Part
1 of 2
The
Works for the Flesh
“Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revel-lings, and such like...” (Galatians
5:19-21)
Adultery
here heads the list of gross sins that the Apostle Paul calls “the
works of the flesh,” followed then by fornication and uncleanness.
Some may say “Well, my sins aren’t that gross.” They forget that
“gossip” is murder of another’s reputation. They forget that seemingly
minor common sins such as jealousy and envy are still sin. There are no
junior, senior, mortal or venial sins in God’s economy. Paul makes clear
that all men are sinners.
Apart from
God’s salvation, all mankind is lost and due to receive eternal death “…THE
SOUL THAT SINNETH, IT SHALL DIE.” (Ezekiel
18:4b).
Paul speaks
of “the works of the flesh”
in the past lives of believers as a life that which was unfruitful in
righteousness, and which would have led to their eternal “death.”
“What fruit had ye then
in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for THE
END OF THOSE THINGS IS DEATH” (Rom.6:21).
All men are
in need of God’s salvation through Christ’s atoning substitutionary
death and shed blood on the cross. Romans
3:25 (NIV) God presented him
(Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through
faith in his blood. He did this to
demonstrate his justice… God’s justice is served by Christ’s
death in our place.
Why
do all men sin?
“As
it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one:” (Romans 3:10)
“For
all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God;” (Romans
3:23)
The sinful
acts of man are the natural fruit of the Sin nature “within”
man. The secular humanist idea that prevails in the world today is that a
man does bad things only because of his external environment. But Jesus said
the man’s evil emanates “from within,
out of the heart of man, (that) proceed
evil thoughts.” Jesus said, “Whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart” (Matt.5:28)
It’s
obvious that a fruit tree’s fruit always springs from the
life and nature within
the tree. Apple trees produce apples, not oranges, because they possess
the apple tree life. Similarly, all men possess the Sin-spirit that “worketh
in” them. “Wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to
the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh IN the children of disobedience:”
(Ephesians
2:2)
The “works
of the flesh” are the automatic fruit or spontaneous natural outcome
of the Sin-spirit and nature that dwells within the flesh body-members (Rom
7:17-23) of every person. This Sin infection results in death came to all
mankind via the first man, Adam. Romans
5:12 Wherefore, as by
one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned: This is the origin of Sin nature in all mankind.
But
there is a most subtle kind of “works
of the flesh” – it is “idolatry.”
Broadly, idolatry is a term that refers to anything that
becomes more important to a man than God. It could refer to an inordinate
desire for money or possessions, or of your career, or even of another
person who becomes more important to you than God.
Idolatry
is based upon what one may hold in first place as seen by his manner of
living. Self-idolatry is observed when one relies upon and/or serves one’s
own self. Most all of us serve at least these three gods to one degree or
another – me, my self, and I.
If I rely upon myself to serve my self interest I am then acting as the god
of my own life – this is the greatest and most subtle form of idolatry.
This is much more evil than the idolatry of worshiping or revering graven
images as though they had power.