Greetings.
In my post, we began an examination of Galatians 5: 16-26. We see a comparison between the Spirit and the flesh, and we notice that they are in stark contrast to each other. "The desires of the flesh are opposed to the Spirit and the Spirit is opposed to the desires of the flesh." (Gal. 5:17) Today, we will look at what the flesh leads us toward. Here is Galatians 5:19-21:
19 It is easy to see the works of the flesh. These include: sexual immorality, moral corruption, indecency, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentiousness, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, sowing discord, divisiveness, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild partying and other things like these. I am warning you, just as I have warned already, that those who do such things, will not inherit the kingdom of God.
At the beginning of verse 19, Paul tells us that the works of the flesh are Φανερὰ (phanera) - obvious, evident, easy to see. I like the way that Thomas Schreiner describes it: “Identifying the works of the flesh does not demand extraordinary spiritual discernment. (Schreiner, 345.) It’s true. One does not have to be some kind of spiritual giant to know that certain things are wrong. (Later, Paul does not say that the fruits of the Spirit are obvious, but the truth is, they are obvious, as well.)
Galatians 5:19-21 is not intended to be the exhaustive list of sins. Paul finishes with “and other things like these,” to let his readers know that there are other ‘obvious’ works of the flesh that he doesn’t call out by name here.
I am not going to go through each one of these sins and define them and talk about them. Paul has already told us that they are obvious works of the flesh. Scholars will often group these works of the flesh, and I will use the groupings as presented by Douglas Moo, and talk briefly about the groupings. (Moo, 358.)
Sexual sins: sexual immorality, moral corruption, indecency. The Roman world was pretty open regarding sex, much like our modern world is, so Paul is telling his readers that following Christ meant not viewing sexual matters in the way the surrounding society does. It is obvious that some things are ‘of the flesh,’ and a follower of Jesus would avoid those things.
Sins of pagan worship - idolatry, sorcery: Schreiner says, “The next two sins are grouped together because they both focus on the refusal to worship the one true God. The fundamental sin in Pauline theology is the failure to praise and thank God for His goodness and to turn to worship of idols.” (Schreiner, 346.) While some in the Galatian churches may have come out of a background in which they bowed down to idols, we do understand that idolatry involves anything that we place ahead of the one true God.
Sins against the community: hatred, contentiousness, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, sowing discord, divisiveness, envy. Jesus said that the second greatest command is to love your neighbor as yourself. God’s community should be full of love, and these sins obviously betray that kind of community. Our world looks like this, God’s people do not. God’s people strive to build a community of love. Note that a number of these words (contentiousness, discord, divisiveness) involve dividing the community in some way. On the other hand, God desires a community of love.
Sins of excess and self-indulgence: drunkenness, wild partying. Shortly, self-control will be listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit. These last two works of the flesh involve an absence of self-control.
Paul concludes the list adding ‘and other things like these. Again, he has not given an exhaustive list, and he can’t list every possible sin out there. So, there are other ‘works of the flesh’ that are just as obvious.
What does Paul say about people whose lives are characterized by these ‘works of the flesh’? They will not inherit the kingdom of God. This thought backs up something that Paul has just said in verse 13. He said, “you were called to be free, but not free to indulge the flesh.” Living by faith, and walking in freedom in Christ, and not being bound by the Law, must lead to righteous behavior and not the works of the flesh. Schreiner says it like this: “Righteousness by faith instead of works of law must not lead to a life of sin. Those who are justified by God’s grace are also empowered by the Spirit to live in a new way.” (Schreiner, 348.) As people of the Spirit, not the flesh, let us embrace this new way.
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