Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 4 Study # 5
May 12, 2013
Dayton, Texas
(264)
1769 Translation:
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told
you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
1901 ASV Translation:
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,
21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
24 And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.
25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.
26 Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.
- I. The "Works" of the Flesh.
- A. Sexual immorality, uncleanness, licentiousness, image worship, drug use, enmity, strife, zeal, passion, competition, separatism, opinion, envy, drunkenness, revellings.
- 1. Fifteen selected behaviors.
- 2. The "groupings".
- a. Misuse of the body.
- 1) First three: overtly sexual.
- 2) Then: "theological", but always associated with sexual impurity.
- 3) Then: "drug use", but linked to "deceit" (Revelation 18:23) and "fornication" (Revelation 18:3, 9).
- b. Misuse of others: Eight involving conflict with others.
- c. Final two: "partying" (escapist behaviors??).
- B. In detail.
- 1. "Sexual misconduct".
- a. 1 Corinthians 6:18 identifies "fornication" as a uniquely "against the body" sin as nothing else is.
- b. Romans 1:24 identifies "uncleanness" as that to which God "gave them up" so that their bodies are dishonored "between themselves".
- c. Jude 4 identifies "licentiousness" as the end result of a heinous distortion of grace. The word was apparently coined to address the idea of a complete lack of "continence", i.e. a total investment/commitment to "sex" at any/every cost.
- d. Colossians 3:5 puts "idolatry" at the end of the list of sexual perversions as an explanation of "covetousness". Somehow, a commitment to a false god leads inexorably to sexual evil.
- e. Revelation 9:21 puts "sorceries" immediately after "fornication" in its list.
- f. The Question: What is it about our sexual abilities at the physical level that is so sacred?
- 1) Paul says that it is in direct opposition to our bodies as "the temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19).
- 2) He also says that rejection of God automatically leads to the "dishonoring" of our bodies with same-sex liaisons (Romans 1:24).
- 3) It is obvious that our "bodies" are the least significant aspect of our beings so that we conclude that misconduct at the physical level is a "total" subversion of the intended state. This is in direct harmony with Paul's "walk in spirit" insistence that we put the "spirit" at the top of the priority system by which we live.