What does it mean that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)?

from the old testament

• When God created Adam, He warned him not to eat of a particular tree or else he would die (Genesis 2:17). Later, when Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate, God cursed all of creation and humanity with corruption and death (Genesis 3:14–19). From that moment on, everyone is corrupted (Psalm 14:3), born already sinful (Psalm 51:5). That means that everyone will eventually die (Ezekiel 18:4). That is humanity’s wage (just payment) for our rebellion against God.
• Note that God was not merely talking about physical death. While all will die, there will be a resurrection with “those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Those who are raised to “everlasting contempt” are later said to be those whose judgment is the second death (Revelation 20:14–15). Therefore, sin results in both physical and eternal death.

from the new testament

• In Romans, Paul explains that one cannot earn salvation through obedience to the Mosaic Law (i.e., Romans 3:27–28), which the Jewish Christians were tempted to do. Instead, quoting several Old Testament passages, he showed them that everyone is sinful (Romans 3:10–18). Therefore, “by works of the law no human being will be justified in [God’s] sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). No one is saved (justified) by works.
• In Romans 4, Paul explained that salvation comes through faith like that of Abraham (Romans 4:1–5); then, in Romans 5, he reminded them that all die because Adam sinned (Romans 5:12).
• Then in Romans 6, he asked the rhetorical question, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1). Of course, the answer is no, and he unpacks the fact that believers are united to Christ in His death, meaning set free from sin (Romans 6:2–7). Therefore, we must not allow sin to reign in our bodies (Romans 6:12–14).
• This leads to the passage containing Romans 6:23, Romans 6:15–23. It opens with another rhetorical question, “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?” (Romans 6:15). Again, the answer is no. He then uses an illustration about slaves and masters. A master demands obedience, and a slave must obey.
• Unbelievers are slaves to sin, who is their master. Because they are slaves, they are unable to do anything that pleases God (cf. Romans 8:7–8). Conversely, a believer has been freed from sin and now becomes a bondservant to God (Romans 6:22). That means he or she can live for righteousness. Paul argued that for a believer to sin willfully is like placing themselves back into bondage under their old master, sin (Romans 6:16). It’s illogical!
• He then praises God because He changed their hearts so they could obey God (Romans 6:17), exhorting the believers to obey by saying, “just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (Romans 6:19b).
• Romans 6:23 is Paul’s summary statement of the two different ends of the two different forms of slavery. The unbeliever, the one enslaved to sin, will be paid with death. Paul intentionally uses the word “wages” to continue his slave-master analogy. Slavery in the first century was different than how we think of it today, with slaves potentially receiving compensation for their work. Paul was saying that just like a slave gets “wages” from his master, unbelievers also get their earned payment of death from their master, sin (Romans 6:21).
• Note that by “death,” Paul was referring primarily to spiritual, eternal death (notice it contrasts with “eternal life” in the second half of the verse). Certainly, physical death comes from our sin, but Paul’s argument is about salvation from God’s eternal wrath (Romans 5:9), not salvation from physical death.
• In the second half of Romans 6:23, Paul then notes that the believer, in contrast to the unbeliever, doesn’t receive the due wages of sin. Instead, he or she receives the gift of salvation through Jesus. Earlier in Romans Paul explained that Jesus was a “propitiation,” a sacrifice which appeased the wrath of God (Romans 3:25). That means that Jesus died to receive the “wages” of repentant men and women in Himself as if He was the one who sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because Jesus already “earned” those wages, there is nothing left to pay. The salvation that comes from believing in Him is thus a gift. Another term for “salvation” is “eternal life.”

implications for today

From the moment we were born, we all clocked in and have been working for the same wage: death. That is our earned judgment for a lifetime of rebellion against our Creator. Not just our physical death, but what Scripture called the “second death” (Revelation 20:14), which is eternity in the lake of fire, God’s burning wrath.

However, though we deserve our coming wages, God has provided an escape. That is His Son, Jesus. Jesus, being fully God, took on a human nature to be born and live like us except without sinning even once (Hebrews 4:15). Because Jesus never sinned in word, thought, or deed, He did not have to die. However, He chose to do so to pay the wages owed to repentant men and women.

Jesus didn’t stay dead but resurrected on the third day, proving that He had satisfied God’s wrath and defeated sin and death for all eternity (1 Corinthians 15:20–22). Now, everyone who repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus will be saved (Acts 16:31).

This does not mean that believers will avoid physical death. That was God’s general judgment against all of creation: everything dies. However, after death, believers will be resurrected (1 Thessalonians 4:16), given new immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53), be perfect like Jesus (1 John 3:2), and have eternal life (John 3:16)!

Will you receive the wage you’ve earned, or trust the One who already paid it in full?