Who are the wicked people in the Bible?

Short answer: Remember Joseph's words in Genesis 39:9 when when Potiphar's wife wanted a piece of him and he resisted: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

“The wicked people” anywhere are people who have sinned, be it by doing great wickedness or minimal wickedness. Sin does have degrees of greatness. In John 19:11, Christ said to Pilate:

 "...Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

God's word says “all have sinned…” so by default, no one on earth is excluded from the dragnet of “the wicked.” It encompasses all who have sinned and that's everyone. We were all destined for hell. Because God loved us so, 

“…He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

All who have Christ as their righteousness get to escape being counted among the wicked and not because we did anything to deserve it. This is grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour.

Really long answer: In God's eyes, the difference between the righteous and the wicked is not defined by what we do or do not do by human effort. Believing Romans 5:19 is what makes the difference between the righteous and the wicked:

“By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.”

All who depend wholly on Christ as their righteousness, forsaking theirs from works of the law, get to escape this dragnet of “the wicked,” and not because we obeyed the law or did good things. See Romans 3:

26 “…and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

The difference between the righteous and the wicked is how we believe that we are made righteous, either by works of the law or by grace through faith. When your believing is right, right living will follow. But many who profess Christ put the cart before the horse.

Romans 5:17 shows us how to live in triumph over sin and escape being counted among the wicked that will perish in the second death:

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Death here covers all earthly ills….up to the second death in hell. Living in triumph over sin and death are fruits of receiving God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness. Receiving these gifts without living right is as impossible as jumping into the sea naked without getting wet. You don't have to try to get wet in the sea. Christ transforms us to live right.

Many who profess Christ are trying to live in triumph over sin and death by human effort at obeying the law and doing good things, believing that these things are what make them “not wicked" and heaven-bound. Sin has dominion over such. Wickedness abounds,

“For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14.

“All have sinned” puts all mankind in the boat of wickedness/unrighteousness by default. Even we who have Christ as our righteousness sin from time to time but we can never be a part of the wicked because we did nothing to earn our righteousness. It is a gift. We are being transformed by His Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18.) 

Remember “There is none righteous…” With Christ as our righteousness, our path grows brighter and brighter like the morning sun…. but the path of the wicked (those who are trying to obey the law to get right with God) is like darkness. Proverbs 4:18–19:

“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;

They do not know over what they stumble.”

Like the Pharisees, the wicked believe that they are doing things right- doing their best to obey the law in order to be godly and perfected (be like God,) doing arm of flesh/human effort-driven works in order for God to notice and thus bless, etc. Yet they stumble. They seem to get no answers to their “trade by barter" pleas. They do not realise that it is their human attempts at being godly (like God) that makes them stumble.

Like the law-toting Pharisees, the wicked's dependence on their human striving at obeying the law for the attainment of godliness (be like God) prevents them from receiving from Christ who freely gave healing and deliverance to despised tax collectors and notorious sinners who looked to Him for salvation without their baggage of laws kept and good deeds done. Because the wicked strive so hard to be godly (like God) yet have little or nothing to show for it, they become resentful and fret against the Lord: Proverbs 19:3-

“The foolishness of man subverts his way [ruins his affairs]; then his heart is resentful and frets against the Lord.”

Here's the Bible's iinterpretation of the foolishness of man- Galatians 3-

“Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced[a] so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”[b] 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.”

The righteous in Proverbs 4 above does not refer to those who are doing their best to obey the law. Romans 3:20 tells us this is an effort in futility,

“19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.”

The righteous are those who are made righteous by Christ's obedience and not their puny efforts at obeying the law. All have sinned. The wicked are those among the all that have sinned who reject God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ for their own righteousness that proceeds from human effort at obeying the law. Such see their salvation as a reward for their own obedience and good deeds and so can boast about their works. This is not in line with believers’ lives as we see in Ephesians 2:

8 “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

In Christ, good works are EVIDENCES of our being born-again, not CONDITIONS. Imagine a child boasting that he has green eyes when both his parents have green eyes. He did nothing to get green eyes. But many who profess Christ see their arm of flesh/human effort-driven works at being godly (be like God) as conditions for salvation- akin to buying contact lenses to change the natural colour of one's eyes and foolishly thinking that this means one now shares DNA with parents who have green eyes. Such tell you that God will punish you for not having green eyes which He has freely given to His born-again children and put their works forward as why they should be accepted as children of God. See Christ's word in Matthew 7:

"22 When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! In Your name we spoke God's message, by Your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!’ 23 Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you wicked people!’

Notice Christ never knew such? The wicked who are striving to be godly by obeying the law that Christ died to fulfil for us were never born-again to begin with. Even bible-toting, demon-binding, miracle-performing leaders and churchgoers who do their best to be obedient and live moral lives as best as they can can be among the wicked. Let’s dig a little deeper. The bible tells us in Romans 5:19 -

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

From the above verse, we see that committing acts of sin is not what makes people sinners. Adam's sin made the whole human race sinners long before anyone had the chance to commit an act of sin. Wicked. What’s more, this cloak of wickedness (sin nature) that Adam passed on to all of his descendants cannot be shed by trying to obey the law or by stifling sins- akin to how a person infected with HIV can neither be made whole nor certified healthy by any doctor because of his efforts at treating his immunodeficiency-driven tuberculosis:   

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20. 

Nobody can become righteous by their own doing. See Paul's Holy Spirit-inspired conclusion (quoting from Psalms and Isaiah) in Romans 3, bearing in mind that the life of the average Jew was centred around following the Torah with utmost dedication, more than anyone alive can achieve today-

“9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:

‘There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away,

they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.’

13 ‘Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practise deceit.’

‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’

14 ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’

15 ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and misery mark their ways,

17 and the way of peace they do not know.’

18 ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

This is the default mode of everyone born of Adam. Even the religious Pharisees with all of their law-keeping and Temple activities which no one can match today utterly fell short. Wickedness doesn't get any more wicked than this description in italics above. We might look at ourselves and think-  

“Surely I am not like these wicked people" or “I am a good Christian and could never do that," 

-but Peter's three-time denial of Christ shows us that given the right circumstances, the one who swore to himself that he would never steal or murder will do so profusely. The arm of flesh will fail. Thanks to the sin nature inherited from Adam, the potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. The flesh in a pastor is the same flesh in a pedophile and given the right weights of temptation, trial or testing, all who depend on human effort (arm of flesh) to resist temptation will fail. God's word.

God sees that potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people boast in their non-existent power over sin and even look down on others who have fallen inside a pit as being greatly wicked. We see only outward actions but the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. If a big enough trial came our way and it was up to us to save ourselves, the best of us will fail woefully.

Committing acts of sin, alongside sickness, stress, depression, lack, oppression, etc are fruits of the old nature (sin/old nature) that was inherited from Adam. Everyone who is trying to obey the law in order to get right with God or make it to heaven has this old nature aka default mode of wickedness. Such do not believe that Christ's obedience has made them righteous and saved and so are still working to earn right-standing with God. But the work here is like a menstrual rag in God's sight according to Isaiah 64:6.

Since "…the strength of sin is the law" (1 Cor. 15:56,) those who are trying to keep the law in order to be righteous only strengthen the grip of sin over their lives. Satan’s strategy has not changed since Eden— striving to attain godliness (be like God) by human effort as Eve was deceived into doing is the hallmark of the sin/old nature. See the typology of the forbidden fruit as a picture of the law which many churchgoers try to obey in a bid to be godly aka be like God in Romans 7:8–12 (MSG)-

“Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me…” Romans 7:8-12

The result of this dependence on human effort for the attainment of godliness is the same today as it was in Eden: sin has dominion (Romans 6:14) and death reigns (Romans 5:17.) As long as this old nature is intact, acts of sin that lead to death will multiply. The more people with this old nature try to keep the law, the more they do wickedness. See Romans 7:5:

"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."

The Ten Commandments that many are struggling to obey in order to be godly arouses evil desires, producing plenty sins that lead to death. Other bible verses in line with this one are: The letter kills; For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace. The strength of sin is the law. But due to the teaching of a perverted message that is not Grace, many who profess Christ still struggle to be under the same law that kills and thus remain “wicked” no matter how good they try to be.

Christ died to rid us of this inherited sin nature: 

"When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature." Colossians 2:11.

In Christ, the sin nature inherited from Adam is no more in all who confess Him as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead. According to Romans 4:25, His resurrection is the divine proof that we have been made righteous in God's sight -

"Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God."

In Him, we are a new creation. With Christ as our righteousness (and not our own filthy rags righteousnesses from obeying the Ten Commandments in order to be right with God) the old nature that produces sin is cut away. And this is the result of our being married to Christ and having Him as our righteousness:

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God." Romans 7:4. 

Some church leaders try to compartmentalize the law into moral law/oral law/ceremonial law and say that we who believe are still subject to some of these compartments of the law. What a horrid antichrist teaching! The law is a whole, just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a picture of the law which gives the same knowledge and which many are eating of in a bid to be godly/be like God - see Romans 7:8-12 The Message.) As it was with eating of the tree which has many parts (bark, leaves, root, etc,) eating of any part of the law (the letter) kills, whether moral, oral, ceremonial or the one with which man privately judges himself in his heart (see Romans 2:12-15.) Whatever it is that man does by his arm of flesh/will-power in a bid to become godly like God or to contribute to his godliness is law-keeping.

Romans 7 also shows us that the law that we who believe are dead to includes the Ten Commandments; Paul used the 10th Commandment (You shall not covet) as an example in this chapter.

Try to obey the law to get right with God and sins will multiply. Wickedness increases. Believe and receive that free gift of righteousness which comes from the obedience of Christ and you will not continue to live in sin. This is the logic of heaven but it is illogical to man’s reasoning,

"For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Reigning over sin, addiction, sickness, stress and all earthly ills are fruits of the new nature that we have in Christ as it is written in Romans 5:17 -

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Christ performed a perfect work in cleansing us of all our wickedness and giving us His own righteousness as a gift. Anyone who is without this gift of righteousness in Christ is "the wicked," even if they do their best to keep the law and do righteous things. No one on earth can obey the law as much as the Pharisees but Christ called them “white-washed tombs.”

In Christ, we are made righteous apart from our works. In Him, God sees us as righteous 100%. He sees us as Christ is (righteous,) EVEN THOUGH WE ARE GUILTY OF MANY SINS,but we do not continue to live in sin. See this in Romans 5-

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

God's word.

With His gift of righteousness comes no condemnation; His "Neither do I condemn you" makes us "go and sin no more." In Christ, under grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour- you will not continue to live in sin. Sin will lose its dominion over you, "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under Law but under Grace."

Believe Right and you will Live Right.