A Checklist of Immorality
Galatians 5:19 - 21 Galatians offers us the Fruits of the Spirit, as well as a long list of what we need to stop doing
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
Galatians is a wonderful epistle to read, if just for two verses — Galatians 5:22-23. These verses enumerate the Fruits of the Spirit, what the Holy Spirit brings to your life when you walk in the Spirit. Just before the list of the Fruits, Paul provides a very thorough checklist of what does not lead to eternal life.
At the top of the fleshly desires is sexual immorality, and while our current society seems to be trying its best to be as immoral as possible, it’s nothing compared to what was happening in the Roman Empire around 53-54 AD when Paul wrote this epistle. Sadly, many mainstream Christian churches are downplaying this particular variety of sin in an effort to appear “welcoming” to everyone. Leaders of these churches, perplexed at why they’re seeing less attendance at services, encourage acceptance of homosexuality, drag queen story hours for kids, gender dysphoria, pedophilia and more horrors.
Often, the command of Jesus to love your neighbor and His hanging out with lowlifes like prostitutes, drunkards, and tax collectors is misconstrued by the woke clergy as His approval of sexual immorality. They forget that in John 8:11, He told the adulterous woman to “go and sin no more”…
How about impurity? It’s also known in several translations as fornication, which the Webster Dictionary defines as “Voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons or two persons not married to each other.” The former is referred to casually as “hooking up”, the latter is adultery. This and lustful pleasures cover a bunch of other sins, including impure speech, pornography, and suggestive double entendres. The Holy Spirit doesn’t prompt these things.
Idolatry and sorcery cover religious sins. Idolatry means that you worship another god other than the Lord God revealed to us by the Bible and in the person of Jesus Christ. Many people these days serve gods of their own opinions and creation, rejecting the true and living God. Sorcery is considered the service and worship of occult and spiritual powers other than the true God. but also includes the use of drugs! Paul used the word pharmakeia in the original language, the root of the word “pharmacy”. The taking of hallucinogens was associated with the occult both in past times and now. Once again, the Holy Spirit doesn’t lead us into rejecting God, nor does He lead us into occult practices or drug use.
Next up? People sins — hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, and envy. These are the most likely sins for us to commit. Hostility is the root of so many of the evils that mankind engages in, resulting in quarreling and worse. Jealousy? The desire to have what someone else has. Outbursts of anger are losing one’s temper and having uncontrollable rage at another person. Selfish ambition? The Greek word for this — erithea — originally meant to work for pay, but as politics developed, it changed meaning to describe those who ran for office not to serve the people, but their own profit and power. Dissensions and divisions describe our present 21st Century society so perfectly, where humankind flies apart instead of joining together to solve the world’s ills. And envy? It’s different from jealousy in that the Greek root — phthonos — describes bitterness at somebody else having something we don’t. The Holy Spirit doesn’t produce any of these sins — we do.
Finally we get to social sins that are committed in the company of others. While drunkenness and wild (unrestrained) parties may sound like a lot of fun, they can lead to many other sins. The Bible contains no restrictions on drinking alcohol, but drinking with the intention of being impaired by alcohol is indeed a sin. The Holy Spirit doesn’t ask us to go out and party hearty, but rather to enjoy the companionship of others with restraint.
Paul knew humanity all too well when he wrote this and his other epistles, and Galatians 5:19-21 serves as a checklist of what we as Christians should avoid doing. Fortunately, Paul followed up this dark path with his Fruits of the Spirit, giving Christians throughout the ages a light-filled way to vanquish the sins of the flesh.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father, we attempt to walk in the Spirit, but often find ourselves repeatedly gratifying the desires of the flesh. Please be our guide, leading us away from sexual immorality and impurity, idolatry and superstition, drugs and drunkenness, and from envy, jealousy, and rivalry. Restrain the evil one, and keep us from doing what we should not even think of. Protect our friendships and families from anger and animosity. We pray for your guidance and thank You for Your commandments in Jesus’ name, AMEN.