The Works of the Flesh

Text: Galatians 5: 14-21

5:14  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

5:15  But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

5:18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

This post will be directly connected to the next one I will post in a few days.

We will do a quick run through up to verse 20 which is really where I want to take this lesson out of.

Verse 14 is beyond self explanatory...it is the words of Christ Himself  (Matthew 22:34-40).

Verse 15: Paul goes on to give a warning to the Galatians which we should all head and which seems to be a great problem in the church today.
It has been said many times that the Church is its own worst enemy and I have found this statement to be profoundly true. Within the same walls we bite and devour and consume one another until there is nothing left to give to the world that is need of something greater than itself.
How can we claim to have hope for a lost and dying world when we suffer from the same maladies as they?

Verse 16: If we are led by God's Spirit we WILL NOT walk according to the manner of this rotten flesh.
It just isn't going to happen. When I see someone committing fleshly acts it stands to reason that they are in the flesh and not in the Spirit...it's pure logic...no way around it.

Verse 17: You are not your own master no matter what you think or feel about it. You will either do God's bidding or the bidding of the flesh which is of Satan. You will serve one of two masters...God or the Devil. Whom do you choose? (Matthew 6:24)

Verse 18: For in in-depth explanation of this scripture see I Timothy chapter 1 in its entirety and pay close attention to verses 4 through 9.

Verse 19-21: In this passage Paul gives us a run down of what acts, thoughts, emotions, etc. that you will find in someone that is operating in the flesh and not the Spirit of God (remember, you can't operate in both. Bitter and sweet water can not come from the same fountain.)

Adultery - sexual relations with someone other than your spouse (remember, this includes the act as well as thoughts and emotions)

Fornication - Sexual relations before marriage (the Greek describes this as harlotry)

Uncleanness - (Greek) by quality this means impurity both physically, mentally, spiritually and morally (Philippians 4:8)

Lasciviousness - (Greek) filthy, vices (any type of filth that could get out of your control...smoking, drinking, cussing, pornography, gambling, gluttony...you get the point.)

Idolatry - (Greek) idol worship (anything that you esteem in word, deed, thought or action as higher than God which can include tv, social networks, money, bills, spouses, jobs, theology...I myself have had a problem in this area with bills...I too often forget that God is bigger than my bills and then I start stressing and sweating and wondering how I'm gonna pay them instead of saying "God, they are in your hands and I'm your child...HELP ME!!")

Witchcraft - (Greek) Magic, medication (yes that was straight from the Greek dictionary...WOW...the actual Greek word is pharmakeia which is where we get the English word pharmacy).

Hatred - (Greek) hostility, enmity (Christ said if you hate someone then you are guilty of murder...remember...acts, thoughts, emotions, etc.)

Variance - (Greek) quarrel, wrangling, contention, debate (hmmmm), strife (I won't expound on this one though I should.)

Emulations - (Greek) indignation, jealousy, envy, zeal (any of these backed with malice)

Wrath - hatred in action (Greek was too difficult to give a proper direct English translation without going ad-lib)

Strife - (Greek) intrigue, faction (gossiping, cliques, us-four-and-no-more, we were here before you and will be here after you are gone...get the point!!)

Seditions - (Greek) dissunion, dissension, division, (how many times have we seen one person cause a split in the church)

Heresies - (Greek) heresy is the actual Greek word and meaning (any one that teaches something other than what the general populace or group is teaching. In this case it is meant for those that teach something other than the inspired Word of God)

Envying - (Greek) ill will

Murders - (Greek) to slay

Drunkeness - (Greek) intoxicant or intoxication (This alone should...but won't...settle the "Is it ok to drink alcohol" debate)

Revellings - (Greek) carousal, rioting,letting loose

If Christ comes back and you are doing one of these or haven't gotten any one of these under the blood of Christ you will not make Heaven you home. If you think otherwise then you need to read the last verse very carefully again.

Thank you and God Bless!!

Jonathan D. Saunders