Romans 6:23 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

For the wages of sin is death “The word οψωνια, rendered wages, properly signifies the food and pay which generals give to their soldiers for their service. By using this term, the apostle shows what sort of pay the usurper, sin, gives to those who serve under his banners. Further, as the sin here spoken of is that which men commit personally, and which they continue in, the death which is the wages of this kind of sin must be death eternal. It is observable, that although in Scripture the expression, eternal life, is often to be met with, we nowhere find eternal joined with death. Yet the punishment of the wicked is said to be eternal. Matthew 25:46;” (Macknight;) as also in many other passages. But the gift of God Greek, χαρισμα, the free gift, or gift of grace; is eternal life Or, eternal life is the free gift of God. “The apostle does not call everlasting life οψωνια, the wages which God gives to his servants, because they do not merit it by their services, as the slaves of sin merit death by theirs: but he calls it a free gift, or gift of grace; or, as Estius would render the expression, a donative; because, being freely bestowed, it may be compared to the donatives which the Roman generals, of their own good- will, bestowed on their soldiers as a mark of their favour.” We may now see the apostle's method thus far: 1st, Bondage to sin, Romans 3:9. 2d, The knowledge of sin by the law, a sense of God's wrath, inward death, Romans 3:20. 3d, The revelation of the righteousness of God in Christ, through the gospel, Romans 3:21. 4th, The centre of all faith, embracing that righteousness, Romans 3:22. 5th, Justification, whereby God forgives all past sin, and freely accepts the sinner, Romans 3:24. 6th, The gift of the Holy Ghost, a sense of God's love, new inward life, Romans 5:5; Romans 6:4. 7th, The free service of righteousness, Romans 6:23.