Romans 6:16 (LSB)

Passage

Do you not know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Nearby Context

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you go on presenting yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were given over,

Romans 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "presenting", "yourselves", "someone", "slaves", "obedience", "obey", and "either". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "presenting" and "yourselves", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "What then Shall we sin because we..." into verse 17's "But thanks be to God that though...", so "presenting" and "yourselves" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "presenting" and "yourselves" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.