Adult Sunday School Bible Study
Our Need for Salvation
Romans 1:18–32 and Romans 3:9–20
Scripture: King James Version
Introduction: Why Do We Need Salvation?
Before we can fully appreciate the good news of salvation,
we must understand the condition from which we need to be saved.
The apostle Paul does not begin by telling people how wonderful
they are. He begins by explaining the seriousness of sin
and humanity’s accountability before a holy God.
In Romans 1, Paul addresses the rejection of God’s truth
and the consequences of that rejection.
In Romans 2, he challenges those who judge other people
while failing to recognize their own sins.
By Romans 3, Paul brings everyone to the same conclusion:
all humanity needs the grace of God.
The gospel is not the announcement that some people are
better than others. It is the good news that Jesus Christ
came to save sinners.
Why is it sometimes easier to recognize sin in someone
else’s life than to recognize our own need for God’s mercy?
Point 1: Reasons for God’s Wrath
Romans 1:18–23
A. Ungodliness and the Suppression of Truth
Romans 1:18–19 (KJV)
18.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth
in unrighteousness;
19.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them;
for God hath shewed it unto them.
What Is the Wrath of God?
God’s wrath is His righteous opposition to evil.
It is not an uncontrolled temper or an emotional outburst.
God is holy, just, and loving. Because He is holy,
He cannot treat evil as though it does not matter.
Paul identifies both ungodliness and unrighteousness.
Ungodliness concerns our relationship with God,
while unrighteousness concerns conduct that violates His ways.
What Does It Mean to Hold the Truth in Unrighteousness?
The Greek word translated “hold” is katechō.
In this context, it means to hold down or suppress.
Paul is describing people who resist the truth
rather than responding to it.
Imagine trying to hold a beach ball underwater.
The ball naturally pushes toward the surface,
but you continually press it down.
That illustrates what happens when someone recognizes
a truth about God but refuses to let that truth
influence their life.
Knowing what God says is not the same as surrendering
to what God says.
We can know that forgiveness is right and still hold on
to bitterness.
We can know that honesty is right and still choose deception.
We can know that God deserves first place and still allow
other things to control our hearts.
What are some ways Christians can suppress God’s truth
in everyday life, even while attending church?
B. Creation Reveals the Creator
Romans 1:20 (KJV)
20.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without excuse:
We cannot physically see God’s eternal power,
but we can see evidence of His power in what He has made.
The heavens, the earth, the order of creation,
and the complexity of life all point beyond themselves
to the Creator.
This is sometimes called general revelation.
Creation reveals something true about God,
although it does not explain the complete gospel
of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Psalm 19:1 (KJV)
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
sheweth his handywork.
Paul says humanity is without excuse because God’s creation
gives testimony to His existence and power.
Creation should lead us to worship the Creator,
not the things He created.
C. The Danger of Failing to Glorify God
Romans 1:21–23 (KJV)
21.
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not
as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23.
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an
image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
They Glorified Him Not as God
The problem was not merely a lack of information.
It was a refusal to give God the honor He deserved.
Paul also mentions that they were not thankful.
Ingratitude can reveal a heart that has forgotten
its dependence on God.
When we stop recognizing God as the source of our blessings,
we can begin to believe that everything we possess
exists because of our own ability.
Professing Themselves to Be Wise
Intelligence and wisdom are not always the same thing.
A person can be highly educated and still make spiritually
foolish decisions.
True wisdom begins with reverence for God.
Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Modern-Day Idolatry
Paul describes people exchanging the glory of the
incorruptible God for images of created things.
But idolatry is not limited to bowing before a statue.
Anything that receives the devotion, trust, or authority
that belongs to God can become an idol.
Money, possessions, popularity, relationships,
personal success, and even religious activities
can take a place in our hearts that belongs to God alone.
We can even become so attached to a particular preacher,
ministry, song, or spiritual experience that we begin
focusing more on the gift than on the Giver.
A Biblical Example: The Bronze Serpent
In Numbers 21, God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent.
Those who looked upon it in faith were healed.
But generations later, the people were burning incense
to that same object.
In 2 Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah destroyed it because
something God had once used had become an object of worship.
The problem is not necessarily what we possess.
It is what possesses our hearts.
Can something that originally helped us grow spiritually
eventually become a distraction from God?
Point 2: The Conditions of Godlessness
Romans 1:24–32
A. The Consequences of Rejecting God
Romans 1:24–25 (KJV)
24.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through
the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own
bodies between themselves:
25.
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped
and served the creature more than the Creator,
who is blessed for ever. Amen.
What Does “God Gave Them Up” Mean?
The Greek word is paradidōmi,
meaning to hand over or give over.
Paul describes a sobering consequence of persistently
rejecting God’s truth.
God allows people to pursue the sinful desires
they have chosen, with the destructive consequences
that follow.
This is not the same as saying God causes people to sin.
It describes judgment in which God gives people over
to the path they insist upon taking.
The Prodigal Son
In Luke 15, the younger son demanded his inheritance
and left his father’s house.
The father allowed him to go.
The son eventually experienced the consequences
of his decisions.
Yet when he returned, his father received him with compassion.
This parable reminds us of both the seriousness
of rebellion and the mercy available to the repentant.
One of the most dangerous places a person can reach
is becoming comfortable with what once convicted them.
Changing the Truth of God Into a Lie
Paul describes a terrible exchange.
People exchanged God’s truth for a lie
and worshiped creation rather than the Creator.
Sin often begins by changing what we believe
about God and His authority.
When truth becomes negotiable, obedience soon becomes optional.
B. Sinful Desires and God’s Created Order
Romans 1:26–27 (KJV)
26.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:
for even their women did change the natural use
into that which is against nature:
27.
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use
of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another;
men with men working that which is unseemly,
and receiving in themselves that recompence
of their error which was meet.
These verses address sexual behavior as part of Paul’s
larger discussion of humanity’s rejection of God’s order.
Christians who hold the traditional understanding
of biblical sexual ethics read this passage as teaching
that sexual relationships belong within God’s design
for marriage between a man and a woman.
Christians differ in their interpretation of these verses.
But regardless of those differences, the passage must
never become an excuse for hatred, mockery,
bullying, or cruelty toward another person.
Every person is made in God’s image and should be treated
with dignity, compassion, and love.
And Paul’s argument does not stop here.
He will go on to confront pride, gossip, deceit,
greed, disobedience, and a lack of mercy.
Then he will declare that everyone has sinned.
We cannot use a passage about humanity’s need for grace
as a reason to withhold grace and compassion from others.
Romans 1 is not permission for Christians
to feel morally superior.
It is part of Paul’s argument that all people
need redemption through Jesus Christ.
C. The Reprobate Mind
Romans 1:28 (KJV)
28.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind,
to do those things which are not convenient;
The Greek word translated “reprobate” is
adokimos, meaning unapproved,
unfit, or failing the test.
Paul connects their refusal to acknowledge God
with a mind that no longer judges things rightly.
Sin does not merely affect outward behavior.
It can distort the way a person thinks.
Things that once seemed wrong may begin to seem normal.
What once produced conviction may eventually
produce little concern.
The more we resist God’s truth, the easier it becomes
to justify what God has warned us against.
D. The Sins Paul Lists
Romans 1:29–32 (KJV)
29.
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity;
whisperers,
30.
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents,
31.
Without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32.
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which
commit such things are worthy of death,
not only do the same, but have pleasure
in them that do them.
What Do These Sins Mean?
Notice that Paul’s list includes sins that people
often consider extremely serious alongside attitudes
and behaviors that may be common in everyday life.
- Unrighteousness: Wrongdoing.
- Fornication: Sexual immorality.
- Wickedness: Evil conduct.
- Covetousness: Greedy desire.
- Maliciousness: Desire to harm.
- Envy: Resentful jealousy.
- Murder: Unlawful killing.
- Debate: Strife and quarrelling.
- Deceit: Dishonesty.
- Malignity: Ill will.
- Whisperers: Secret gossipers.
- Backbiters: Slanderers.
- Haters of God: Hostile toward God.
- Despiteful: Insolent and spiteful.
- Proud: Arrogant.
- Boasters: Self-exalting.
- Inventors of evil things: Creative wrongdoing.
- Disobedient to parents: Rebellious disobedience.
- Without understanding: Morally senseless.
- Covenantbreakers: Breaking commitments.
- Without natural affection: Lacking family affection.
- Implacable: Unwilling to reconcile.
- Unmerciful: Without compassion.
Why Is This List So Important?
Someone may read the beginning of Romans 1
and immediately think of other people’s sins.
But when Paul begins listing gossip, pride,
envy, deceit, bitterness, and a lack of mercy,
the passage becomes much more personal.
Consider gossip.
Sometimes gossip is disguised as concern.
Someone might share private information
under the excuse of asking others to pray.
Prayer is holy, but we must be careful not to use
a prayer request as an excuse to spread information
that does not belong to us.
Consider pride.
Pride may not always announce itself openly.
Sometimes it appears when we refuse correction,
look down on someone else’s struggles,
or believe we have outgrown the need for repentance.
Consider being unmerciful.
We may want God to show patience toward our failures
while being unwilling to extend patience
to someone who has disappointed us.
Paul’s list leaves no room for spiritual superiority.
The sins may look different, but every person needs
the cleansing and transforming grace of God.
Approving What God Calls Sin
In verse 32, Paul goes beyond committing sinful acts.
He also addresses taking pleasure in or approving
others who practice them.
This reminds us that our influence matters.
We should not encourage behavior that destroys people
or separates them from God’s ways.
Yet we must distinguish between loving a person
and approving every decision that person makes.
Jesus demonstrated that it is possible
to speak truth while extending compassion.
Which sins on Paul’s list are most easily overlooked
or excused in modern church culture?
Point 3: The Depth of Human Depravity
Romans 3:9–20
A. Universal Sinfulness
Romans 3:9–11 (KJV)
9.
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise:
for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles,
that they are all under sin;
10.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11.
There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God.
Romans 3:9–11 Explained
Paul teaches that everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike,
is under sin, regardless of religious background
or how good they believe themselves to be.
No one possesses the perfect righteousness
needed to earn salvation.
Sin has affected humanity’s understanding,
desires, and relationship with God.
We all stand on equal ground before God,
needing His mercy and grace.
Does Religious Heritage Make Us Righteous?
The Jewish people had received God’s Law,
His promises, and a remarkable spiritual heritage.
Yet Paul makes clear that having religious knowledge
does not automatically make someone righteous.
The same principle applies today.
Someone may have grown up in church,
memorized Scripture, and attended services for years.
Those things can be valuable,
but they cannot replace personal faith in Jesus Christ.
Being around holy things does not automatically
make a person holy.
The Drowning Illustration
Imagine two people drowning in deep water.
One is wearing expensive clothing.
The other is wearing old, worn-out clothing.
Does the expensive clothing make the first person
any less in need of rescue?
Of course not.
In the same way, outward advantages cannot rescue
a person from the power of sin.
There Is None Righteous
Paul does not mean that nobody ever performs
an act of kindness or makes a good decision.
He means that nobody can claim perfect righteousness
before God on the basis of personal goodness.
Imagine a test that requires a perfect score to pass.
One person scores 95 percent.
Another scores 75 percent.
Another scores 20 percent.
One person performed better than the others,
but nobody met the required standard.
We may compare ourselves with other people,
but other people are not God’s standard of holiness.
There Is None That Seeketh After God
Paul describes humanity’s spiritual condition
apart from God’s grace.
Sin has affected not only our behavior
but also our understanding and desires.
This does not mean people never express
an interest in religion.
It means that we need God’s gracious initiative
to bring us into a right relationship with Him.
John 6:44 (KJV)
No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up
at the last day.
Adam and Eve: Hiding From God
After Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3,
they hid from the presence of God.
But God came calling to Adam.
Genesis 3:9 (KJV)
And the LORD God called unto Adam,
and said unto him, Where art thou?
God was not asking because He had lost track of Adam.
His question confronted Adam with his condition.
Sin makes us hide, but God’s grace calls us
to come out of hiding.
Romans 3:12 (KJV)
12.
They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Romans 3:11–12 Explained
Sin has affected our understanding,
our desire to seek God, and the direction of our lives.
Humanity has turned away from God’s ways,
and no one can claim perfect goodness
or righteousness on their own.
Without God’s grace, we are spiritually lost
and unable to save ourselves.
Gone Out of the Way
Paul describes people leaving the right path.
This is more than making an occasional mistake.
It describes humanity’s deeper departure
from God’s righteous ways.
A person can be sincere and still be going
in the wrong direction.
Sincerity cannot substitute for truth.
What is the difference between trying to be a good person
and depending on Jesus Christ for salvation?
B. Corruption of Speech and Actions
Romans 3:13–15 (KJV)
13.
Their throat is an open sepulchre;
with their tongues they have used deceit;
the poison of asps is under their lips:
14.
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15.
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Our Words Reveal the Condition of the Heart
Paul uses powerful imagery to describe the corruption
that sin produces in human speech.
An open sepulchre is an open tomb,
an image associated with death and corruption.
He also compares harmful speech to the poison
of a serpent.
Words can deceive, poison relationships,
destroy reputations, and deeply wound others.
Not every person commits every sin Paul names.
His larger point is that sin affects the whole
human condition, including what we say and do.
Romans 3:14–15 Explained
Sin affects both our words and our actions.
A mouth filled with bitterness and cursing reveals
what is happening in the heart, while feet swift
to shed blood show how sinful desires can lead
to destructive behavior.
When the heart is not surrendered to God,
our words can wound people and our actions
can destroy lives.
A Practical Example
Think about how quickly an angry comment
can turn into an argument.
One harsh statement may lead to another.
Resentment can grow into bitterness.
Bitterness can grow into hatred.
Paul’s description of violence shows the terrible
consequences that sinful hostility can produce.
Sin is not merely something we do with our hands.
It can come through our mouths, our attitudes,
and the intentions of our hearts.
Romans 3:16–18 (KJV)
16.
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17.
And the way of peace have they not known:
18.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Destruction and Misery
Sin promises freedom but often produces bondage.
It may promise satisfaction while bringing regret.
It may promise power while destroying relationships.
It may promise pleasure while leaving behind
pain and emptiness.
The Way of Peace Have They Not Known
Humanity desperately desires peace,
but sin continually damages peace
with God and with other people.
True peace is more than the absence of conflict.
It begins with reconciliation to God.
There Is No Fear of God Before Their Eyes
The fear of the Lord is a holy reverence,
awe, and respect for God’s holiness and authority.
It means taking God seriously.
When people lose their reverence for God,
they may begin treating His commands
as though they carry no importance.
When we lose our reverence for God,
it becomes easier to excuse the things
that separate us from Him.
How does a healthy fear of the Lord affect
our conversations, decisions, and relationships?
C. The Law Reveals Our Need for Salvation
Romans 3:19–20 (KJV)
19.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law:
that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God.
20.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight: for by the law
is the knowledge of sin.
That Every Mouth May Be Stopped
Imagine standing in a courtroom.
The evidence has been presented.
The truth has been established.
There are no excuses left to offer.
That is the picture Paul gives us.
God’s Law exposes sin and silences
every claim of self-righteousness.
Both Jews and Gentiles are accountable before God.
Can Keeping the Law Save Us?
Paul says that no flesh will be justified
by the deeds of the Law.
God’s Law reveals His righteous standard,
but our attempts to keep it cannot erase
the guilt of sins we have already committed.
The Mirror Illustration
Imagine looking into a mirror and discovering
that your face is dirty.
The mirror shows you the problem.
But the mirror cannot wash your face.
In the same way, God’s Law reveals our sin,
but it is not the means by which
our guilt is washed away.
We need the saving work of Jesus Christ.
The Law reveals the problem.
Jesus Christ provides the salvation
we cannot earn for ourselves.
The Good News: Jesus Came to Save Us
After reading Romans 1 and Romans 3,
we might feel the weight of humanity’s sin.
And that is part of Paul’s purpose.
We must understand our need before
we can fully appreciate God’s provision.
But Paul’s message does not end with guilt.
It points us toward the righteousness
and mercy available through Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:23 (KJV)
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Every one of us has sinned.
The person raised in church needs salvation.
The person who has never attended church
needs salvation.
The person with a respectable reputation
needs salvation.
And the person whose life has been devastated
by sinful decisions needs salvation.
None of us can boast that we saved ourselves.
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
What a beautiful truth.
God did not wait until we became perfect
before demonstrating His love.
Christ died for us while we were sinners.
Ephesians 2:8–9 (KJV)
8.
For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
9.
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Salvation is not a trophy awarded
to the person who behaves the best.
It is a gift of God’s grace received through faith.
This should produce humility rather than pride,
gratitude rather than entitlement,
and compassion rather than condemnation.
Final Reflection
Romans 1 shows us what happens
when humanity rejects God’s truth.
Romans 3 shows us that the problem of sin
is universal.
Together, these passages remind us
that salvation is not merely for people
we consider especially sinful.
Salvation is for all of us.
We are not saved because we are good enough.
We are saved by the grace of God
through faith in Jesus Christ.
Am I allowing God’s Word to correct my life,
or am I making excuses for what I know is wrong?
Have I allowed pride to make me look down
on someone who struggles differently than I do?
Do my words, attitudes, and actions
reflect the transforming grace of Jesus Christ?
Am I trusting in my religious background
or good works instead of depending fully
on Jesus for salvation?
Closing Thought
The purpose of studying sin is not
to leave us feeling hopeless.
It is to show us how desperately
we need our Savior.
The deeper we understand the seriousness of sin,
the more precious God’s grace becomes.
The same God who reveals our need
has provided our salvation through Jesus Christ.