Romans 1:29-31

‘Being filled with all unrighteousness: wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, breakers of agreements, without natural affection, unmerciful,'

The consequence of their being given up to an unfit mind was that they were ‘filled with all unrighteousness', the unrighteousness of Romans 1:18. Instead of coming to God in faith and experiencing the righteousness of God they were ‘filled with all unrighteousness'. the unrighteousness of man. And we are now given a long list of the sins into which their unfitness took them. Such lists were a typical feature of the times in the philosophical world.

The first in the list is ‘wickedness' (poneria). This word refers to those whose waywardness expresses itself in deliberately hurting others. It has in mind the desire to do harm to people, either by corrupting them or by doing violence to them. Next in the list is ‘covetousness - the lust to obtain' (pleonexia). The Greek word is built up of two words which mean to ‘have more'. Such people are out to get what they can for themselves, often without regard for the rights of others. ‘Maliciousness' (kakia). Kakia is the common Greek word for general ‘badness'. It describes the case of a man who is destitute of every quality which would make him good. It has in mind ‘the degeneracy out of which all sins grow and in which all sins flourish'. ‘Full of envy' (phthonos). This kind of envy grudges everything to everyone. Such a person resents those who achieve what he cannot. He resents those who work hard and build up wealth, while he cannot be bothered to stir himself. So the emphasis in the first four words is very much on man's behaviour and attitude towards his fellow-man.

‘Murder' (phonos). We must remember that Jesus gave this word new meaning. It refers not only to the murderer, but also to the hater, and to the one who rages in his mind. ‘Strife' (eris). What is in mind here is the contention which is born of envy, of ambition, of a desire for prestige and prominence. It always wants the best for itself and fights for what it wants regardless of others. ‘Deceit' (dolos). The verb from which this comes is used of debasing precious metals and adulterating wines. It refers to the person who will happily use deceit to get his own way, the confidence trickster, the rogue builder, the dishonest salesman, the cheat. ‘Malignity' (kakoetheia) has in mind having the spirit which puts the worst construction on everything. It means literally being evil-natured, having the spirit which always sees the worst in other people and interprets things in the worst way. It is the prime sin of the gossiper who destroys people behind their backs. ‘Whisperers and backbiters' (psithuristes, and katalalos). These two words both describe people with slanderous tongues, but there is a difference between them. Psithuristes describes the man who whispers his malicious stories in the ear of anyone who will listen, who takes someone into a corner and passes on a character-destroying story. Katalalos, on the other hand, describes the man who shouts his slanders abroad, making his accusations quite openly. Again the emphasis in these words is on tendencies within man which make him behave as he does.

‘Haters of God' (theostugeis). This describes the man who hates God because he is aware that he himself is living in defiance of Him. He sees God as interfering between himself and his pleasures, as the One Who wants to prevent him from doing what he wants. He would gladly eliminate God if he could, for to him the best world would be a godless one where everyone could do what they wanted (although he does not think of what the consequences of that would be). ‘Insolent' (hubristes). Hubris refers to the pride that defies God, and to thoughtless arrogance. It has in mind the person who is sadistically cruel, and enjoys hurting just for the sake of hurting. It refers to the person who is so sure of himself that he has little regard for others. ‘Haughty, arrogant' (huperephanos). This is the word which is used when we read that ‘God resists the proud' (Jas 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Proverbs 3:34). Such a person has a contempt for everyone except himself. His whole life is lived in an atmosphere of contempt for others and he delights to make others feel small. ‘Boastful.' (alazon). Alazon literally means ‘one who wanders about'. It then became the stock word for wandering quacks who boasted of cures that they had achieved, and for salesmen who boasted that their wares had an excellence which they were far from possessing. The Greeks defined alazoneia as the spirit which pretends to have what it has not. It has in mind the kind of man who boasts of deals which exist only in his imagination, of connections with influential people which do not exist at all, and of gifts to charities which he never actually gave. He constantly says that his house is really too small for him, and that he must buy a bigger one. His sole aim is to impress others.

‘Inventors of evil things' (epheuretes kakon). This phrase describes the man who is not content with the usual, ordinary ways of sinning, but seeks out new vices because he has grown blase and is looking for a new thrill from some new sin. He continues to sink lower and lower. ‘Disobedient to parents (goneusin apeitheis). Both Jews and Romans set obedience to parents very high on the scale of virtues. Parents were seen very much as the first level of authority, controlling the waywardness of mankind. The honouring of the authority of parents was one of the Ten Commandments, whilst in the early days of the Roman Republic, the patria potestas, the father's power, was seen as so absolute that he had the power of life and death over his family. It was important because once the bonds of the family are loosened, wholesale degeneracy necessarily follows. ‘Without understanding' (asunetos). This word has in mind the man who is unwise, who never learns the lesson of experience, and who will not use the mind and brain that God has given to him. ‘Breakers of agreements' (asunthetos). Here the idea is of someone whose word cannot be trusted. Whatever agreement you come to with them you can never be sure that they will fulfil their obligations.

‘Without natural affection' (astorgos). Storge was the special Greek word for family love. In Paul's day family love was on the wane. Children were often considered a misfortune. When a child was born, it was taken to its father and laid at his feet. If the father picked it up it meant that he acknowledged it. If he turned away and deserted it, the child was literally thrown out. No night passed without there being thirty or forty abandoned children left in the Roman forum. The natural bonds of human affection were being destroyed. And even in our society today children are regularly treated inhumanely. ‘Unmerciful' (aneleemon). At the time when Paul was writing human life was cheap. A slave could be killed or tortured by his master, for he was seen only as a piece of property and the law gave his master unlimited power over him. It was the age in which people found their delight in watching men kill each other at the gladiatorial games. Compassion was in short supply. In some parts of our country the same applies today. People are afraid to go out because of the gangs who roam the streets looking for trouble.

A perusal of this list will soon bring home to us sins of which each one of us is guilty to at least some extent. It is Paul's deliberate attempt to bring out the horror of sin in the world, and to establish that all men are sinners.