Bible Strands
Romans 6:12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses Roman believers in the middle of a baptismal argument (Rom 6:1–14), having just told them to count themselves dead to sin and alive to God (v. 11). This verse is the immediate practical consequence of that identity.
The words — βασιλεύω (basileuō), present imperative "let it reign," borrows the language of kingship and applies it to sin as an active ruler over the body. θνητόν (thnētōn), "mortal," marks the body as the specific domain where that reign would take hold.
The thread — The same refusal-to-gratify pattern appears in Galatians 5:16 ("you will not gratify the desires of the flesh") and Romans 8:13 ("put to death the deeds of the body"); Romans 6:16 frames the underlying principle as slavery to whichever master one obeys.
Why it lands — It is a direct command, not a description of a future state: the reader must actively refuse sin's authority over the body rather than assume the union with Christ in v. 11 handles it automatically.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Cross-references
- Galatians 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?
- Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 2 Timothy 2:22 Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Psalms 19:13 Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression.
- 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- 2 Corinthians 4:11 For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal body.
- Romans 2:8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.