What scriptures discuss human sinfulness?
Which other scriptures discuss the inherent sinfulness of humanity?

Starting Point: Psalm 58:3 – Estranged from the Womb

“The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.”

• From the very beginning of life, Scripture testifies that the human heart is bent away from God.


Old Testament Witnesses

Genesis 6:5 – “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.”

Job 14:4 – “Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!”

Job 15:14-16 – “…What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? …man, who drinks iniquity like water!”

Psalm 51:5 – “Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.”

Psalm 130:3 – “If You, O LORD, kept a record of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?”

Proverbs 20:9 – “Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin’?”

Isaiah 53:6 – “We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.”

Jeremiah 13:23 – “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.”

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure—who can understand it?”


New Testament Confirmation

Matthew 15:19 – “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”

Romans 3:10-12 – “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one…’”

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.”

Romans 7:18 – “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.”

Ephesians 2:1-3 – “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…we were by nature children of wrath, just like the rest.”

Colossians 1:21 – “Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds because of your evil deeds.”

Titus 3:3 – “For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…”

1 John 1:8-10 – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves… If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”


A Consistent Thread Across Scripture

• From Genesis to Revelation, the testimony is unanimous: humanity’s problem is not merely external acts but an internal nature bent toward sin.

• The breadth of passages—historical, poetic, prophetic, gospel, and epistle—reveals a single storyline: every person needs rescue because every heart is corrupted from birth.


Implications for Our Walk Today

• Recognizing inherent sinfulness keeps us humble, dependent on grace rather than self-reliance.

• It magnifies the beauty of the gospel: Christ came precisely because we cannot cure ourselves (Romans 5:6-8).

• Awareness of this truth fuels compassion toward others—we all share the same need for redemption.

How can believers guard against deceitfulness mentioned in Psalm 58:3?
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