Galatians 5:22,23 – John 14-16 Fulfilled

Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith[fullness], ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

First of all, this presentation of “fruit” led me back to John 15 and Jesus’ familiar words, “I am the vine, you are the branches, he that abides in Me, the same brings forth much fruit” (15:5). As I read that entire section again, I realized that, in a sense, Galatians 5 is a fulfillment of John 14-16, “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth … for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you … When He, the Spirit of truth is come …” (14:16-17;15:26; 16:7,13). As we’ve studied earlier, the enormous difference between the Old and New Testaments is this prophesied indwelling Holy Spirit. Under the Spirit’s “tutelage” through the Law, some men like David or Daniel or Samuel could attain to significant levels of spiritual maturity. But the potential was nothing like what is available to us, to us as believers during the church age, when the Holy Spirit actually takes up residence in our very hearts. The passage before us tells us not what the Law requires of us but rather the fruit which will result when we embrace the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance. I suppose the disciples couldn’t understand what Jesus meant when He said, “If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bring forth much fruit.” I can imagine them pondering the question, “How can I make Jesus ‘abide’ in me?” and really coming up with no idea of what it might mean. Then came the Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into their hearts. Suddenly the “If I abide in you” was taken care of! The challenge now is for us to respond by “abiding in Him;” and the more we do, the more “fruit” we’ll bear. The more we allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to mold who we are, the more love and joy and peace we’ll know. If anyone stumbles across this post, I would highly recommend you go back and read all the way through John 14, 15, and 16. I think it is infinitely more meaningful in light of Galatians 5! What Jesus was describing, and which the disciples probably weren’t even capable of understanding (at the time), was this entirely new relationship, not driven by Law but by the indwelling Spirit. Understanding that, to me makes John 14 --16 an entirely more insightful read.

To me, it also makes it even clearer that the way of the Spirit, of grace, of New Covenant living, is far, far better than the way of legalism, of rule-keeping, of the law-tutelage of the Old Testament. It has always puzzled me to see what a bunch of bungling blockheads the disciples were in the Gospels, then how totally changed they were after Pentecost. Jesus had told them in John 16:7, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” It grieved them deeply to “lose” Jesus, yet His very death and departure meant that the way was provided, the way of grace, the way of blood-bought forgiveness and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

It seemed like they barely understood anything He said to them, but in John 16:12,13, he had said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Nevertheless, when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth …”

I guess where this gets practical is that pretty much my whole Christian life, I have felt way too much like the disciples – a bungling blockhead who can barely “get it right.” I believe now that much of that was because I was trying to live out my faith just like them, basically trying to “do it on my own” with the Holy Spirit as a sort of distant “helper”. I was living like the Holy Spirit was “with me” but not embracing the enormity of His presence “in me.” That is the way of legalism – here are the rules, now keep them. Even if we say, “Here are Biblical principles, now do it,” we are still being OT legalists unless we embrace grace and the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. It is not a simple cold, “Do this and live.” It is something more like, “By grace you are alive, now do this!” That may seem a subtle difference to some but I think it is altogether the difference between the Law’s tutelage and the fullness of grace. And the way of grace doesn’t simply make me a good “rule-keeper” (and hence a proud, cruel, judgmental Pharisee), it transforms my very being into a person of love and joy and peace. It truly changes me from the inside-out. That is what happened to the disciples and it is what God wants to happen to us.

I still don’t know if I have grasped but a tiny corner of this truth but I do see it is there. I think I do see my mistake and vaguely how to live out grace not law. We are living the fulfillment of John 14-16. May God grant me the grace to in fact live it out.

I still need to jot down some thoughts about the nine fruits themselves. I will try to do that in my next post.

Galatians 5:22,23 – Exegetical Matters

Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith[fullness], ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Here’s another place where I almost feel like I need to take off my shoes just to study. All of God’s Word is, of course, holy ground, but this passage is one of those that really stands out to me. Here it is, all in a nutshell. The bottom-line. What it’s all about. In a sense, here is Jesus “defined.” When I say, “I want to be like Christ,” here is what it means in two little verses. When I say I want to grow, I want to “walk in the Spirit,” here is what God wants me to mean. In a sense, this passage condenses all 66 books of the Bible into two verses. When Jesus says the two great commands are to love, this is what love will look like. I feel I could just sit and stare at these two verses for hours.

But first, some very technical exegetical matters. I looked intently at the list of the works of the flesh to try to discern some order but could find none. I even suspected that list was deliberately not orderly. Sin produces chaos, not order, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Paul deliberately threw down that list chaotically to paint that very picture. But the fruit of the Spirit is something entirely different. God is a God of perfect order. I was not at all surprised to find that these two verses contain (in Greek) exactly 21 words, which form a perfect 3x7matrix. 3 of course is God’s number and 7 is the number of perfection and completion. And just to prove that the matrix is deliberate, the fruit of the Spirit themselves (there are 9 of them) form a perfect 3x3 matrix precisely in the middle of the 3x7. There are exactly 6 words before the 9 fruit of the Spirit and exactly 6 words after.

See the matrix depicted in the following. The first is the matrix in English. The words in brackets [---] are words that have to be added to make sense in English but they are not present in the Greek. In the second chart I have included only the Greek words. See below:

Here is a case where we can not only admire the order of God’s Word; I believe the order helps us with some exegetical matters. First of all, I have heard the following suggested over the years: Someone noted that the sentence reads “the fruit of the Spirit is…” The word “is” is of course singular, yet there are 9 “fruits” of the Spirit. One could expect the sentence to read “the fruits of the Spirit are …” Why the singular? Whoever was discussing this observation suggested that the fruit of the Spirit is actually love (singularly) and the rest of words listed are explaining what love is. That may be true in a sense. Love certainly expresses itself in all the other 8 qualities. However, when love is simply one of 9 qualities grouped in a 3x3 matrix, the implication from that order would be that Paul did not intend to “pull out” love and make it stand separately. I think, based on the order, we simply have to understand the word fruit in its natural sense as a collective singular. One doesn’t speak of a “bowl of fruits.” Even if there are nine different kinds of fruit in a bowl, it is still a “bowl of fruit” and we would speak of it singularly, “The fruit in the bowl is very attractive.” In this case, Paul’s order confirms the natural understanding of the terms.

Secondly, there were apparently two textual variants which added a tenth word to the list. One added “hupomone,” which we would normally translate “endurance.” It is the other “patience” word. The word which is the fourth “fruit” and which I translate “patience” is the word makrothumia and means almost literally “long-fused.” We’re all familiar with people who are “short-fused.” The Spirit’s presence makes us “long-fused” or “slow to anger.” Now it is also true that His presence makes us people of endurance. The immediate question, though, is whether “endurance” really did appear at the end of Paul’s list here. The other word which added a tenth was “hagneia,” which is normally translated “purity.” As with endurance, purity is certainly an important word and no doubt a fruit of the Spirit in our lives. However, as important as both words may be, I would suggest that the perfect order of the matrix argues against the inclusion of either. If there are 10 fruits of the Spirit, then there is no matrix at all. For myself, I think the order is deliberate in a perfect 3x7 matrix with a 3x3 exactly in the middle, in a premier passage of what God’s perfect presence means in our lives. I believe in this case, the order would lead us to say that neither hupomone nor hagneia were a part of the original text.

Having made both these observations, I would still say it is notable that love is the first in the list and it is also certainly notable that endurance and purity are both fruits of the Spirit in our lives. All of that truth is supported elsewhere in the Scriptures. My only issue here is to be exegetically precise with the specific passage before us. While love may be at the top of the list, in this case it is not somehow to be understood as summarizing the rest. And while endurance and purity may be important, they simply are not specifically being addressed in this passage. As always, I believe the careful exegete’s first task is in fact to “rightly divide” the Word of God, to determine to whatever extent possible in any given passage exactly what God has said and what He has not said. Only after I’ve completed that investigation am I really ready to confidently and authoritatively proceed to valid interpretations and applications.

I will publish this for now and then come back and look more at the passage.

Galatians 5:19-21 – Hall of Shame 4

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 (or 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 just noticed a mistake I’ve been making with the text. In v19, there is a textual variant that adds moikeia (adultery) to the list. I have been thinking the textual variant in v21 similarly adds “murders.” However, in that case, it is a question of whether the word is “jealousies” or “murders.” It’s not a matter of adding a term but deciding which term was intended. The word for jealousies is phthonoi while the word for murders is phonoi. In Greek the only difference is the letter which makes the “th” sound and somehow as the documents were copied, the “th” either got added or deleted. I personally think the evidence is inconclusive to confidently assert one or the other; but, as I’ve said, I don’t think it really makes any difference. The list is a Hall of Shame. Either word qualifies and Paul concludes with “and the such like these.” So, anyway, its not a matter of whether or not to add “murders” but instead it is a matter of whether the original word was “jealousies” or “murders.” Not a big deal in a sense except that I think it of paramount importance to first try to clearly establish exactly what God says and what He does not (“rightly dividing”). Only after that are we really in a position to consider applications.

Another aspect of the passage I find curious. Paul begins this passage by saying, “But the works of the flesh are evident, which are…” I wonder why he begins with: “the works of the flesh are evident…” Why didn’t he just say, “The works of the flesh are …” He will go on in v22 to say, “But the fruit of the Spirit is …” Hmmm. Curious. What’s the point of stating that they’re “evident”? I don’t know. I wonder if he is referring to the fact that, generally speaking the entire human race, religious or secular, would generally agree that the list is our Hall of Shame. There is a collective sense of our dark side. If that is true, then he is certainly right to say they’re “evident”. Perhaps he needs to say that so people can’t pick and choose in the list and disagree whether certain things should be included. Perhaps he’s anticipating that and saying, “Oh, come on, the whole world and all down through history, these are the kinds of things all cultures recognize as ‘evil.’” I don’t know. Curious. But it is all God’s Word. Nothing is there without reason. When I don’t see the reason, it is always either my ignorance or my immaturity. As I learn and the Lord helps me grow, sometimes I can come back later and say, “Duh. Of course.” This will probably have to be one of those.

Probably one last observation from the text: in v21 Paul warns, “those who habitually practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” The old KJV translated this: “those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Yikes! Those who do such things! That translation would make any honest person’s hair stand on end. As I have said before, I realize that I cannot not do these things. It is only the indwelling Holy Spirit that enables me to fight against them, and it is my shame that I fare so poorly even with His presence. If Heaven is lost for simply “doing” them then all are lost. Fortunately, in this case the Greek comes to our rescue. Robertson says of the Greek verb for “doing” (prasso) that it is “the verb for habitual practice, not poieo [the one for] occasional doing. The habit of these sins is proof that one is not in the Kingdom of God and will not inherit it.”

It is very encouraging to know that the Holy Spirit, being present, is like the blind man’s guide, always nudging us toward the right. That is why I believe this statement is true. An indwelt believer can commit any sin in the book, can walk down one wrong path after another, and generally botch the whole show, yet there is always that force within them, that still, small voice, saying, “Here is the way, walk ye in it.” Unbelievers may be able to plod along in their sins basically unmolested by any sense of wrong, but an indwelt believer, in the long run at least, cannot escape the awareness that he is either doing right or wrong. That is why, in the long run at least, he cannot “habitually practice these things.”

I suppose I should point out that this list is God’s list of our Hall of Shame. Is it ours? I fear too many people, too many churches would put together a list very different than this. I know I certainly have. That is one of the tragedies of legalism, that we make up our own list of “do’s and don’ts” and our list then eclipses God’s. We actually need to mentally ponder God’s lists of what is good and what is evil, so that our hearts keep His standards, not ours.

My, this has been quite a study. I hope it is true I am more aware that my personal meanness is included in a list of evil right alongside immorality, idolatry, drug-abuse, and drunkenness. Personal meanness is a work of the flesh. I also hope it in some way helps to realize that I don’t hate the things God hates. I should. My hope is that even that little spark of realization can grow in time to actually change me. And I hope I will have a sharper perception of exactly what really is evil, having studied this particular listing of my life from God’s perspective.

Next in line is to study the positive side of all of this, the fruit of the Spirit. Can I confess I am aware of an attitude somewhere lurking in my heart that “I already know all of that.” “I’ve studied that before.” Instead of that attitude, may the Lord show me things in the fruit of the Spirit that rock my world. As I do the work of study, may I really have a teachable heart. Regardless of my proud, arrogant heart, the fact is that I cannot possibly understand but a tiny bit of what all the fruit of the Spirit is or what it means in my life. As I’ve lamented before, I am disappointed how little of the fruit of the Spirit I am able to practice, in spite of the fact that He indwells me. Perhaps studying the passage will in some way help me do a better job of allowing Him to guide me. I guess what I’m confessing is that here I am again, in my heart of hearts doubting that I’ll learn anything, when time and time again He has blown me away, and done “exceedingly, abundantly above anything I could have asked or thought.” Here’s believing He’ll do it again …

Galatians 5:19-21 – Hall of Shame 3

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.

In my previous posts I recorded some of the technical details in this passage; now for some more practical observations. First of all, it’s interesting to me that porneia (immorality) is at the top of the list. I don’t necessarily think there is any order at all to the list, yet, still, there it is, sexual sin at the top of the list. Our pastor last Sunday made the observation that knowing God not only means loving what He loves, it also means hating what He hates. Hmmmm. One of those things where my heart wonders if it really is seeing things through God’s eyes. Food for thought. What is mean is, yes, of course that is bad, but would it be at the top of my list of things I hate?

Second, I think it is revealing to me just to pause and consider this list. I think it is probably true of all of us that when we think of “works of the flesh” our minds naturally go to the immorality, drunken bouts, and wild parties.  Since I “don’t do that” I can then sit off to the side, congratulate myself, and go on unchanged. But that is not all that is in the list. It is interesting that Martin Luther made the same observation 500 years ago:

“I do not deny that the lust of the flesh includes carnal lust. But it takes in more. It takes in all the corrupt desires with which the believers are more or less infected, as pride, hatred, covetousness, impatience ...”

“But it takes in more.”   We have in our list five words for what we (and Luther) call carnal lusts: immorality, uncleanness, lasciviousness, drunken bouts, and wild parties. We also have idolatry and drug abuse. That makes seven and pretty well ends the list. Right? No. There are eight more. Eight. The group which actually makes up the single largest category in the list. And what are they? Go back and read them and see.

I don’t know if I’ve ever really looked this straight in the face. Most of the sins in the “works of the flesh” are what? They are just plain personal meanness: hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, jealousies, and some texts even follow all of this with murders!

Once again, I don’t think Paul intended this list itself to be exhaustive or in any particular order, but still it is worthy of note that these sins of personal meanness represent 8 of the 15 sins (more than half) and if you include the “murders” you’re up to 9!

As I alluded above, I suspect it has always been the tendency of believers to congratulate themselves that they don’t participate in what we might call the grosser sins of the list, then allow the sins of meanness to go unnoted. It saddens my heart to think that in too many churches par for the course is “hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, and jealousies”. On the way to a business meeting, a young child told her mother, “I don’t like to go to yelling meetings.” Yikes. And we wonder why so many young people grow up to “leave the church and never return.” Someone important once said, “By this shall all men know you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

Case in point once again is the very Reformation itself. I have enormous respect for Martin Luther and for John Calvin all of the men who risked their lives (many lost them) to reestablish the Bible as the supreme authority. But sadly their history is blackened by “hostilities, quarrels, envies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, divisions, factions, and jealousies”. As I have lamented before, only ten years after Luther lit the Reformation’s spark, protestants were murdering each other. And so it has continued down through the centuries. It is “okay” to be a Christian, to even be a leader in fundamental, evangelical circles and yet be a person who in reality is just plain mean. As long as you aren’t immoral (well, not in any ways that anyone else finds out about) and as long as you don’t attend wild parties, it is totally okay to be a hateful, mean-spirited person. In fact, you might even be praised for being so “militant.” Nice word but personally I’ve never been impressed. If the Bible really is the authority, then we need to let it speak … and what it is saying in Galatians 5:19-21 is that God doesn’t approve. Whether church groups do or don’t, God doesn’t. I wish somehow we could shout that from a rooftop.

But, of course, the biggest rooftop I need to shout it from is my own heart. When I look at myself, it is no wonder church “groups” are so mean-spirited. If everyone else is like me (and they are), then we are a collection of mean-spirited people. This is the very point I’ve been lamenting for some time. I wish the Spirit’s indwelling made a bigger difference in me. I think to myself, “Here I am, indwelt by the very third Person of the Trinity, with all that infinite wisdom and power and love so available to be my spirit, and yet still here I am a petty, discontent, impatient, easily angered, selfish little buffoon.” Guess I need to talk to myself like Luther: “Martin, you will never be without sin, for you have flesh. Despair not, but resist the flesh.” 

One of the commentators pointed out it is actually good for us to feel this nearly inconquerable struggle. He pointed out that it should keep our hearts constantly running back again to our real refuge, which is Christ Himself. If we will fight the battle, it is there to keep us humbled. Yes, I am myself a sinner. Yes, I struggle to maintain even a minimal representation of the person I should be. Even indwelt by the very Holy Spirit of God, I still do a miserable job of living out the Christ my heart really does love. The good news is that, as we studied above, the Holy Spirit Himself is inconquerable. He will be our guide, nudging us toward the right path, even though we spend most of our time off of it.

I guess what is important here in Galatians 5:19-21 is for us all to clearly and definitively see that our personal meanness is not okay; it is (and should be) a major part of our own personal Hall of Shame. It is NOT acceptable to God, and I need in my own heart to fight it (and hate it) and seek to keep it out of my life, just as much as I might “immorality, idolatry, drunkenness and wild parties”. My heart cannot be congratulating itself that I haven’t worshipped any idols or been to any “wild parties” lately, then be letting down the guard on my meanness. Both are my shame and both should be fought against. “We have seen the enemy, and he is ___.”

I guess the other thing I should do, since we are studying Galatians, is to point out once again, the answer to the struggle is not rules. That in a sense is the whole point of this book. I am reminded again of Michael W. Smith’s words,

“You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart …”

God help me to let the Holy Spirit be changing my heart as I seek to let Him change my behavior. May I not pick and choose from my Hall of Shame but determine to fight against all of it. As I would even try, may my successes be His glory and may my failures keep my heart leaning on Jesus’ breast.

Galatians 5:19-21 – Hall of Shame 2

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.

In my previous post I looked at some textual issues and the meaning of the word porneia, which I’ve translated “immorality.” A couple more thoughts on word meanings: In support of the authenticity of the word “moikeia” (adultery) at the top of the list, something I hadn’t thought about before – when considering words for sexual sin, it is important to realize the enormous cultural double-standard of the ancient world. In their minds, a married woman was expected to be totally faithful to her husband. For her to do otherwise was clearly “moikea” (adultery), to which all would agree even today. However, it was completely acceptable for men to be unfaithful, as long as it wasn’t with another man’s wife. For men, it was only “moikea” (adultery) if he was violating someone else’s marriage. According to sources I read, that is one reason why, in Biblical discussions of sexual sins, the two words porneia (immorality) and moikea (adultery) get listed together. If you only listed adultery, the men would excuse their “fillies” and go on. Culturally speaking, you had to corner them by calling it porneia (immorality). Hence, Biblically, the two words often appeared together, which would support that occurrence in this passage. On the other hand, porneia does cover it all and so could stand alone in an intentionally brief and deliberately summary list like this.

Another interesting word in the list is pharmakeia, which I have translated “drug abuse.” Obviously, we get our word “pharmacy” from this Greek word. Most versions translate it something like “witchcraft” or “sorcery”. Most of my theological lexicons make much of the connection between drugs and witchcraft. Interestingly, though, I also have a Greek/English dictionary that is entirely secular and it gives the definition as simply “drug abuse.” I often consult this dictionary being all too aware that presuppositions can influence theological discussions just the same as any other. I wonder if our “religious” mindset doesn’t predispose us to look for something beyond the simple meaning of “drug abuse.” Or is it possible that we think drug abuse is a modern problem?

This word and same discussion occur in Revelation 9:21: “Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”  Notice the word in the middle “magic arts.” This is our word pharmakeia. Of 18 translations I consulted they all translated it either “magic arts,”  “witchcraft,” or “sorceries.” Given my secular dictionary’s definition, and the simple meaning of the word, the verse could instead be translated, “Nor did they repent of their murders, their drug abuse, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Considering that this is a reference to people in the Last Days (something not too distant from right now!), I would almost suggest this translation would fit our world better. On the other hand, in defense of the “magic arts” translation would be the fact that it appears right next to the word “idolatry.” Perhaps Paul did intend the word to be understood in a religious context, in which case “magic arts, witchcraft, or sorceries” would be the appropriate translation, as these activities did involve extensive use of drugs. I will leave the matter, once again acknowledging Paul’s final “… and the such like these.” In fact, whether we’re considering drug abuse or witchcraft, either one could rightfully be included in this Hall of Shame.

Having presented my various technical observations, there are a few practical implications I want to record, however I will close this post and record them in the next.

Galatians 5:19-21 – Hall of Shame 1

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.

Galatians 5:13-23 – Born Again

Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³For brothers you were called upon freedom. Only [do not use] that freedom into an opportunity to the flesh, but be serving one another through the love; ¹⁴for all the law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But beware, if you are biting and devouring each other, lest you are consumed by one another.

¹⁶But, I say, be walking [in the] Spirit, and you absolutely will not fulfill the lust of [the] flesh, ¹⁷for the flesh is lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, so that you cannot be doing the things you might be wishing; ¹⁸but if you are being led [by the] Spirit, you are not under law.

…²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As an almost parallel passage, I like what Romans 8:3,4  says:

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

“… what the law could not do …” Just think, if the law could do it, then we would not need a Savior. If we could do anything, it would be to keep rules. As the hapless Israelites delusively chanted, “All that the Lord commands us, we will do.” But they didn’t and they couldn’t and we can’t either. Our rule-keeper is broken. We want too much. The law cannot do it because we cannot do it. There has to be another way. And there is.

“… God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh…” Jesus. Always Jesus. We need a Savior and it is Him. He is the very gift of grace itself. When we say we’re saved by grace, when we say we’re loved by grace, when we say we walk by grace, when we sing “Amazing Grace,” we’re talking about Jesus. He is our blood-bought forgiveness; and the indwelling Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Stop a minute and think about those words: “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us…” Once again, as a freed man, it’s not that I long to be free of law. It’s God’s law. I was created to be “right.” I love Him who first loved me. My only problem with law is that I can’t do it. Yet, this passage says,“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us…”

And how is it possible that “the law might be fulfilled in me” if I can’t do it? It happens in those “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Once again, the big problem is not that I do wrong, which I could presumably correct by doing right. The big problem is that I am wrong. The problem is not that I don’t do good. The problem is that I am not good. The real change which needs to occur goes far, far deeper than just me keeping the right rules; and all of this is why His Spirit is an indwelling Spirit. He doesn’t just hang around and help us do right – He takes up residence in our hearts to actually help us be right.

His indwelling now means there is a power present inside of me that can actually conquer my rotten spirit, my rotten me. The key is to allow myself to “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” – to not be driven by my wanter but by the Spirit who wants me to love.

All of this is why, I believe, as we are about to see in Galatians, they are the “works” of the flesh or the “fruit” of the Spirit. The “works” are totally me. It’s what I do naturally. But in Christ there can be a new natural. If I allow the indwelling Spirit to guide me, to be my spirit, my mind, my attitude, my wanter, the “me” He produces lives love and joy and peace.

Our Jesus truly saves “to the uttermost.” It’s all grace -- Not just some new rules but born again!