Day 3

Lisa Scheffler, author

Listen at bit.ly/EngageGodDaily

In the Internet age, there is no shortage of “how-to” websites, articles, and videos. You can get step by step instructions on everything from frying a Thanksgiving turkey to changing the battery in your car’s key fob. It takes all the guess work out of a task when you have easy-to-follow directions.

Unfortunately, there are no step by step directions for the larger issues in life. There’s godly wisdom and advice, but there is no pastor, scholar, influencer, or author who can guarantee that their steps will lead to a happy and holy life. Anyone who promises those results is in danger of repeating the Galatian error, because what they are advocating is a life under some kind of  “law” rather than under the direction of the Spirit.

That being said, we aren’t without guidance. There are things in this world that are clearly against God’s will, and Paul is going to list a few of them in Galatians 5:19–21, the verses we’ll look at today.

According to commentator Walter Hansen, these specific lists of vices, (and virtues that will follow in 5:22–23) “are not offered as a new set of specific codes to replace the law codes. Rather, they provide an objective basis for evaluation, so we can determine whether we are living to gratify the desires of the sinful nature or living by the Spirit.”^[1]

I’m going to repeat some of the verses we looked at yesterday so we remember the flow of Paul’s thought as we move into verses 19–21.

^[1] G. Walter Hansen, Galatians, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), Ga 5:19–21.

Read

Galatians 5:16-21

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

What do you notice about the “acts of the flesh”? If you had to divide them up into categories, what would you label those categories?

What is Paul’s warning?

Reflect

Paul seems to be emphasizing that the Galatians do not need the Mosaic law to define the nature of evil. Since in verse 18 he has just explained that they are not under the law, it would be strange if he now turned to the law for instruction. But, he doesn’t describe the activities in verses 19–21 as transgressions of the law. Instead he frames them in light of the kingdom.

These vices are incompatible with the character and lifestyle of God’s heirs who will inherit the kingdom (4:7). God’s children are in Christ (3:29). Although believers will still struggle with sin, Paul contends that those who allow these acts to take root so that they become a way of life are not God’s heirs.

Paul’s list of fifteen acts of the flesh can be divided into four categories:

(1) illicit sex (sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery). Not only are these sexual sins outside of God’s design for human flourishing, in the ancient world as today, they frequently involved the exploitation of other people to satisfy one’s self-centered desire.

(2) religious misconduct (idolatry and witchcraft). This would include any number of pagan religious practices.

(3) social conflict (hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, and envy). All of these refer to the breakdown of interpersonal relationships. That Paul dedicates a large portion of his list to this category could indicate how fractious and contentious the Galatian churches had become.

(4) self-indulgent excesses (drunkenness, orgies or “wild parties” in some translations). These are sins of drunken excess. “In New Testament times, as in our own day, the abuse of alcohol contributed to marital infidelity, child and spouse abuse, the erosion of family life, and moral chaos in society.”^[1]

The flesh destroys. It leads to brokenness physically, mentally, relationally, and spiritually. Living in the Spirit means trusting in Christ and turning away from these acts of the flesh. Though we may still struggle, our posture will be to lean away from these vices, and not towards them.

Paul was not only citing behaviors forbidden by Jewish culture, Hansen points out that “his list of vices is similar to many lists in the ethical teaching of the Greeks and Romans of his day. Pagan philosophers often published lists of vices and virtues.” So when Paul says that the acts of the sinful nature are obvious, he means that much of this list was agreed upon by believers and non-believers alike.

We shouldn’t consider this a comprehensive list of vices, merely a representative one. At the end of the list he says and the like to indicate that there are others left unnamed. “The huge difference between Paul and his contemporary pagan philosophers is not the content of the list of vices but the context: Paul gives the list in a context that offers the way to freedom from these vices; the pagan moralists were not able to offer any such solution to the rampant immorality of their day.”^[2]

The Jewish moralists, along with these Greco-Roman moralists, believed there was some capacity to fight off such inclinations to sin. The rabbis contended that every human being had “two desires: the yetser tob and the yetser hara (the good impulse and the evil impulse).” ^[3] The good impulse could be strengthened by repentance and the study of the law. Paul is offering a far more powerful ally, the Holy Spirit.

If we have committed ourselves to Christ, we are in Christ, wholly accepted and righteous before God. We are no longer under bondage to desires that lead us from God. By the Spirit we can have freedom from sin!

^[1] Timothy George, Galatians, vol. 30, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 397.

^[2] G. Walter Hansen, Galatians, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), Ga 5:19–21.

^[3] Scot McKnight, Galatians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 264.

Respond

Be honest with yourself and God. Are you struggling with any of the vices listed? Confess that to him right now and repent. Receive his grace and forgiveness through Christ. Know that your Father loves you and has better for you. Is there someone in your life you can turn to for prayer, accountability, and encouragement? Seek them out and have a meaningful conversation.

Consider coming to Re:Generation at Christ Fellowship — a discipleship ministry specifically designed to help people find freedom from destructive sin habits.