Romans 6:22
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Study Note
Study Note
Paul's description of the converted believer — 'now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life' — inverts the vocabulary of slavery to describe liberation. The rhetorical strategy of Romans 6 deploys the master-slave relationship as a way of showing that freedom from sin is not autonomy but reoriented servitude — to God and to righteousness (verse 18). The telos (end/result) vocabulary places sanctification in a teleological frame: it is not the goal itself but the path whose destination is eternal life, which is itself qualified as a gift (the 'free gift' of verse 23). The verse resists both antinomianism (grace without ethical transformation) and moralism (sanctification as earning eternal life) by holding them within a single sentence.
Other Translations
But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.
And now, having been freed from the sin, and having become servants to God, ye have your fruit--to sanctification, and the end life age-during;
But now, being free from sin, and having been made servants to God, you have your fruit in that which is holy, and the end is eternal life.
Cross References
So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for …
Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the …
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the …
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy …
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou …
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, …