Entrance to God’s kingdom is not by our moral or physical efforts, but by grace alone made new everyday by the Spirit of God in us, through the work of Christ completed on the cross in our place.
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 NASB
Paul, concerned with teaching of false teachers, Judaizers, in Galatia writes this urgent, impassioned letter to this fledgling little church warning them that only Jesus offers salvation, not adherence to Jewish Law. That being said, there are ways of living out their faith that free them from the works of the flesh and the innate sinful nature we all battle against. Paul doesn’t call these new followers of “The Way” to create a strict checklist of rules that shackle them in a new, different way but rather embrace the grace Jesus died to offer them and to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit given to them.
Paul wanted his readers to be aware of the ongoing war in the flesh against the Spirit of God within them; “flesh” being our fallen nature, not the physical body that Jesus Himself took on when He walked on the earth and into resurrection. Paul is speaking to those actions the Spirit would never manifest in the children of God but are common to all of us which rage war and battle against our desire to live righteously. These battles are common to all of us no matter how hard we try to extinguish them from our lives. Even if we try to deny their presence, in the quiet we know they are there, lurking in the shadows of our mind and soul waiting to have their way in and through us. We live in a culture that may celebrate and even defend such acts; to be very clear, it is rebellion to our Beloved and it damages our relationships, with God and with others. It damages our character and impacts our wellbeing. Such acts are part of our old life and no longer belong to us, those who walk by the Spirit. Honestly, we will probably battle them until we draw our last breath here on earth.
I see Paul’s list as sins that will decay and rot your soul. While not exhaustive, the categories he presents cover all that we may encounter in our regular day-to-day lives. First, are the sexual sins, basically all sexual acts outside of God’s design and intent for our sexuality. The churches of Galatia lived in the midst of a pagan society where, like our society, sexual acts outside the context of covenant marriage were common reducing the gift of our sexuality from a holy one to one of self-gratification. This would also be extended to moral uncleanliness displayed in forms of corrupt desires, fantasy, thoughts, coarse speech, shameless indulgences, and other actions that would rot our inner life. God calls us to pursue the purity of heart made possible only by the blood Jesus shed on the cross with the help of the Holy Spirit in each of us that call Him Lord, King, Sanctifier, and Healer.
The next would be the religious or spiritual sins, those that turn us away from God seeking spiritual power and guidance elsewhere. This false spiritual power, a form of idolatry, blatantly rejects God’s sovereignty. It turns our hearts away from the God who loves us and opens doors to deceit, and spiritual bondage threatening to ensnare us deep within our mind and soul in ways we may never fully understand until we are trapped.
Paul then moves on to the social and relational sins, which I think may be more common than we would like to admit. These sins destroy the love, peace, joy, and community God desires among His people. The very things that witness to His goodness bringing light into the darkness of our culture and world as people set apart to bring heaven to earth. Hatred/hostility, strife/quarreling, jealousy/rage, division/factions, selfish ambition/rivalry between us create fractures within our community, competition between one another, and cause people to choose sides rather than choosing Jesus. These acts work against the Holy Spirit’s good work of creating a unified community marked by love, patience, and reconciliation living in truth, humility and at peace with one another.
The final category wraps up all that was not previously covered with a stern warning. Rather than celebrating with another’s blessing, envy feeds bitterness and division. Drunkenness (mind-altering substances) inhibit our self-control and open doors to other sins we would never have considered or engaged in otherwise. We are called to be alert and spiritually watchful. The carousing Paul is referring to here was the reckless drunken feasting and sensual exploitations, often associated with pagan celebrations of the time. Excesses which treat our bodies as playthings rather than temples of the Holy Spirit. Believe me, these still exist in our culture!! Like Paul, I say be aware, be alert to those things that are persistent and unrepented in your lives…they will not only rot your soul but steal all the goodness God intends for you in this life and maybe even into eternity. By refusing to acknowledge and repent of habitual sins, it reflects the ways our lives are still ruled by the flesh, not the Spirit of the living God. Yes, we will stumble and at times come crashing down hard, needing a big portion of God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness but never, never my dear brothers and sisters, settle for a pattern of unrepentance and rebellion against Jesus’ transformational reign in our hearts and lives.
Entrance to God’s kingdom is not by our moral or physical efforts but by the grace alone made new everyday by the Spirit of God in us, and the work of Christ completed on the cross in our place. Only by walking hand-in-hand with the Spirit, day-by-day, moment-by-moment can we have lasting victory over the desires of the flesh and those behaviors that we cannot beat on our own. My invitation to you is to spend some time in the quiet. Ask the Spirit to search your heart, search your life. What comes to the surface? The Spirit will help you overcome…that is His role but He will not act unless you allow Him to.
Fondly,
Melody
