The Deeds of the Flesh: Galatians 5:19-21 (2024)

Galatians 5:19-21

Delivered 06/12/2005

We are studying Galatians 5, which deals with the subject of the spiritual life. I want you tounderstand the critical importance of this subject since the greatest conflict in the life of everyChristian is their struggle in the spiritual walk. The most influential men of modern and ancienttimes have found their greatest challenge to be their spiritual life.

To understand this section, we must understand what it means to "Walk in the flesh and to walkin the Spirit."

What is the flesh?

Paul uses the word "flesh" to mean: "something that is totally human, with no special graceattached." In Paul's use of the term "flesh" in Galatians, he does not simply mean: "possessed of aphysical body"; rather, he means: "limited to only a physical body and the physical strength itcontains."

So the flesh is what you do in your own power, in your own strength, what you can do yourself -which is legalism. Legalism is anything that I think I can do in order to make myself morerighteous before God. It is human achievement; it's a form of self-righteousness.

How do we walk in the flesh?

To walk after the flesh is to seek life in terms of what man can accomplish of himself. You cando all kinds of religious things in the flesh. The flesh can preach a sermon. The flesh can sing onthe praise team. The flesh can give a devotion at the Lord's Supper. The flesh can lead people toChrist. Did you know that? The flesh can go out and be very zealous in its witnessing and amassa terribly impressive list of people won to Christ. The flesh can do these things, but it isabsolutely nauseating in the eyes of God. It is merely religious activity. There is nothing wrongwith what is being done, but what is terribly wrong is the power being relied upon to do it. Thatis legality.

Do we spontaneously and naturally and consistently humble ourselves and serve others inmeekness and kindness? Do right attitudes and actions come out of us as naturally as light andheat come out of the sun? We know they don't. Walking in the flesh takes no effort on our part -it comes quite naturally. What takes constant diligence is to walk by the Spirit.

How do we walk by the Spirit?

We walk by faith. And we do this by meditating on His promises day and night and resting inthem. We should be trusting in Him all the time. The more we think about our dependence onHim, the more consistent we will be in trusting in Him and in walking by the Spirit.

To walk by the Spirit implies that we are maintaining an ongoing communion with God. We areexercising those spiritual disciplines that keep our hearts focused upon the Lord, that turns ourfeet away from sin, that warms our love for Christ.

Walking by the Spirit involves patterning your life after Christ. All you need to do is open yourBible and study for the rest of your life about His work and His person. Your whole life shouldbe centered on Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit's work to point to Christ. Therefore, if you are walkingby the Spirit, you are automatically focusing on Christ.

Galatians 5:17 (NASB) For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spiritagainst the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not dothe things that you please.

This should make it clear that no one escapes the conflict. No one can avoid the struggle betweenthe flesh and the Spirit. No one gets a Christian life free from outward pressure and inwardturmoil. We walk the hard road, fighting every day to stay on the right path.

To live by the flesh is depending upon the resources and abilities of the physical body orhumanness. To live by the Spirit is depending upon the resources and abilities of the Spirit whomGod gives by grace through faith. In both cases, the fundamental issue is "depending." Thecritical difference is the object of the dependence.

Is there any objective basis for evaluating when we are walking by the Spirit and when we arewalking by the flesh? Paul obviously thinks so. He now defines their specific characteristics in alist of the deeds of the flesh(vv. 19-21) and a list of the fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22-23).

In our time together this morning we're going to look at Paul's list of the manifestations of theflesh. This is what the flesh produces, this is what you get when you walk in the flesh. As welook at these ugly deeds of the flesh, please keep in mind what Paul said in verse 16, "walk bythe Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." If you don't want to see thesedeeds of the flesh manifest in your life, then you must learn to walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NASB) Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy,outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness,carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarnedyou that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul says, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are" and then he lists them. What ishe doing here? He is saying if the flesh is defined as our humanity, as life without the power ofthe Spirit of God, then let us just look at humanity apart from God and ask ourselves: Wheredoes humanity go if God isn't in the picture? As people are just left to do it themselves, where dothey go? Do they become more righteous? Do they become more moral? Or do they just driftaway from God into sin? Paul is saying the answer to that question is pretty obvious: just lookaround.

We could do the same thing today. We could say, "You know what the flesh produces, just lookaround." Look at every environment where God has been pulled out of that environment and askyourself: Is that environment becoming more righteous or less? Is it becoming more moral orless?

If you want to categorize these sins, the first three would be sexual: immorality, impurity,sensuality. We are often appalled at the sexual immorality of our day, but we should rememberthat the times Paul wrote in were as bad, if not worse. There is ample evidence to show that thesexual life of the Greco-Roman world at the time of the New Testament was sheer chaos. Suchevidence has come not from Christian writers, but from pagans who were disgusted with theunspeakable sexual immorality.

Demosthenes writes, "We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for the day-to-day needs ofthe body, but we have wives in order to produce children legitimately and to have a trustworthyguardian of our homes" (Against Neaera, quoted, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 573 B).

Seneca writes:

"It is hardly possible to mention a great Greek figure who had not his hetaira, his mistress, andoften these mistresses were the most beautiful and the most cultured women of their day.Alexander the Great had his Thais, Aristotle had his Herpyllia, Plato his Archeaenassa, Pericleshis Aspasia, Sophocles his Archippe.

Still worse was the unnatural vice which was rampant. It began in the imperial household.Caligula notoriously lived in habitual incest with his sister Drusilla, and the lust of Nero did noteven spare his mother Agrippina (Suetonius, Caligula 34; Nero 28).

The sin of hom*osexuality was even more prevalent in Paul's day than it is today. From thehighest to the lowest society was riddled with hom*osexuality. This was a vice which Romelearned from Greece. In one of his dialogues, Lucian makes Lycinus relate: "It were better not toneed marriage, but to follow Plato and Socrates and to be content with the love of boys" (Lucian,The Lapiths 39). Plato's Symposium ranks as one of the great works of literature. Its subject islove, but it is hom*osexual love. Phaedrus begins the subject. "I know not," he says, "any greaterblessing to a young man who is beginning life than a virtuous lover, or to the lover than abeloved boy" (Plato, Symposium 178 D).

Gibbon writes: "Of the first fifteen Emperors, Claudius was the only one whose taste in love wasentirely correct. Julius Caesar was notoriously the lover of King Nicomedes of Bithynia. 'Thequeen's rival,' they called him and his passion was the subject of the ribald songs the soldierssang. Nero 'married' a castrated youth called Sporus and went in marriage procession with himthroughout the streets of Rome, and he himself was 'married' to a freedman called Doryphorus."

A study of the fall of the Roman Empire suggests that any society that tolerates the uncheckedpromotion of such perversions will inevitably fall apart from the rottenness within.

Foremost among the acts of the flesh is immorality, this is from the Greek word p*rneia, whichis often translated as fornication. Word studies find that p*rneia in Old Testament times hadstrong associations with harlotry. The term is rooted in a word meaning: "to sell" and referredoriginally to prostitutes and prostitution. Over time, it came to mean the one who visits aprostitute and then began to be applied to adultery.

In the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Kittel tells us that the rabbis believed"unnatural forms of intercourse" would also be p*rneia.

That said, it is apparent that in Jesus' day sexual activity with a person one is not married towould meet the definition of p*rneia. A man and woman who are physically intimate with oneanother and are having or simulating sexual relations would easily fit the definition and standarduse of p*rneia in Jesus' time. To be physically intimate with someone not your mate, makingphysical contact with another person in a sexual way, is p*rneia.

Many people simplistically distinguish the biblical concepts of "adultery" as "sex by a marriedperson with someone other than the spouse," and "fornication" as "sex between two unmarriedpeople." "Fornication," i.e. the Greek "p*rneia," actually describes a much larger class ofactivities, however, than "intercourse between unmarried people." It is, in fact, the root that weget our word "p*rno" from, and it covers about the same broad class of behaviors as "p*rno" doesto us today.

What does the Scripture say about p*rnea? As a whole, the New Testament uses p*rneia, mostoften translated: "fornication," in at least four ways:

• Voluntary sexual intercourse of an unmarried person with someone of the opposite sex (1 Cor.7:2; 1 Thess. 4:3).
• A synonym for adultery (Matt. 5:32; 19:9), which is sexual relations with someone other thanone's spouse.
• Harlotry and prostitution (Rev. 2:14,20).
• Various forms of sexual sin such as hom*osexuality and beasti*al*ty.

p*rneia is a broad term used to cover any form of sexual sin. Let's look at some of the Bible'sexhortations against this sexual sin:

Ephesians 5:5 (NASB) For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impureperson or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom ofChrist and God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NASB) For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is,that you abstain from sexual immorality;

Clearly, God's will for believers is sexual purity. He says in:

1 Thessalonians 4:6 (NASB) and that no man transgress and defraud his brother inthe matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told youbefore and solemnly warned you.

The word "avenger" is the Greek word ekdikos, which means: "one who carries out a legalsentence." This word is only used one other time in Romans 13:4 where it refers to the magistrateas the bearer of the sword of justice, that is, as inflicting capital punishment. So, talking tobelievers, God warns that He is the one who carries out a legal sentence against those whocommit p*rneia.

The second word is "impurity." This comes from the Greek word akatharsia from which theword catharsis or "cleansing" comes. The alpha privitive (a) makes it a negative, meaning:"filthiness," or "uncleanness." It is a more general term than immorality, going beyond the act tothe evil thoughts and intentions of the mind. It could refer to what we would call perverted formsof sex - hom*osexuality, child abuse, and various strange and kinky sexual practices. They wouldall be covered by this one word "impurity." This word was used in other ancient writings to referto pus that oozed from an unclean wound. This is what the flesh produces.

Sensuality - the Greek word aselgeia originally referred to any excess or lack of restraint, butcame to be primarily associated with sexual excess. It is not a stretch of the imagination tounderstand the kind of unbridled unrestraint that is associated with the word. All we have to do istake a look at our society today with its fixation on sex at every turn, and you can easilyunderstand the meaning and implications of the word. The same Greek word appears in:

Ephesians 4:19 (NASB) and they, having become callous, have given themselves overto sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

It speaks of someone who flaunts their immorality, throwing off all restraint and having no senseof shame, propriety, or embarrassment. William Barclay wrote of this word sensuality: "Thegreat characteristic of aselgeia is this, the bad man usually tries to hide his sin; but the man whohas aselgeia in his soul does not care how much he shocks public opinion so long as he cangratify his desires."

One of the big problems we have in our culture today is p*rnography, and specifically, internetp*rnography - it's a monster that's loose among us. Far too many people are thinking, "If I justturn off my computer, I've solved the problem." But you haven't touched the problem. The onlyway you are ever going to get beyond that is if you are walking by the Spirit. That's the only wayyou will ever win that battle.

The next category of sins might be called religious: idolatry and sorcery.

Idolatry - If I choose to live in the flesh (in other words, if I say "I'm gonna' do this myself") thenI've taken God out of the picture, and I become my own god. That's idolatry. It's a broad term thatrefers to anything good that becomes more important than God. It could refer to an inordinatelove of money or possessions or of your career or even of another person who becomes moreimportant than God to you.

Whenever it is based on self effort, religion can be just as much a work of the flesh as sex. Thereare basically two systems of religion: One is based on human achievement and the other is basedon divine grace. If a person isn't depending on divine grace, which is unique to Christianity, he isultimately depending on what he himself can accomplish to merit salvation. In many cases, areligious system of works is more insidious than sexual perversions.

Where do we see idolatry in our own day? Certainly it is found in the many expressions of theNew Age Movement through the vain superstitions and practices of that mystical and falsereligion. Unfortunately, such idolatry is not limited to the cults or false religions. It sometimesenters into Christian churches when men seek to worship God in ways He has not directed orprescribed, when symbols, icons, or objects are utilized as a substitute for worshiping God inspirit and truth.

Sorcery - is from the Greek word pharmakeia from which the English word "pharmaceutical"comes. And the word "pharmaceutical" has to do with drugs and various potions. In the ancientworld, the taking of drugs (especially hallucinogens) was always associated with the occult. Theword "sorceries" could also be translated "enchantment with drugs." It has extra significancetoday in light of the current widespread use of mind-destroying drugs. This drug use is not onlyin rebellion against the laws of the land, but is often connected with spiritual activity of one kindor another. It has become a substitute religion for many people.
When Paul recounted the deeds of the flesh: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idiolatry, andsorcery, I honestly believe that the Galatians were saying. "Preach it brother, preach it! Wow,look at him, coming down on sin!" It must have really tickled the ears of the Galatians becauseJudaism despised immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, and sorcery. Those were the "filthyfive."

They agreed with Paul that the "filthy five" shouldn't be practiced. What they weren't ready tohear was the rest of the list: "enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions,factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Paul grouped them together asfrom the same source. Paul categorizes the Galatians "socially acceptable" sins with those thatthey would abhor committing. He wants to impress upon the Galatians that they are acting in theflesh.

Enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying,drunkenness, carousing, and things like these are each "people" sins. They are sins that primarilyexpress themselves in how we treat others. God cares about our sexual and moral purity, and Hecares about the purity of our religion and worship. But He also passionately cares about how wetreat one another. The fact that Paul uses more words to describe these interpersonal sins showshow important our treatment of each other is to God.

All of these "natural" feelings and actions flow from us like water from a spring, and all of themwill destroy our relationships with others. Underlying each of these deadly acts is apreoccupation with self. I will care for others as long as I get what I want. I will be kind, act civil,and have a winsome attitude about me as long as I am happy and nobody disturbs my happinessor the happiness of those I love. Oh, but be the one who rocks the boat and disturbs these folkshappiness, and you would be better off attacking a momma bear with cubs!

As we look at these sins, ask yourself how often they show up in your life. Whenever you seethese sins in your life, you can know that you are not walking by the Spirit.

Enmities is from the Greek word echthra, which is hatred - an attitude of heart, and it somehowexpresses itself in actions such as contentions, outbursts of wrath, or many other works of theflesh. But hatred is the inner motivation for the ill treatment of others. Just as love is the innermotivation for the kind and good treatment of others, hatred is an inner motivation. Laws can bepassed to punish the evil men do against each other; but no law can answer the problem ofhatred, which motivates those acts.

Strife is the Greek word eris, which conveys the idea of quarreling. We can see much of thistaking place in the congregations today. They quarrel over this and quarrel over that, makingissues of things that should not be issues.

Jealousies uses a Greek word (zelos) that is sometimes used in a positive sense - as for beingzealous for something good. But here, clearly, the connotation is wrong. Jealousy refers to"someone who wants what other people have." It was this spirit which characterized Joseph'sbrothers so that they sold him into slavery. Timothy George expressed its meaning well when hewrote: "At the root of all sentiments of jealousy is the basic posture of ingratitude to God, afailure to accept one's life as a gift from God. To envy what someone else has is to fling one'sown gifts before God in unthankful rebellion and spite."

Outbursts of anger translates a Greek word (thumos), which speaks of a sudden flash of anger,not a settled state of anger. It means to lose your temper, being unable to control your anger.When you are driving, are you driving in the flesh or by the Spirit?

Disputes is the Greek word eritheia, and the word has an interesting history. It started out as aperfectly respectable word meaning: "to work for pay." Over time, it began to mean the kind ofwork that is done for money and for no other reason. Then it was used to describe politicians whocampaign for election, not for what service they can give to the government and the people, butonly for their own glory and benefit. It ended up meaning: "selfish ambition", the ambition whichhas no conception of service, and whose only aims are profit and power. It is the heart of a personwhose first question is always, "What's in it for me?"

Dissensions uses the Greek word dichostasia, and it literally means "standing apart." Romans16:17 and 1 Corinthians 3:3 translate this word as divisions.

Factions translates a Greek word hairesis, which originally simply meant: "to choose." Overtime, it came to mean someone who divisively expressed their "choices" or opinions. We thinktoday of heresies in terms of wrong ideas and teachings; but the emphasis in the word is actuallythe wrongful dividing over opinions. Heresies can be thought of as hardened dissensions. Thereis all the difference in the world between believing that we are right and believing that everyoneis wrong.

Envy is the Greek word phthonos. One doesn't so much want what someone else has (as injealousies), but one is bitter just because someone else has something and we don't. The ancientStoics called this "grief as someone else's good," and the ancient philosopher Euripides said itwas: "the greatest of all diseases among men." This is what the flesh produces.

Drunkenness and carousing can be thought of as social sins, sins that are often committed inthe company of other people. Drunkenness is clearly described as one of the works of the flesh.While Christians may differ as to whether a Christian can drink alcohol, the Scriptures preciselyforbid drunkenness.

Ephesians 5:18 (NASB) And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, butbe filled with the Spirit,

Here Paul describes drunkenness as dissipation, which means: "wastefulness." Getting drunk is awaste; for certain, the Holy Spirit never led anyone into drunkenness! We are to be controlled bythe Spirit, not by alcohol.

Our culture addresses drunkenness as an addiction which is the result of the disease ofalcoholism. Now, no one in their right mind can make the case that alcohol can't be addictive inmany people any more than certain types of drugs can be addictive. But that doesn't automaticallymake it a disease. God's Word calls it a sin, not a disease.

Carousing is the Greek word komos, which doesn't mean simply having a party or a good time. Itmeans unrestrained partying. Barclay says, "It describes the kind of revelry which lowers a man'sself and is a nuisance to others."

Now you may be thinking, "Well I certainly don't get drunk, so I don't walk in the flesh." Wellbefore you get too proud, is your life free from all of these sins? Are you free from anger andselfish ambition? And just in case you are, Paul also says, "And things like these" - thisdemonstrates that Paul understands that his list is not exhaustive. These are not the only works ofthe flesh. This is a partial list. I'm sure you could think of others.

Notice, carefully, what Paul says at the end of verse 21, "of which I forewarn you just as Ihave forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom ofGod." The word "practice" is from the Greek word Prassw, which is the verb for habitualpractice, not poiew for occasional doing.

Commenting on this verse, one man writes, "But if you could identify with any of these sins onan ongoing basis, then you should ask yourself, 'Am I really a child of God?' This is so becauseGod concludes this passage with this dire warning: "They which do such things shall not inheritthe kingdom of God."

Can any of you identify with any of these sins on an ongoing basis? Immorality, impurity,sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions,factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing. I'd be willing to bet that all of us could. Does thismean that none of us are saved?

Think with me here for a moment, could Paul have said, If you practice such things you will notinherit the kingdom of God. He could have, so why didn't he? I don't see this as a warning or athreat, but as Paul saying, This is how the unbelievers act, don't act like them.

Notice what he said in:

Galatians 5:2 (NASB) Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision,Christ will be of no benefit to you.

This is a warning: If you do this, than this will happen.

Galatians 5:15 (NASB) But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you beconsumed by one another.

Here he says, "If YOU bite and devour one another, take care lest YOU be consumed by oneanother." This is also a warning. But in verse 21 he says, "THOSE who practice such things"referring to the non-believers who are not part of the kingdom of God.

Romans 8:13 (NASB) for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but ifby the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 11:22 (NASB) Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those whofell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwiseyou also will be cut off.

Romans 13:4 (NASB) for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what isevil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God,an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.

These are all warnings of consequences that will happen to those who Paul is writing to. In ourtext there is no warning. Paul is telling the Galatians to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh,and then he gives a list of manifestations of the flesh and Spirit so we can know without a doubtif we are in the flesh or Spirit.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NASB) Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy,outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness,carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarnedyou that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Is there any exhortation or imperatives in these verses? What is Paul telling the Galatians to do inthese verses? Nothing. He is simply showing them what the flesh produces and stating the endresult of living in the flesh - not inheriting the kingdom of God.

The word "forewarn," used twice in verse 21, is the Greek word prolego, which means: "to saybeforehand." This same word is used in:

1 Thessalonians 3:4 (NASB) For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling youin advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as youknow.

There is no indication of warning here and neither is there in our text. Paul can't warn believersof the loss of the kingdom. A believer cannot loose his salvation. The life he received as a gift ofGod was ETERNAL life.

When Paul says, "those who practice such things," he is referring to those apart from Christ. Heis distinguishing the believers of the church with those who practice these things as a way of life.

Every single person who does not have God as part of his or her life goes down this path. Thatdoesn't mean people are involved with all of these things; but there are some of these that arealways a significant part of their lives. The point Paul is making is: left to itself, that's wherehumanity goes. That's where we go by nature when we take God out of the picture.

So what is he saying? He is saying that if you look at the track record of the flesh, apart from theSpirit of God, it is a track record of failure in the arena of righteousness. Then why would youtake that same flesh and use that as a means to make yourself righteous? He says it will neverwork. The flesh has a long track record of failure.

The legalist believes: Even though this is a man-eating tiger, I'm gonna' turn it into a lap cat. Butthat will never happen; that strategy is totally flawed. Therefore, there is a need for the Spirit ofGod to do what the flesh could never do. Again, flesh is defined as my own human merit. It canbe defined as my religious rituals, my religious performance, my attempts to merit righteousnessapart from God. But that isn't going to work, because, by and large, the flesh doesn't movetoward God; it drifts away from God.

There is only one way to overcome the flesh, only one way to live a life different from the worksof the flesh that Paul has described here, and that is by walking by the Spirit. Which means thatwe spend time in the Word of God so that we may know God's will; and we look to the Spirit independence to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves:

Galatians 5:16 (NASB) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out thedesire of the flesh.