Led By The Spirit
By: Dr. Gregory S. Neal
“For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:14-15)
It's an un-ending cycle of attack and be attacked, bite and be bitten, eat and be eaten. It's a never-ending story that we all have experienced, observed, and in which we have even participated. To confirm its reality all we have to do is take an honest look at the in-fighting, back-biting, name-calling, and fracturing that's going on in not only our own denomination, but also in so many Christian communities. It’s an excellent example of what the Apostle Paul called the “Works of the Flesh.”
“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
That’s quite a list. Unfortunately, many Christians prefer to dwell on the elements of this list that sound racy … words like fornication, impurity, and licentiousness. Indeed, on the surface they do sound particularly enticing. But what do they actually mean?
The word fornication translates the Greek word “pornia.” We get the English word pornography from the word “pornia.” What it actually means is violent, abusive, uncaring, exploitive sex; not sexual relations within a loving, caring, mutually supportive relationship.
The word translated “impurity” – “akatharsia” – literally means unclean, dirty, trashy, filthy, and polluted. It’s a general catch-all term that, used idiomatically, means “immoral.” While it sometimes conveys sexual connotations, most of the instances of its use in Scripture and other Greek literature are not limited to that idea.
Licentiousness sounds exciting and interesting, and while it may be a fun word to say, its meaning is rather mundane. It translates the Greek word “aselgia,” which simply means a lack of self-control or being “out of control.”
All of these are “works of the flesh.” They involve a degree of wild disregard for cultural conventions and standards; they involve the abuse of others, being filthy, gross, or disgusting, and being out of control. And, in every instance, they all incorporate concepts of violence and a disregard for propriety, gentleness, and kinship.
Now, some people seem to think that these concepts are all that make up the “works of the flesh." But, there’s actually much more to look at. In addition to the above concepts, we find the words:
“… idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions.” (Galatians 5:20)
Idolatry is the worship of deities, people, or things other than God. Sorcery translates the word “farmikea,” which means using incantations, psychological tricks, and chemical compounds – we would say drugs – to try and manipulate others. Many of the rest of the words are fairly easy for us to comprehend: “strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions.” In other words, trouble with a capital "T".
Most of this sounds like an average day in politics — or, at Annual or General Conference — don't they? Sadly, the spiral of conflict doesn’t end. When I posted my “heads-up” notice about this sermon on Facebook, a fellow pastor who has been harassing me for weeks about being gay, again lashed out at me with yet another attacking harangue that served to illustrate the power of many of these “works of the flesh.”
There are a few more: “… envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.”
I agree with Paul that the works of the flesh are obvious. They are attitudes and behaviors that separate us from loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Indeed, when they come to a boil in our lives, they are tendencies that fail to reflect the presence of God’s love in us. They are manifestations of sin and, as such, they run contrary to the fruit of God’s Spirit.
“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Paul loves compiling these kinds of lists. The first grouping — “the works of the flesh” — is negative, with strong negative emotional connotations. The second grouping — “the fruit of the Spirit” — is positive, conveying strong positive emotional connotations. Sadly, we live in a world (yes, even the "religious" world) that is continually focusing upon the negative, spiraling around the negative, harping on the negative, and actively throwing itself into practicing the negative. That's what we’re seeing, right now in the violence of mass shootings and in the power-games of institutional authorities and Supreme Courts ripping away the individual rights and personal liberties that have stood for a half-century, or more. As a culture, as a society, as a people, with our factions, dissensions, enmities, strife, quarreling, and anger, we’re ripping ourselves apart. We are “biting and devouring one another,” and are quickly moving to “consume one another.” And, it’s all because we are not “loving our neighbor as ourselves.”
That’s what this drive to strip the right of self-determination from women, racial minorities, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ persons exemplifies: it's indicative of the works of the flesh in action, not the fruit of the spirit. This is the real sin that plagues us, plain and simple.
Our calling as Christians is clear: we must turn to God’s grace and seek to be led by the Spirit, and as Methodists we do this through partaking of the means of grace and seeking to love God and our neighbor as ourselves.
© 2022, Dr. Gregory S. Neal
All Rights Reserved
The Reverend Dr. Gregory S. Neal is the Senior Pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa, and an ordained Elder of the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Duke University, and Trinity College, Dr. Neal is a scholar of Systematic Theology, New Testament origins, and Biblical Languages. His areas of specialization include the theology of the sacraments, in which he did his doctoral dissertation, and the formation and early transmission of the New Testament. Trained as a Christian educator, he has taught classes in these and related fields while also serving for more than 30 years as the pastor of United Methodist churches in North Texas.
As a popular teacher, preacher, and retreat leader, Dr. Neal is known for his ability to translate complex theological concepts into common, everyday terms. HIs preaching and teaching ministry is in demand around the world, and much of his work can be found on this website. He is the author of several books, including Grace Upon Grace: Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life, which is in its second edition, and Seeking the Shepherd's Arms: Reflections from the Pastoral Side of Life, a work of devotional literature. Both of these books are currently available from Amazon.com.
As a popular teacher, preacher, and retreat leader, Dr. Neal is known for his ability to translate complex theological concepts into common, everyday terms. HIs preaching and teaching ministry is in demand around the world, and much of his work can be found on this website. He is the author of several books, including Grace Upon Grace: Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life, which is in its second edition, and Seeking the Shepherd's Arms: Reflections from the Pastoral Side of Life, a work of devotional literature. Both of these books are currently available from Amazon.com.