Wickedness of the Heart

[Gen. 6:5, 8:21; Ecc. 9:3; Jer. 11:8, 17:9; Matt. 15:16-20; Mark 7:20-23; Rom. 1:29-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5,6; II Tim. 3:1-9; I Pet. 2:1]

¶ I think when we take a look at these passages, and realize what Lord Jesus said about serving sin in John 8:34, and likewise St. Paul in Romans Ch. 6, and other passages about us being "dead" in sins (cf. Matt. 8:22; Eph. 2:1, 5, 5:14; Col. 2:13; II Cor. 5:14; Rom. 5:12; Ezek. Ch. 37); and when you take into account the strength of sin, and the wretchedness thereof, and how utterly contrary it is to God's holiness: How can we not say that man is totally depraved?  cf. Is. 59:1-2, 64:6.

¶ Now consider the following table.  The Lord Jesus did not hide the facts, He's the God of truth, and He clearly shewed us that the heart of man is wicked to the core.  He laid it all out on the table, because that's where true healing begins: a good diagnosis by the Physician (cf. Matthew 9:12-13; Mark 2:17).  Now, these two lists from Saint Matthew's Gospel and Saint Mark's Gospel are not exactly the same (as you can see from the table); so by collecting the information from both Gospels we see a total of 14 dark sins that emerge from those nether recesses of the degenerate heart.  And it's meet that it be stated that all this wisdom comes to us from the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Col. 2:3), spoken by my Saviour's own lips, and preserved for us in the King James Bible.  Thus we have from each respective Gospel a list of evils in order of appearance…

List of sins from Matthew 15:19

List of sins from Mark 7:21-22
  1. "evil thoughts"
  1. "evil thoughts"
  1. "murders"
  1. "adulteries"
  1. "adulteries"
  1. "fornications"
  1. "fornications"
  1. "murders"
  1. "thefts"
  1. "Thefts"
  1. "false witness" †
  1. "covetousness" *
  1. "blasphemies"
  1. "wickedness" *

  1. "deceit" *

  1. "lasciviousness" *

  1. "an evil eye" *

  1. "blasphemies"

  1. "pride" *

  1. "foolishness" *

† Listed only in St. Matthew's Gospel.

* Listed only in St. Mark's Gospel.