Romans 6:11-15

6:11 So you too consider yourselves ¹  dead to sin, but ²  alive to God in Christ Jesus.

6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 6:13 and do not present your members to sin as instruments ³  to be used for unrighteousness, ⁴  but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments ⁵  to be used for righteousness. 6:14 For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

The Believer’s Enslavement to God’s Righteousness

6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!

[6:11]  ¹ tc ‡ Some Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì^94vid א* B C 81 365 1506 1739 1881 pc) have the infinitive “to be” (εἶναι, einai) following “yourselves”. The infinitive is lacking from some mss of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes (Ì^46vid A D*^,c F G 33^vid pc). The infinitive is found elsewhere in the majority of Byzantine mss, suggesting a scribal tendency toward clarification. The lack of infinitive best explains the rise of the other readings. The meaning of the passage is not significantly altered by inclusion or omission, but on internal grounds omission is more likely. NA²⁷ includes the infinitive in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[6:11]  ² tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[6:13]  ³ tn Or “weapons, tools.”

[6:13]  ⁴ tn Or “wickedness, injustice.”

[6:13]  ⁵ tn Or “weapons, tools.”