Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these
verses:
19But the works of the flesh are evident, which are
(adultery), immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness, 20idolatry,
drug-abuse, hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish
ambitions, divisions, factions, 21jealousies, (murders), drunken
bouts, wild parties, and the such like these, of which I foretold to you and
told you before that those who habitually practice these things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
I think it reasonable to assert that this list, on the
whole, would be something the entire human race (believers or not) would agree
to be our “dark side.” It is our Hall of Shame. For my part, I would think it a
desponding business to attempt to explain this darkness apart from the Bible.
Why is this darkness so prevalent in the world? Why is there so much cruelty in
our world? Why is it that children (in general) must be taught to be kind but
find it quite natural to be mean? Why can’t people just “play nice?” It is
certainly true that people are capable of great virtue and seemingly selfless
heroism. But why this other “dark side?” Wherein is its source and where shall
we find its cure? Will Durant, after writing his 11-volume “Story of
Civilization” concluded, “Man is capable of much good, but much greater evil.”
The Bible, and this passage in part, gives us a very clear
explanation of our problem, while also offering us hope of a solution.
What is the problem? It is our “flesh.” It is the very
nature we were born with. Genesis 1-3 explains it all in lurid detail. We were
created in the image of God but chose to be driven not by the Spirit but by our
own base “wants,” and so plunged ourselves into an entire world, an entire
civilization, a race that, while capable of great good, unfortunately devolves
regularly into much greater evil. The passage before us is a catalog of the
kinds of behaviors into which we devolve when unchecked by a sense of moral or
virtuous restraint. Read them again and consider, is this not a very familiar
exposure of the very heart that beats inside of me? Who of all the human race
could say they know nothing of such evils? Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder,
adultery, immorality, theft, lying, and slander” (Matt
15:19).
Once again, these things are significant in
the light of the book of Galatians precisely because the human race is aware of
this dark side and the need to somehow restrain it. The very natural and
logical solution is some form of legalism. We need rules! We need better rules,
more rules, fewer rules, new rules, old-fashioned rules … rules, rules, rules.
But after 6000 years of rules, the human race is no better. This passage tells
us why. The problem is not what we do. The problem is the “us” who do it. The
problem runs far deeper than the code of ethics we propose to live by. The
problem is deeply embedded in the very nature of who we are. I do not simply
need to be reformed. I need to be re-born. If I could hope to live above this
list of evils, it means there must be some fundamental and very deep change
within me. That change, as we see in this book, is offered to us in the indwelling
Holy Spirit of God. The fruit of His influence and presence is seen in verses
22-24, "love and joy and peace …” But we shall consider that at length when we
arrive there.
For now we must deal honestly with this list
before us. This will require more than one post, so I will begin with this one,
then post more later.
First, some exegetical technicalities: In my
translation offered above, I put two words in parentheses: “adultery” and
“murders”. These two words represent textual variants. In my study, I felt the
evidence (at least what I could find) was not convincing to either include or
omit either term. I also studied the list itself to see if it was presented in
some structured order, but I couldn’t perceive any that would give me a clue
that the words should or should not be included. I seldom am satisfied to stop
at this point, but, in this case, I will. The list ends with the words, “and the such like these…” Adultery and murders certainly meet the
qualification, “such like these.” By ending the list with “and the such like these…,” Paul
obviously didn’t intend to be somehow exhaustive. In that case, the list is
neither improved nor diminished by the presence or absence of “adultery” or “murders”.
It remains a Hall of Shame either way, so I will just put them in parentheses
and move on.
There is also some textual variance in whether some of the
terms are singular or plural. I would answer those concerns with the same
argument as just given.
Now, for the listed terms themselves: There is apparently
quite a bit of scholarly (or not so scholarly) debate regarding the word at the
top of the list, porneia, which I have translated “immorality.” The scholarly
debate arises from the fact (as presented in TDNT and elsewhere) that the word
originally referred specifically to prostitution, then came to refer to the
sexual activities associated with the pagan idol-worship. There are those who
would maintain that the Bible’s prohibitions against porneia are only intended
to prevent prosititution and idol-worship, that the word does not refer to
sexual relations in general (outside of marriage). Such persons are suggesting
that only prostitution or idol-worship are prohibited and that consensual
relations are okay outside of marriage.
The arguments presented definitely had me thinking.
Sometimes it’s even scary to me but I am determined to let God tell me what is
right and wrong and not to cling to the church’s traditions, regardless of
whether they are universally held and whether or not I personally like them. I
was resolved that, if I found the views presented to in fact be supported by
the Scriptures, I had to be prepared to change my thinking … whatever that
means. Again, I confess, in this case, the thought was pretty scary. It would
be quite the bombshell to discover that our traditional views of sexuality were
not supported by the Scriptures. But, come what may, that is precisely why I
study. I want to think God’s thoughts, and so I waded in, not knowing where
this one would land me.
It didn’t take me long as I looked at the Scriptures
themselves to find what I thought was conclusive evidence that in fact, by NT
times, the word had come to refer to sexual immorality of all kinds. There are
many, many passages where the term is used but the context itself provides no
definitive clue as to what the word meant exactly. If one looks only at those
passages, it certainly is possible to attach the “prostitution, idol-worship”
understanding to the word. However, there are some passages where it is very
clear in the context what sort of activity is being referred to and I
personally feel the only defensible and final argument is to be based on those
passages.
In I Cor 5:1, Paul says, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality (porneia) among
you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his
father’s wife”.
There is nothing in this passage to suggest either prostitution or
idol-worship. The problem is plain-old, every-day, run-of-the-mill sexual sin.
A man is having sexual relations with someone other than his wife. I think such
a conclusion is obviously the natural understanding of the passage, but it is further
supported by the fact that Paul calls this particular porneia, “…of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate.”
Clearly, we’re not talking about
prostitution or idol-worship. We’re talking about deviant sexual behavior. Even
in a sex-crazed, immoral world, there are still “limits,” but once again we’re
talking about in-general sexual sin, illicit sexual relations – and Paul calls
it porneia.
Another revealing passage is I Cor 7:2, Paul says, “… because of sexual
immorality (porneia) , let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have
her own husband.” I think it reasonable to assert that no one
would understand Paul to be concerned in this passage particularly about
prostitution or idol-worship. Certainly those things would be an available outlet
for people’s sexual desires, but I hardly think it his point. It would rather
be, like today, that their culture was literally swimming in sexual sin and its
opportunities and allures. What is a person to do? “Get married,” Paul says. God’s
solution for porneia is marriage. Note here that, if porneia was
only prostitution or idol-worship, the answer would simply be to go find a nice,
consensual relationship and get your satisfaction there. If porneia, sexual sin
is only prostitution or idol-worship, and any other consensual relationship is
okay, then why limit the solution to marriage?
This understanding of the I Cor 7 text is
further reinforced by Paul’s later words, “…come
together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of
self-control.” He just mentioned the
possibility of a man and his wife abstaining from sexual relations for a time.
Again, I think it would be entirely unreasonable to understand him to be afraid
that they would fall into prostitution or idol-worship. Just like in our world,
porneia is far more available than that. It is as close as the girl at the
office. It’s as close as the magazine on the grocery store rack.
I think it completely reasonable to see in
these two passages references to porneia where the understanding is clearly
understood as any kind of sexual activity outside
of marriage. So for once (what a relief!), I believe the church’s traditional
understanding of sexuality is in fact supported by the Scriptures. Sexual
relations are only good and proper within the context of marriage. All activity
outside of that is porneia and, as we find in Galatians, condemned as a work of
the flesh.
I want to record a number of other
exegetical observations and practical conclusions, but this post needs to end,
so I will come back to the passage in another.
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