The Two-Hundred-Thirty-Seventh (Galatians Part 10)

I hope your week went well!  Did you wake up for the blood moon Thursday night? We’re getting into what I consider the best section of Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia.  This is where Paul contrasts walking according to the spirit and walking according to the flesh.  To me, it’s the best section in this letter, and one of the best sections in any of Paul’s letters, because it’s one of the few passages that gets a little more specific in how believers are supposed to act.

We’ve talked before about making sure we don’t fall into the trap of legalism in our worship and servitude of YHWH, and that sentiment includes this passage even though it doesn’t necessarily have commandments, per se.  Paul lists the acts of the flesh, but leaves it open ended by saying “and the like” (Galatians 5:21).  So, the list he provides is not all encompassing and we certainly shouldn’t look at it that way.  

What we do find in Paul’s list though, is that not only are many of the things he lists a “root” to committing acts against that overarching guideline, they are also the basis for many of the commandments in YHWH’s Law.  Not only that, some of them follow Yeshua’s example of looking inwardly at how to obey YHWH and live according to His desires rather than the previous view of ensuring physical actions comply with commandments. It’s a matter of a person’s heart, rather than what they do.

Starting with verse sixteen, we see what is likely the first time the idea of walking in the spirit occurs in writings to believers (Galatians 5:16).  This letter is believed to be one of the first, if not the first, book of the New Testament written.  Quite literally, Paul tells the Galatians to “spirit walk,” and it stands to reason that this is the first time they’re hearing this given Paul goes on to outline what the difference is between spirit walking and flesh walking.

Yeshua had presented the idea of there being a dichotomy in man previously (Matthew 26:42, Mark 14:38).  He was in Gethsemane with Peter, James and John, praying right before He was betrayed by Judas, and when He found the disciples asleep, He stated that the “spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  This dichotomy is something important for us to understand as believers.

Unless we realize that in a way we are at war inside ourselves daily, we will never understand how we can truly walk according to the spirit.  As born again believers, we have regenerated spirits (Titus 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 3:5), but we are still living in a sinful flesh.  We cannot assume that every desire we have is associated with our regenerated spirit, and as a result we need to test our desires every time we have them.

What Paul presents in this letter is the fact that the two aspects of our person not only have their own desires, but those desires oppose each other (Galatians 5:17).  While our regenerated spirit is in communion and contact with the Holy Spirit, being led by it, our flesh is still the same sinful flesh that has been passed down from generation to generation all the way from Adam and Eve.  Our spirit desires the Holy Spirit to be satisfied, and our flesh desires itself to be satisfied.

One important thing to note in Paul’s statement is something I believe most translations get wrong.  Or at least they give the wrong impression.  Many of the translations have Paul’s statement as something to the effect of, “walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh,” however, the literal translation of the Greek is something slightly different.

In the Greek, Paul’s statement is that the Galatians “should not” gratify the flesh rather than they “will not.”  This is important because in the latter version it makes it seem like a believer doesn’t have to worry about the possibility of fulfilling the desires of the flesh.  Whereas, in the former version it tells the believer that they should walk in the spirit and should not gratify the desires of the flesh.  In other words, just because the believer is walking according to the spirit and producing the fruit of the spirit, they should not assume that they are not gratifying the flesh no matter what action they take in any given situation.

To help understand this nuance, it’s probably worth an example, and what better example than sexual immorality in the church.  I know for a fact that there are adulterers and practicing homosexuals in churches today.  I’m sure that at least some of those people exhibit at least one, if not all, of the fruits of the spirit.  There’s more than one example I’ve heard of congregations being completely shocked that someone was committing adultery.  However, while these believers are exhibiting the fruits of the spirit, they’re also engaging in the acts of the flesh, gratifying its desires.  

It’s not one or the other, it’s one and not the other, and scripture echoes this constant battle we must face.  Paul himself talks about doing things he does not want to do and the fact that it’s sin in his flesh that’s causing him to do it (Romans 7:15-20).  When he wrote that, he was a born again believer, complete with a regenerated spirit and baptized.  We cannot assume that because we’re believers walking in the spirit that no matter what we do we are not gratifying the flesh.  

One of the things Paul echoes here from Yeshua’s ministry is that we who are in Yeshua must deny our flesh to follow Him (Galatians 5:24).  The cornerstone of being a disciple of Yeshua is denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Him (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23).  The way we do that is by testing our desires against YHWH’s word and Yeshua’s teaching, and turning away from the ones that don’t follow Them.  

I saw a video not too long ago of someone addressing the dilemma of how to approach someone who says homosexuality is just how YHWH made someone, so why would He make them that way if He is against homosexuality?  While I disagree with the basic premise that someone is born homosexual, this person talked about how Yeshua called His disciples to deny themselves in order to follow Him.  What is a bigger example of putting that into practice than a believer denying practicing their homosexuality as a disciple of Yeshua?  And this goes for any believer, by the way.  It may not be homosexuality, but everyone has a desire of the flesh that they are predisposed to gratifying.  Perhaps it’s greed, or perhaps it’s arguing for the sake of arguing, but we are called to deny that desire in our walk with Yeshua.

Paul describes spirit walking as being led by the spirit, and the word he uses for led means “under the authority of” (Galatians 5:18).  He again emphasizes the fact that believers are not under the authority of the law, but under the authority of the Holy Spirit.  He goes on to give a partial list of the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).

We’re going to hit the highlights of some of these acts rather than going one by one, but the first thing to realize is that there are a few of them that seem to be redundant until you start looking at the Greek word rather than the English translation.  For instance, it would seem like “envyings” and “jealousy” are synonymous, but the Greek word used for jealousy is the same as that used for being zealous.  The idea is that the negative connotation of that word, as Paul used it, is about having a contentious rivalry with someone, while the Greek word for envyings more closely aligns with what we consider jealousy.

Another seeming set of synonyms is divisions/rivalries, dissentions and factions.  In fact, if you look across all the different translations, it seems these are all used interchangeably as you find some translate the same Greek word to divisions while others translate it to dissension and vice versa.  Looking at the Greek, one of the words actually means a self-seeking attitude that leads to division and conflict.  Another one means groundless separation into opposing factions or parties (meaning they both agree but are still opposed to each other), and the last one means a separation in to different sects based on a difference in doctrines/teachings.  The separation of the Pharisees and Sadducees were an example of this last category.

Why is it important to point these different ideas out?  Why can’t we just say disunity is an act of the flesh and move on?  Because what Paul did here is point out pretty much every different way a group of people splits themselves up, and by doing that you can’t justify separating the body of believers into factions or parties just because it doesn’t fall under the specific definition of one word or another.  Paul is saying that whether believers separate based on not liking each other for some reason, based on having some different doctrines, or based on being selfish and self-seeking, those separations are all acts of the flesh and gratifying the desires of the flesh.  

Some other acts of the flesh that need to be clarified are sexual immorality, debauchery, sorcery and idolatry.  Again, the first two seem to be synonyms, however they are actually different ideas altogether.  In the case of sexual immorality, the Greek word is porneia, which is the root of our English words pornography and pornographic.  That’s not to say this act of the flesh is limited to what we consider pornography today, but it refers to all forms of sexual immorality, including sex before marriage, adultery, homosexuality, etc.    

Debauchery, on the other hand, is translated from a Greek word that just means lacking self-control and disregarding moral boundaries.  This is what’s called a hedonistic lifestyle.  It’s one that is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification, and that pursuit is not limited to sexuality and associated sexual acts.  This is how the world teaches us how to live; that as long as you’re enjoying yourself in life, that’s what matters and anything goes.  

Sorcery and idolatry are interesting because these seem to be ancient terms that have no application in our modern lives.  However, the Greek word used for sorcery is actually pharmakeia, which is the source of our English words pharmacy and pharmaceutical and it literally means “administer drugs.”  In Paul’s time, the drugs were associated with magical and religious purposes, but generally it means altering someone’s physical being, usually chemically, in order to contact or manipulate spiritual forces (always demonic forces, by the way).  Of note, this is the same Greek word used in Revelation to describe how Babylon deceived the nations (Revelation 18:23).

Finally, the idolatry Paul is talking about here is not strictly associated with worshipping other deities.  In fact, in a different letter, Paul calls greed a form of idolatry (Colossians 3:5).  He is talking about putting anything, no matter what it is, as the thing you are worshiping or serving other than YHWH.  Whether it’s money, time, recognition, etc., if YHWH is not first, it’s idolatry and an act of the flesh.

Paul issues a stern warning, which clearly wasn’t the first time he did, in conjunction with the acts of the flesh: No one who practices them will inherit YHWH’s Kingdom (Galatians 5:21).  The word practicing here means a habitual action or conduct, rather than a one-time event.  In other words, if these things are routinely done by a person, that person will not inherit the Kingdom of YHWH.  

The remainder of this chapter is a list of the fruit of the spirit and an exhortation for believers not to become conceited (Galatians 5:22, 26).  We’ve covered the fruit before, but we’ll start next week’s study by reviewing them.  We hope you have a wonderful week!  Shabbat shalom and YHWH Bless you!  

-Rob and Sara Gene