Galatians: The Gospel of God’s Grace

#11 A Walk Combating the Great Enemy in Life: Lusts of the Flesh, 5:16-21

No man was ever more conscious of the tension in human nature than Paul.  As the soldier in Studdert Kennedy's poem said;

I'm a man and a man's mixture Right down from his very birth;

For part of him comes from heaven, And part of him comes from earth.

For Paul it was essential that Christian freedom should mean not freedom to indulge the lower side of human nature, but freedom to walk in the life of the Spirit.  He gives us a catalogue of evil things.  Every word he uses has a picture behind it.

 Fornication; it has been said, and said truly, that the one completely new virtue Christianity brought into the world was chastity.  Christianity came into a world where sexual immorality was not only condoned, but was regarded as essential to the ordinary working of life.

Impurity; the word that Paul uses (akatharsia) is interesting.  It can be used for the pus of an unclean wound, for a tree that has never been pruned, for material which has never been sifted.  In its positive form (katharos, an adjective meaning pure) it is commonly used in housing contracts to describe a house that is left clean and in good condition.  But its most suggestive use is that katharos is used of that ceremonial cleanness which entitles a man to approach his gods.  Impurity, then, is that which makes a man unfit to come before God, the soiling of life with the things which separate us from him.

Wantonness; this word (aselgeia) is translated licentiousness in the Revised Standard Version (Mark 7:22;2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 4:19;1 Peter 4:3; Jude 4; Romans 13:13 and 2 Peter 2:18).  It has been defined as "readiness for any pleasure."  The man who practises it has been said to know no restraint, but to do whatever caprice and wanton insolence may suggest.  Josephus ascribed it to Jezebel when she built a temple to Baal in Jerusalem.  The idea is that of a man who is so far gone in desire that he has ceased to care what people say or think.

Idolatry; this means the worship of gods which the hands of men have made.  It is the sin in which material things have taken the place of God.

Witchcraft; this literally means the use of drugs.  It can mean the beneficent use of drugs by a doctor; but it can also mean poisoning, and it came to be very specially connected with the use of drugs for sorcery, of which the ancient world was full.

Enmity; the idea is that of the man who is characteristically hostile to his fellow men; it is the precise opposite of the Christian virtue of love for the brethren and for all men.

Strife; originally this word had mainly to do with the rivalry for prizes.  It can even be used in a good sense in that connection, but much more commonly it means the rivalry which has found its outcome in quarrellings and wrangling.

Jealousy; this word (zelos from which our word zeal comes) was originally a good word.  It meant emulation, the desire to attain to nobility when we see it.  But it degenerated; came to mean the desire to have what someone else has, wrong desire for what is not for us.

Uncontrolled temper; the word Paul uses means bursts of temper.  It describes not an anger which lasts but anger which flames out and then dies.

Self-seeking; this word has a very illuminating history.  It is eritheia and originally meant the work of a hired labourer (erithos).  So it came to mean work done for pay.  It went on to mean canvassing for political or public office, and it describes the man who wants office, not from any motives of service, but for what he can get out of it.

Dissension; literally the word means a standing apart.  After one of his great victories Nelson attributed it to the fact that he had the happiness to command a band of brothers.  Dissension describes a society in which the very opposite is the case, where the members fly apart instead of coming together.

Heretical division; this might be described as crystallized dissension.  The word is hairesis, from which comes our word heresy.  Hairesis was not originally a bad word at all.  It comes from a root which means to choose, and it was used for a philosopher's school of followers or for any band of people who shared a common belief.  The tragedy of life is that people who hold different views very often finish up by disliking, not each others' views, but each other.  It should be possible to differ with a man and yet remain friends.

Envy; this word (phthonos), is a mean word.  Euripides called it "the greatest of all diseases among men."  The essence of it is that it does not describe the spirit which desires, nobly or ignobly, to have what someone else has; it describes the spirit which grudges the fact that the other person has these things at all.  It does not so much want the things for itself; it merely wants to take them from the other.  The Stoics defined it as "grief at someone else's good."  Basil called it "grief at your neighbour's good fortune."  It is the quality, not so much of the jealous, but rather of the embittered mind.

Drunkenness; in the ancient world this was not a common vice.  The Greeks drank more wine than they did milk; even children drank wine.  But they drank it in the proportion of three parts of water to two of wine.  Greek and Christian alike would have condemned drunkenness as a thing which turned a man into a beast.

Carousing; this word (komos) has an interesting history.  A komos was a band of friends who accompanied a victor of the games after his victory.  They danced and laughed and sang his praises.  It also described the bands of the devotees of Bacchus, god of wine.  It describes what in regency England would have been called a rout.  It means unrestrained revelry, enjoyment that has degenerated into licence.

When we get to the root meaning of these words, we see that life has not changed so very much.

(5:16-21) Introduction: this and the next passage are two critical passages for the believer’s walk. They deal with walking in the Spirit of God and conquering the flesh. The lessons being taught need to be diligently followed by the believer.

     1.  The answer to conquering the lusts of the flesh: the Holy Spirit (v.16-18).

     2.  The works or acts of the flesh (v.19-21).

     3.  The judgment of those who live by the flesh (v.21).

(5:16-18) Holy Spirit—Flesh: the answer to conquering the lusts of the flesh is the Holy Spirit of God. The believer is to walk in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It is the only conceivable way he can keep from fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. No person has the power to control the lusts of his flesh—not within himself. Why is clearly seen in the four reasons given by Scripture.

     1.   The flesh fights for dominance. It lusts against the Spirit, struggles and fights to control the man. The picture is that of a tug of war (A.T. Robertson. Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol.4, p.311). The flesh stands contrary to the Spirit—toe to toe, face to face—and it seeks to control man.

     The word “lusts” (epithumei kata) means a yearning passion for. Every person has experienced the flesh...

     Every person knows what it is to have his flesh lusting after something, to have it yearning and yearning to lay hold of something. The flesh is very strong and difficult to control. This is the first reason why a believer’s only hope to control the flesh is the Spirit of God.

     2.   The flesh is contrary to the Spirit. The flesh has within itself base and unregulated urges and passions. A man senses the desire to do what he likes, to lift the restraints and follow his own inclinations, desires, passions, and emotions. This is what the Bible means when it speaks of the “lust of the flesh.”

     However, the genuine believer has another force within his life—the force of the Holy Spirit. When the believer feels the constraint and the pressure between the flesh and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is giving the power to overcome the flesh. The constraint is the power. The believer who listens to the constraint and walks away from the object of the pressure, and calls upon God for the courage to stay away is the believer who walks in the Spirit. The believer is to know no such thing as peaceful co-existence between the flesh and the Spirit.

     3.   The flesh keeps a person from doing what he would. Every person has experienced the power of the flesh; everyone has caved in to the flesh and done something that he did not want to do. He fought against doing it—knew it was harmful or hurtful—yet he did not resist the flesh. He gave in to the power of the flesh and did it. He...

     Note another fact as well. All of us have been tempted, and we have known how to combat and overcome the temptation. However, the flesh was so strong we did not overcome it. The struggle we experienced involved that of...

     The point is this: the flesh is so strong that it often keeps us from doing what we would. The only hope of ever controlling the flesh is to walk in the Spirit of God—in His presence and power.

     4.   The flesh fails to keep the law. This has been clearly shown in the previous point. No person keeps the law all the time: the flesh causes us to fail, and no matter how much we try, we cannot do everything the law says—not all the time. What then is the answer? It is essential to know the answer, for every time we fail to keep the law, the law is broken and we stand condemned. We cannot satisfy the demands of the law, not perfectly. Therefore, we are guilty and must pay the penalty. Note another fact: our consciences condemn us. They bother and bug us if we are trying to live for Christ and yet continue failing time after time. Again, what is the answer?

     The Spirit of God is the answer; being led by the Holy Spirit will free us from the flesh and from the condemnation of the law. What does this mean? It means that the Holy Spirit frees us to live as Christ lived, to actually live out the life which Christ lived. The active energy of life, the dynamic force and being of life—all that is in Christ Jesus—is given to the believer. The believer actually lives in Christ Jesus. And the Spirit of life which is in Christ frees the believer from the fate (law) of sin and death. This simply means that the believer lives in a consciousness of being free. He breathes and senses a depth of life, a richness, a fulness of life that is indescribable. He lives with power—power over the pressure and strain, impediments and bondages of life—even the bondages of sin and death. He lives now and shall live forever. He senses this and knows this. Life to him is a spirit, a breath, a consciousness of being set free through Christ. Even when he sins and guilt sets in, there is a tug, a power (Holy Spirit) that draws him back to God. He asks forgiveness and removal of the guilt (1 John 1:9), and immediately upon asking, the same power (the Holy Spirit) instills an instantaneous assurance of cleansing. The spirit of life, the consciousness of living instantaneously, takes up its abode within him once again. He feels free again, and he feels full of life in all its liberating power and freedom. He bubbles over with all the depth of the richness and fulness of life itself. He is full of the “Spirit of life.” Life itself becomes once again a spirit, a consciousness of living. He lives now and forever.

(5:19-21) Flesh: the works or acts of the flesh show just how strong the flesh is. Note a fact of extreme importance: the flesh in itself is not sinful. The flesh or human body is given by God; it is for God’s use. In fact, when a person is converted to Christ, his body becomes a temple for God to dwell in through the Holy Spirit. The Christian is not told to cleanse himself from the flesh but from “the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16), “the filthiness of the flesh” (2 Cor. 7:1), and from “the works of the flesh” (Romans 13:12; Galatians 5:19). The works of the flesh are the fruit of indwelling sin, and sin originates in the heart not in the flesh. The sins of the flesh listed in this passage are clearly seen all throughout society; and tragically they are not only seen on the daily newscasts of every city, but within every community, home, and life on planet earth. The very presence of such fleshly sins shows just how strong the flesh is and how helpless man is to control his flesh.

     1.   Adultery (moicheia): sexual unfaithfulness to husband or wife. It is also looking on a woman or a man to lust after her or him. Looking at and lusting after the opposite sex whether in person, magazines, books, on beaches or anywhere else is adultery. Imagining and lusting within the heart is the very same as committing the act.

     2.   Fornication (porneia): a broad word including all forms of immoral and sexual acts. It is pre-marital sex and adultery; it is abnormal sex, all kinds of sexual vice.

     3.   Uncleanness (akatharsia): moral impurity; doing things that dirty, pollute, and soil life.

     4.   Lasciviousness (aselgeia): filthiness, indecency, shamelessness. A chief characteristic of the behavior is open and shameless indecency. It means unrestrained evil thoughts and behavior. It is giving in to brutish and lustful desires, a readiness for any pleasure. It is a man who knows no restraint, a man who has sinned so much that he no longer cares what people say or think. It is something far more distasteful than just doing wrong. The man who misbehaves usually tries to hide his wrong, but a lascivious man does not care who knows about his exploits or shame. He wants; therefore, he seeks to take and gratify. Decency and opinion do not matter. Initially when he began to sin, he did as all men do: he misbehaved in secret. But eventually, the sin got the best of him—to the point that he no longer cared who saw or knew. He became the subject of a master—the master of habit, of the thing itself. Men become the slaves of such things as unbridled lust, wantonness, licentiousness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence (Mark 7:22),  wanton manners, filthy words, indecent body movements, immoral handling of males and females (Romans 13:13), public display of affection, carnality, gluttony, and sexual immorality (1 Peter 4:3; 2 Peter 2:2, 18). (Cp. 2 Cor. 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephes. 4:19; 2 Peter 2:7.)

     5.   Idolatry (eidololatreia): the worship of idols, whether mental or made by man’s hands; the worship of some idea of what God is like, of an image of God within a person’s mind; the giving of one’s primary devotion (time and energy) to something other than God.

     6.   Witchcraft (pharmakeia): sorcery; the use of drugs or of evil spirits to gain control over the lives of others or over one’s own life. In the present context it would include all forms of seeking the control of one’s fate including astrology, palm reading, seances, fortune telling, crystals, and other forms of witchcraft.

     7.   Hatred (echthrai): enmity, hostility, animosity. It is the hatred that lingers and is held for a long, long time; a hatred that is deep within.

     8.   Variance (ereis): strife, discord, contention, fighting, struggling, quarreling, dissension, wrangling. It means that a man fights against another person in order to get something: position, promotion, property, honor, recognition. He deceives, doing whatever has to be done to get what he is after.

     9.   Emulations (zeloi): jealousy, wanting and desiring to have what someone else has. It may be material things, recognition, honor, or position.

     10. Wrath (thumoi): bursts of anger; indignation; a violent, explosive temper; quick-tempered explosive reactions that arise from stirred and boiling emotions. But it is anger which fades away just as quickly as it arose. It is not anger that lasts.

     11. Strife (eritheiai): conflict, struggle, fight, contention, faction, dissension; a party spirit, a cliquish spirit.

     12. Seditions (dichostasiai): division, rebellion, standing against others, splitting off from others.

     13. Heresies (aireseis): rejecting the fundamental beliefs of God, Christ, the Scriptures, and the church; believing and holding to some teaching other than the truth.

     14. Envyings (phthonoi): this word goes beyond jealousy. It is the spirit...

·    that wants not only the things that another person has, but begrudges the fact that the person has them.

·    that wants not only the things to be taken away from the person, but wants him to suffer through the loss of them.

     15. Murders (phonoi): to kill, to take the life of another person. Murder is sin against the sixth commandment.

     16. Drunkenness (methai): taking drink or drugs to affect one’s senses for lust or pleasure; becoming tipsy or intoxicated; partaking of drugs; seeking to loosen moral restraint for bodily pleasure.

     17. Revellings (komoi): carousing; uncontrolled license, indulgence, and pleasure; taking part in wild parties or in drinking parties; lying around indulging in feeding the lusts of the flesh; orgies.

(5:21) Flesh—Judgment: the judgment of those who live by the flesh. Very simply, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This can be clearly seen: if God is righteous, then people must live righteous lives in order to be accepted by Him. However, people ignore the fact of God’s righteousness and His demand for righteousness. People divorce their behavior from religion. People...

·    profess religion.

·    practice religion.

·    talk religion.

·    defend their beliefs about religion.

     However, they go ahead and live like they want regardless of their religion. If they want to do something, they do it feeling that God will forgive them. There are few people who really think that God will reject them. They feel that they will have done enough good to be acceptable to God...

·    enough kindness

·    enough religion

·    enough works

·    enough service

     In the final analysis, most people just think that God will accept them. This attitude comes from a false concept of God, a concept that looks upon God as a father who is indulgent and who gives his children the license to do some wrong.

     This is a fatal mistake. It was the mistake that some of the Galatian church members were making, and it is the same mistake that teeming multitudes of religious people have made down through the centuries.

     Believers are to inherit a kingdom, a new heavens and earth where God will rule and reign. They are to be given eternal life and given the glorious privilege of being citizens in God’s kingdom and world. They are to live with Him and serve Him in perfection for all eternity. But this glorious privilege is to be given only to genuine believers, those men and women who have truly given their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ—given their lives to live as Jesus Christ says to live. No matter how religious a person is—no matter how much zeal a person may have in keeping religious rituals and in attending services and in giving to charity—if he does not live a pure and righteous life, he “shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”