See also 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 (death is God’s enemy, and He will defeat it).
• 17 But thanks be to God because while you were formerly slaves of sin, yet you became obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were delivered,
• 18 and having been freed from sin, you were enslaved to righteousness.
• 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.  For just as you presented your parts as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness resulting in more lawlessness, so now present your parts as slaves to righteousness resulting in becoming holy.
• 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.
• 21 Therefore, what fruit did you have then from the things of which you’re now ashamed?  For the end of those things is death.
• 22 But now, having been freed from sin and having been enslaved to God, you have your fruit resulting in becoming holy, and the end is the life of ages.^fn“of ages” this adjective is typically translated “eternal” here. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, 2000) such as a person’s lifetime, (e.g., John 8:35) an age/epoch (e.g., 1 Cor 8:13), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context usually dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9). Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen to communicate both senses.
• 23 For the wages of sin is death,^CFParallel teachings (that sin causes death): James 1:15; Romans 5:12, 6:16, 7:5, 7:13. See also 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 (death is God’s enemy, and He will defeat it). but God’s gift of grace is the life of ages^fn“of ages” see note on previous verse. in Jesus the Anointed, our Lord.

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