A Catalog of Vices

The judgment of God in abandoning man eventually leaves him wallowing in a cesspool of sin, regarding the bad as the best and the good as contemptuous. Paul here provides an extensive list of sins that characterize this sad state of existence, but it is by no means exhaustive—after all, most of the sins Paul lists here have to do with human relationships, not man’s relationship to God. This is a mere snapshot of “total depravity,” that state into which man plunged in his fall, becoming unrighteous in every aspect of his being. That is why Paul declares human beings are “filled” with these sins.

Dr. James M. Boice believes this catalog can be broken down into several sections:

Sins against the property and well-being of others. These include “unrighteousness” (literally “unjust”), “sexual immorality,” “wickedness” (a general term for evil), “covetousness” (or greed), and “maliciousness” (Boice: “deliberate wickedness that delights in doing other people harm”).

Sins against persons. Such transgressions include “envy” (jealousy), “murder” (not just the taking of life, Matt. 5:21–22), “strife” (Boice: “contention, quarreling, or wrangling”), “deceit” (“outright treachery by … words”), and “evil-mindedness” (“habitual evil”).

Sins centering on pride. This set includes “whisperers” (or gossips), “backbiters” (or slanderers), “haters of God” (Boice notes that this sin seems out of place and suggests it may have to do with slandering, or speaking against, God Himself), “violent” (or insolent), “proud” (or arrogant), and “boasters.”

Miscellaneous sins. Depraved people are “inventors of evil things” (that is, they are creative in finding ways to disobey God) and are “disobedient to parents.” Also, they are “undiscerning” (Boice: “without [moral] understanding), “untrustworthy” (or faithless, as in one who breaks an agreement), “unloving” (Boice: “without natural affection”), “unforgiving,” and “unmerciful” (or ruthless).

As Boice notes, this picture of human sin in the present is only a foretaste of what hell will be like. Paul is showing us the bad news of the depravity of the race. In time, however, he will turn to the contrasting glory of the Gospel that overcomes all our sin and shame.