John Calvin Commentary Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Romans 6:23 (ASV)

For the wages of sin, etc. Some think that Paul, by comparing death to allowances of meat (obsoniis), disparagingly points out the kind of wretched reward that is given to sinners, since this word is sometimes used by the Greeks for portions given to soldiers. But he seems rather to indirectly condemn the blind appetites of those who are destructively lured by the enticements of sin, as fish are by the hook.

However, it will be simpler to translate the word “wages,” for surely death is a sufficiently ample reward for the wicked. This verse is a conclusion to the former and, as it were, an epilogue to it. He does not, however, repeat the same thing again in vain; but by doubling the terror, he intended to make sin an object of even greater hatred.

But the gift of God. Those who translate the sentence as, “Eternal life is the gift of God,” as if eternal life were the subject and the gift of God the predicate, are mistaken; for this does not preserve the contrast. But as he has already taught us that sin produces nothing but death, so now he adds that this gift of God (namely, our justification and sanctification) brings to us the happiness of eternal life. Or, if you prefer, it may be stated this way — “As the cause of death is sin, so righteousness, which we obtain through Christ, restores eternal life to us.”

However, it may be inferred from this with certainty that our salvation is entirely through the grace and pure beneficence of God. He might indeed have used other words — that the wages of righteousness is eternal life, and then the two clauses would correspond. But he knew that we obtain it through God’s gift, and not through our own merits, and that it is not one single gift; for, being clothed with the righteousness of the Son, we are reconciled to God, and we are by the power of the Spirit renewed to holiness. And he adds, in Christ Jesus, for this reason: that he might call us away from every conceit regarding our own worthiness.