What-is-a-sinner
Short answer: In Scripture, a sinner is not simply a person who has done a few bad things. A sinner is a person whose life is bent away from God, whose heart is corrupt, and whose actions flow from that corruption. Romans 3:9-20 makes the diagnosis sweeping: Paul says Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, and he strings together Old Testament texts to prove that no one is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks after God. This is not a comment about especially wicked people. It is God's verdict on the human race. The Bible's answer to what a sinner is begins in Genesis 3 and runs through every page until Revelation. It is the reason the gospel is called good news at all.
Romans 3:9-20 Reads Like a Prosecuting Attorney
Paul does not begin with a gentle illustration. He begins with a courtroom. In Romans 3:9 he asks, What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. The word under is important. Sin is not just something people do; it is a condition people are in. The language is that of being held under authority, like a prisoner under a guard.
Then Paul does something a careful teacher should notice. He does not offer his own opinion. He gathers Scripture. He quotes from Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah, weaving them into a single indictment. This is the apostolic method: doctrine is not invented, it is exegeted. If we want to know what a sinner is, we should pay close attention to the passages Paul chose. Each one adds a layer to the portrait, and together they leave no one room to object.
The passage moves from the universal to the particular. First all are under sin. Then no one is righteous. Then no one understands. Then no one seeks God. Then the throat, the tongue, the lips, the mouth, the feet, the eyes. Paul is not saying every person commits every sin. He is saying sin has spread through the whole person, like a disease that has reached every organ. The diagnosis is total, not partial.
Sin Is Lawlessness, Not Just Bad Behavior
Many people define a sinner by a list of obvious sins. But 1 John 3:4 gives a definition that goes deeper: Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. That single sentence reframes the whole discussion. Sin is not measured by how bad we feel about it or how much damage it causes. It is measured against God's law, which is a transcript of God's own character.
This means a sinner can be morally respectable. A person can be kind, generous, honest in business, and still be a sinner, because the question is not whether they are better than their neighbor. The question is whether their life conforms to God's law, and whether their heart is turned toward God. Lawlessness is not merely breaking rules you dislike. It is living as though God's authority over you does not exist.
Paul makes the same point when he says in Romans 3:23, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. The standard is not human goodness. The standard is God's glory. Every person falls short of it, not by a small margin but completely. That is why the gospel is not advice to try harder. It is news of a righteousness that comes from outside of us.
The Heart Behind the Sinner's Actions
Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it? This verse is often quoted, and it deserves to be quoted carefully. The problem with sinners is not just that they do wrong things. It is that the source of their actions is corrupted. The heart, in biblical usage, is the center of a person's will, affections, and thinking. If the source is corrupt, the stream will be corrupt.
This is why behavior modification is not the same as repentance. A person can change their habits without changing their heart. They can stop one sin and begin another, often a more respectable one, like pride or self-righteousness. Jeremiah's point is that the heart is so deceitful that it can hide its own corruption from its owner. Who can know it? The answer, of course, is that God can, and he does.
This also explains why we so often misdiagnose ourselves. We compare ourselves to others and conclude we are basically fine. We measure ourselves by our worst days and find we are better than some. But God does not measure us that way. He looks at the heart, and the heart's default direction is away from him. That is what it means to be a sinner.
Born in Sin, Not Just Guilty of Sin
Psalm 51:5 says, Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin. David is not accusing his mother of immorality. He is confessing that his own sinfulness reaches back to his conception. He did not become a sinner by committing his first sin. He was a sinner from the beginning, and his sin with Bathsheba was the fruit of a root that was already there.
This is one of the most uncomfortable truths in Scripture, and it is widely debated among faithful Christians. Some believe this verse refers only to the sinful environment into which David was born. Others believe it teaches that human beings inherit a sinful nature from Adam, so that every person is born with a bent away from God. Whatever view one takes, the pastorally important point is that sin is not merely a series of bad choices added up over time. It is a condition.
That condition shows up early. No one has to teach a child to lie, grab, or retaliate. They have to be taught not to. This universal tendency is not a cultural accident. It is evidence of something wrong at the very core of our humanity. Scripture calls it sin, and it calls those who are under it sinners.
Dead in Sin Before We Ever Try to Fix It
Ephesians 2:1-3 uses even stronger language. Paul writes to believers and says, You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins. The verb turned on the tense: you were dead. This is not the language of sickness needing medicine. It is the language of death needing resurrection. A dead person cannot contribute to their own revival.
Paul goes on to describe how the dead walk: following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, living in the lusts of the flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind. The point is that being a sinner is not a neutral condition. It is active. It plays out in real life, in real desires, in real habits. And it leaves a person by nature a child of wrath, as Paul says in verse 3.
That phrase, by nature, is crucial. It means this is not something we picked up along the way. It is what we are. Before anyone fixes a sinner, the sinner must be made alive. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus that a person must be born again. The problem is not lack of information or lack of effort. The problem is death.
Are Some People Not Sinners?
Romans 3:9-20 answers this question directly. Paul anticipates the objection and responds before it is raised. He had just argued that being Jewish does not automatically make a person right with God. Having the law, being circumcised, belonging to the covenant community, all of that counts for nothing if the law is not kept. The outside does not clean up the inside.
The same applies to church attendance, baptism, family heritage, and moral reputation. None of these make a person not a sinner. In fact, Paul's argument in Romans is designed to close every mouth. If even the most religious person in the room is under sin, then no one has grounds for boasting. That includes the reader who grew up in a Christian home, who has never committed a scandalous sin, who has served in ministry for decades.
The only person who is not a sinner in Scripture is Jesus Christ. He is the exception that proves the rule. He was tempted in every way yet without sin, and his sinlessness is the foundation of his ability to save. If everyone were already righteous, there would be no need for a Savior. The universality of sin is what makes the gospel universal in its offer.
What the Diagnosis Is For
Romans 3 does not end at verse 20. Paul has a purpose in pressing the diagnosis so hard. He wants every mouth stopped and the whole world held accountable to God. That is the phrase he uses near the end of the passage. By the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The law is a mirror, not a cure.
This is why we should never preach the bad news without moving toward the good news. A person who understands that they are a sinner is ready to hear that Christ died for sinners. A person who thinks they are basically fine will see no need for a cross. The severity of the diagnosis matches the glory of the remedy.
If you are reading this and feel the weight of it, that is not a bad sign. That is the law doing its work. The next step is not to try harder on your own. The next step is to look to Christ, who received in himself the penalty that sinners deserve. Romans 3 goes on to describe a righteousness from God that comes through faith to all who believe, apart from works of the law.
Biblical fidelity check
Romans 3:9-20 establishes that all people, Jew and Gentile alike, are under sin and unable to become righteous by their own effort. It does not teach that every person is as wicked as they could possibly be. Theologians call this total depravity, but the phrase can mislead. It means sin has affected every part of us, not that every person is equally bad or incapable of doing relative good. The passage also does not teach that human beings stop being image bearers or lose all sense of morality.
A common misreading is to use this passage to say that human effort, kindness, and civic goodness are meaningless. That is not Paul's point. His point is that none of these can justify a person before God. Another misreading is to treat the passage as a description of a particular group of especially wicked people, as if Paul were talking about criminals or pagans. That is exactly the opposite of his argument. He is talking about everyone, including the most religious person in the room, which is why he insists there is no distinction.
Other passages that speak to Romans 3:9-20
The theme of the sinner runs throughout Scripture, and these studies trace it in different directions. The Jerusalem Sinner Saved: A Bible Study from John Bunyan’s Classic Sermon explores how Bunyan applied the gospel to the worst of sinners. What does Ephesians 6 teach about the armor of God? shows how the believer, though forgiven, still lives in a world of spiritual conflict. What does Jeremiah 29:11 mean in context? helps readers avoid treating one verse as a promise detached from its setting. And What does John 10:10 mean by abundant life? turns the diagnosis toward the life Christ gives to those who trust him.
Frequently asked questions
Does Romans 3:9-20 mean everyone is equally sinful?
No. The passage teaches that everyone is under sin and no one can be justified by their own works, but it does not say every person is as bad as they could be. Some people commit more visible and damaging sins than others, and some live relatively upright lives. The point is not that all sins are equal in consequence or severity. The point is that all people share the same fundamental problem: they have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and none can fix that on their own.
Is being a sinner the same as being a bad person?
Not in the way people usually mean it. In Scripture, a sinner is someone whose life is bent away from God and whose heart is corrupted by sin. That describes everyone, including people who are kind, generous, and morally serious. The category of sinner is not a description of the worst people. It is a description of the human race. A person can be a sinner and still do much good in the world, because sin is measured against God's glory, not against the person next door.
What should I do if I realize I am a sinner?
Paul's purpose in Romans 3 is to lead readers to the end of themselves, not to leave them there. The next step is not to try harder or to clean yourself up before coming to God. It is to look to Jesus Christ, who died for sinners and rose again. Romans 3 goes on to describe a righteousness from God that comes through faith in Christ to all who believe. Confess your sin honestly, trust Christ, and find a local church where you can learn and grow.
