← Back to sermon library

Turn in your Bibles to Galatians 
chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5, as we continue our exposition 
of Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia, is dealt primarily 
with the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In this particular 
section, he is highlighting and indicating the fact that justification 
by faith alone also produces a Christian who is indwelt by 
the Spirit. And as such, Christians ought 
to walk in the Spirit. I'm going to read verses 16 to 
26, and then focus this evening on the works of the flesh in 
verses 19 to 21. So, hear now the Word of God, 
Galatians 5.16. I say then, walk in the Spirit, 
and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh 
lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. 
And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do 
the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, 
you are not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are 
evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 
idolatry, sorcery. hatred, contentions, jealousies, 
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, 
murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell 
you beforehand, just as I told you in time past, that those 
who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ have 
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live 
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become 
conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, help 
us now as we study this portion of Scripture. Help us to understand 
your Word. Help us, Lord God, to walk in 
the Spirit, to resist these works of the flesh, to not yield to 
temptation. But, God, by your Spirit, may 
we indeed mortify the deeds of the body so that we may live. 
God, we cry out to you now for the teaching ministry of your 
Holy Spirit. We cry out to you for the ministry 
of your Spirit in our lives. so that we would not give in 
to these things. We ask this for Jesus' sake. 
Amen. The works of the flesh here, 
we're not going to focus on each individual one ad nauseum, but 
I do want to try and explain what these things are and show 
you how, in fact, this section functions in Paul's argument. 
Paul has called the Galatians, and by implication us as well, 
to walk in the Spirit, verse 16. He has highlighted the ongoing 
battle or struggle within the life of the believer in verse 
seventeen. He says the flesh lost against 
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. We define that as 
remaining corruption remaining said something that goes on in 
the heart life of a believer that in Paul amplifies this in 
Romans chapter seven, and he highlights the fact that at times 
the good that we wish to do, we don't do. The very evil things 
that we don't want to do, we find ourselves doing. There is 
this struggle in the heart of the believer. Which struggle, 
by the way, It is a cause for encouragement. It is a cause 
to rejoice. If there were no struggle, if 
we wholly abandoned ourselves into sin, that is when we must 
be concerned. But the presence of the struggle 
itself indicates that the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts 
and lives. The man who is holy under sin, 
the man who is engaged in reigning sin or corruption, doesn't have 
the spirit to assist him and aid him to struggle against and 
to oppose the flesh. Paul then goes on to list various 
examples of the works of the flesh, and then he will highlight 
the fruits of the spirit so that we're not left guessing. We're 
told in verse 16 to walk in the spirit. We don't have to scratch 
our heads and try and wonder what that looks like. He defines 
it very clearly for us. He tells us what the fruits of 
the spirit are. We're walking in the spirit. 
These things will be true of us. These things will be evident. 
These things will be what we're pursuing. But conversely, if 
we're walking in the spirit, these works of the flesh are 
not to be engaged in. We are to resist the temptation 
to sin. Ronald Fung says to illustrate 
the state of opposition between the flesh and the spirit, Paul 
provides representative lists of their respective activities. So that's what's going on with 
the works of the flesh and then the fruit of the Spirit. It all 
serves Paul's purpose so that we'll understand what it means 
to walk in the Spirit as those who have been justified freely 
by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We have 
a pattern. We have an objective standard. 
We know what God requires of us, and that is a blessing and 
a good thing. So, tonight, we're going to take 
up two things. First, the works of the flesh, 
verses 19 to 21a, and then, secondly, the judgment associated with 
these works, verse 21b. Well, as we take up the works 
of the flesh, notice that the evident, that the works of the 
flesh are evident. Notice in verse 19. He says, 
now the works of the flesh are evident. Which are? In other 
words, we know these things are wrong. One commentator suggests 
we don't need the Mosaic Law to define for us what's wrong 
because we already know that. Well, let's go behind that statement 
and ask the question, why do we already know that? I would 
argue, based on our confession of faith, that God wrote the 
law of God upon the heart of Adam. It continued to be a perfect 
rule of righteousness. And at Mount Sinai, he gave the 
Ten Commandments as a summary of that. We know these are wrong 
because of the very law of God. If you look later on at the fruit 
of the Spirit, he says, the operation of these things or the engagement 
in these things against such, there is no law. What are we 
to conclude? There is a law that restricts 
engagement in the works of the flesh. It is the Ten Commandments, 
the first for our duty toward God, the last six, our duty toward 
man. It is God's revealed will in 
terms of his righteous standard, and it is what we are to engage 
in. according to the Spirit, as we have been saved freely 
by God's grace. Now, let's look at these specific 
works. Some commentators say there's 
no rhyme or reason. Paul just sets forth this representative 
list. You notice at the very end, he 
says, at the end of verse 21, and the like. That indicates 
it's a representative list. It's not exhaustive. This is 
not every work of the flesh. This is not every sin you or 
I could ever engage in. And the like is sort of a catch-all. It's sort of the general statement. 
I think I've mentioned to you before, at least in the United 
States military, they have the United States Code, the Uniform 
Code, rather, of military justice. They have their own law book. 
And they have 133 articles of things that you're not supposed 
to do. And anything not covered in those 
133 articles is covered in Article 134. It is the general article. So, if they can't pin something 
on you for 1 to 133, more than likely they can hang 134 on you 
for a particular violation. And that's sort of how this list 
functions. It's representative. But the 
fact that Paul says, and the like, indicates that there are 
other things, things that are considered works of the flesh, 
things that are contrary to the law and the will of God that 
are condemned in the scripture. But as we look at this, I believe 
other commentators are right to see at least four categories. At least it's helpful to sort 
of categorize for our purposes here tonight. Those four categories 
are first, sexual sins. Secondly, religious apostasy. Thirdly, disorder in personal 
relationships. And fourthly, sins of intemperance. That's the category, or those 
are the categories, by which we'll examine this section of 
Holy Scripture. Now, I realize you're using something 
other than the King James or the New King James. You don't 
have in your list adultery and murder. We're going to operate 
under the assumption that adultery and murder should be there, so 
just pay attention if you're using an ESV or an NIV or some 
other translation that omits adultery and murder. Well, let's 
look at the sexual sins first of all. He says adultery, which 
is a violation, of course, of the seventh commandment. On Sinai, 
God giving that summary statement concerning moral law, speaks 
to the protection of the covenant of marriage. He doesn't say it's 
anybody's ballgame. You do whatever you want. No, 
there is parameters. There are hedges. There are walls 
built around the sanctity of marriage. And we violate it at 
our peril if we go outside of the bond of marriage and engage 
in this sort of wickedness. In just a moment, we're going 
to define sexual sin more fully from the Westminster Larger Catechism. But let's just run through these 
first four things. Adultery. The second is fornication. This is a broader term. It's 
the word pornea where we get the word pornography. Pornea 
is much broader than strictly adultery. There are many and 
various types of things involved in this issue of pornea. And then the third one is uncleanness. Uncleanness, again, and it's 
pairing in other lists of vices, puts it alongside of sexual sin. That's why I believe it fits 
in here. And then lewdness. Lewdness is unrestrained living. Excessive sexual sin. Sort of an all bets are off type 
of thing. Kind of hard when we come across 
this word lewdness in its context of sexual sin not to think about 
a gay pride parade. Because it's sort of an in-your-face 
parade of wickedness and lawlessness. That's what lewdness refers to. Paul uses the same terms in various 
contexts. As I mentioned, vice lists. You can compare later in 2 Corinthians 
12 and in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3. Ephesians 4 19 speaks of lewdness 
and as well Romans chapter 13 verse 13. So Paul has in his 
process, first and foremost, sexual sin. We might ask the 
question, why? Why does Paul start with this 
particular issue? Fong, again, says this Paul also 
begins his catalog of vices with sexual sins in Romans one. You 
can compare that section. He begins in First Corinthians 
six with sexual sin, Ephesians five, Colossians three. Fong 
says, along with the whole host of other commentaries that I 
consulted, their prominence in these lists is due to their prevalence 
in current society. See, sometimes we get this idea 
that you just don't know how hard it is for us, Paul. You 
just don't know what life is like now when there's so little 
restraint and the prevalence of sexual sin is so high, it's 
almost as if I can't help it. Well, the very context that Paul 
lived and moved and had his being in, for the most part, fornication 
wasn't even considered a sin. And yet, Paul starts off with 
this particular body of sin. He says, Fung says, there is 
ample evidence to show that the sexual life of the Greco-Roman 
world at the time of the New Testament was sheer chaos. Paul writes to combat the works 
of the flesh. He does this in Romans 1. He 
does this in 1 Corinthians 6. He does this in Ephesians 5. 
He does this in Colossians 3. Brethren, there is nothing new 
under the sun. Do not think or suppose for a 
moment that the temptations that you face are like no other in 
the history of the world. Now, there is a particular temptation 
that we face that they didn't because of technology. Internet 
pornography has brought that garbage right into our very homes 
if we are not restrained, if we are not walking in the Spirit, 
if we are not resisting that particular temptation. We must 
with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength seek by God's 
grace to be pure in these particular areas. The statistics suggest 
that the biggest culprits in terms of viewing internet pornography 
are young males between the ages of 12 and 17. The statistics are staggering 
with how many people have been affected by this particular sin. It ought not to surprise us that 
the apostle, when he comes to deal with the works of the flesh, 
which are evident, deals with sexual sin, adultery, fornication, 
uncleanness, lewdness. God says that the sexual congress 
between a man and a woman in the marriage bond, in that covenantal 
context, is blessed and sacred. Everything else is to violate 
His holy law. Everything else is to bring down 
God's wrath and anger and fury in this life and that which is 
to come. The Westminster divines understood 
this particular sin. In the larger catechism, they 
would deal with the commandments this way. What is enjoined or 
what is prescribed by the commandment and what is prohibited in the 
commandment. Let's just look at Westminster 
larger catechism number 138. You may hear some of these things 
and say, oh, that's just some sort of a Puritan mindset from 
way back when. These men understood sin. These 
men understood the Bible. These men understood the human 
heart. And before we recoil and before 
we think, oh, that's just a bunch of fuddy-duddy Puritan theology. 
Please listen. Some of the young men, some of 
the young women, some of the old men, some of the old women, 
somebody at some time, perhaps clicking on that garbage. It's 
going to put a hook in your soul. There is nothing to be gained 
through Internet pornography. Everything to be lost. Here's 
what they said in number 138. What are the duties required 
in the seventh commandment? The duties required in the seventh 
commandment are chastity in body, mind, affections, words and behavior, 
and the preservation of it in ourselves and others. Watchfulness 
over the eyes and all the senses, temperance, keeping of chaste 
company. modesty and apparel, marriage 
by those who have not the gift of competency. The best thing 
for you young men who struggle with lust is get a good job, 
be able to provide for a wife and get married. We'll live on a mountain. It's 
interesting, Luther, in his discussion on sexual sin and his commentary 
on Galatians, refers to Jerome. You've probably heard of Jerome. 
He translated the Latin Vulgate from the original manuscripts 
into Latin. Well, Jerome was a monk living out in the desert, 
denying himself of any sort of a worldly comfort that there 
could possibly be. And Jerome says in his journals, 
when I was out in that hot desert, when I was buffeting my body, 
I couldn't get the thought of dancing girls out of my mind. You say, whoa, wait a minute 
here. There's nothing new under the 
sun. If you can get married, get married. One of the other 
duties required is conjugal love. That means within the context 
of marriage, do not deprive one another. 1 Corinthians 7 says, 
do not commit robbery in this particular situation. It says, 
diligent labor in our calling. You say, how in the world is 
that going to help you? By the time you get home, if 
you've been diligent, you ought to be too tired to look at internet 
pornography. You ought to go to sleep. You 
be diligent in your calling. You be a hard worker so that 
when you come home, you want to get in bed and go to sleep. 
I think that's what they're thinking about. Shunning all occasions 
of uncleanness and resisting temptations thereunto. The next 
question, number 139, what are the sins forbidden in the Seventh 
Commandment? The sins forbidden in the Seventh 
Commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, right? You've got to do what 138 says. 
Now remember, this is not a prescription for salvation. These divines 
understood justification by faith alone. They penned Westminster 
Shorter Catechism No. 33, which marshals in one small 
compass the biblical doctrine on justification. They are talking 
about justified by faith believers, how they are to conduct themselves 
in this lower world, how they are to walk in the Spirit, how 
they are to resist the works of the flesh. It says the sins 
forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties 
required, are adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, and all 
unnatural lusts. All unclean imaginations, thoughts, 
purposes, and affections. All corrupt or filthy communications 
or listening thereunto. Wanton looks, impudent or light 
behavior. Immodest apparel. Prohibiting 
of lawful and dispensing with unlawful marriages. Allowing, 
tolerating, keeping of stews. A stew is like a brothel or a 
whorehouse. That's what they're saying here. 
and resorting to them, entangling vows of single life." Who do 
you think I was arguing against? Papists. Papists would take a 
vow of a single life. They say that's a sin. In light 
of the seventh commandment, if you are a man who has not been 
given the gift of marriage, you better get married. It is a sin 
to take such a vow before God Most High. And in this, again, 
very wise. Uh-uh. Entangling vows of single 
life. Notice this. Undue delay of marriage. Undue delay of marriage. Go, 
pastor, I'm struggling with my lust. Go get a wife, man. Oh, that doesn't sound very spiritual. 
Well, tell that to Paul, 1 Corinthians 7. Because that's what he says. Get a wife. Don't struggle. It goes on to say, having more 
wives or husbands than one at the same time, unjust divorce 
or desertion, idleness, gluttony, drunkenness. Paul does the same 
thing in our list. The last two sins of intemperance 
are drunkenness and revelries or orgies. Kind of a funny word, 
I hope no one wants to blush. The thought is that when you 
engage in drunkenness, your defenses come down. Revelries and orgies 
and lasciviousness oftentimes follow ensue. Again, Luther says 
the exact same thing in his commentary or his lectures on Galatians. Bluttony, drunkenness, unchaste 
company, lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays, 
and all other provocations too, or acts of uncleanness, either 
in ourselves or others. So the confession, the catechism 
rather, really fleshes out for us these four terms that the 
Apostle Paul uses here. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, 
and lewdness. You fit this definition in when 
you're considering the sexual sins of Romans chapter 1 or 1st 
Corinthians 6 or Ephesians 5 or Colossians 3. This is a good 
definition. I commit this to you. I commend 
this to you, rather, for your further investigation. And again, 
before you say, oh, that's just old Puritan fuddy-duddy sort 
of mentality, this is exactly what the Apostle is saying. To 
walk in the Spirit is to resist these works of the flesh. to 
walk in the spirit as you claim to have the spirit as a justified 
by faith believer. You won't play games with these 
things. You need accountability. If you need assistance, if you 
need prayer, seek it out. As we work our way through the 
passage, the crime involved here is not the occasional lapse or 
the struggle that goes on according to Galatians 5.17, but the practice 
of these things, the continuance in these things, the failing 
to repent of these things and own it and confess it and forsake 
it and seek out the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. That's the 
problem. As we work our way through this 
list, not just the sexual sin. You might say, man, I've been 
pure in heart and deed. I could have written Westminster 
Larger Catechism 138, 139. Well, just wait. Strap yourself 
in, because there's something in this list that's going to 
find you out. The issue is the practice of them. The issue is 
not remaining corruption in these works of the flesh. It is reigning 
corruption. It is unrestrained. It is unbridled. It is arrogant. It is planning. 
It is plotting. It is engaging and under the 
cover of darkness, telling no one, fooling yourself and fooling 
others. That's what the apostle is saying 
will bring down the wrath of God. Notice the next category, 
religious apostasy. Idolatry. That shouldn't surprise 
us. The Ten Commandments speak very 
clearly to idolatry. The first two commandments. Doesn't 
the first commandment tell us that to worship a false god is 
to engage in idolatry? I mean, isn't that it? You shall 
have no other gods before me. But do we realize that the second 
commandment tells us that if we think we're worshiping the 
true God falsely, we're guilty. This is where theologians, especially 
in the Reform camp, have identified a principle called the regulative 
principle of worship. God takes worship seriously. You don't say, I'm worshiping 
Yahweh while you bow down to a golden calf. You don't say 
you're worshiping Yahweh while you're bowing down to Baal. You 
don't say they're worshiping Jesus Christ and are sympathetic 
and even akin to Islam. No. To worship the true God falsely 
is idolatry as well. But as well, he says, sorcery. 
The word is actually a neutral word. It's the Greek word pharma. Specifically, it's pharmakia. 
That's where we get the word pharmacy. It's neutral, it doesn't 
have a negative connotation. But in a vice list like this, 
it came to mean just that. Sorcery. It was the use of drugs 
in connection with magic and witchcraft. Sorcery. God doesn't 
want you to be engaged in that sort of a sin. I mean, imagine 
that, huh? The Lord doesn't want you to 
take drugs and worship idols. Don't ever say, how dare he? 
No, this is God's will for you. This is the revealed law. This 
is what God wants from his creatures. It is a neutral word, but it 
denoted a use of drugs and connection, not just with magic and witchcraft, 
but also poisoning. Hopefully there wasn't any poisoning 
going on in the churches of Galatia. Hopefully there's no poisoning 
going on in the churches of Chilliwack. So that's sexual sins. That's 
religious apostasy. Notice disorder and personal 
relationships. He says hatred. Hatred. I hate that guy. Really? It's 
a work of the flesh, man. You can't hate people. Notice 
the opposite. How does the list of the fruits 
of the Spirit begin? With love. That's what's to characterize 
the Christian. Love. To love God and love your 
brother. Again, Paul uses this in various 
places in the New Testament. The second word is contentions. 
He says he wants it out of the churches in 1 Corinthians 1 and 
in 1 Corinthians 3. He doesn't want contention in 
the church. He doesn't want us to have strife. 
He doesn't want us to have discord. He doesn't want us to have disunity. 
We ought to surmise from this that there are seasons and times 
in the Christian life when we need to eat our preferences, 
when we need to fall on our sword, when we need to take one for 
the team so that we don't destroy the unity of the Spirit and the 
bond of peace. Proverbs 6 says, These six things 
Jehovah hates, yea, seven, are an abomination to him. And one 
of them is a man who sows discord among the brethren. We cannot 
take this lightly. Paul wants unity. He wants peace 
in the life of Christ's churches. Sometimes it starts off small. 
It starts off with murmurings or complainings or little party 
spirits. And then it ends up a great big problem in the life 
of Christ's church. Let's vow before God that we 
won't do that. Let's seek, by the grace of God, 
to put others first in the context of the local church. Contentions. The third aspect, with reference 
to disorder and personal relationship, is jealousy. Again, a word that 
is, at times, used positively. Godly zeal is a good thing. But 
when it's smack dab in the middle of a vice list, we have to believe 
it's got an evil connotation. It is a word that can speak to 
the proper type of zeal, but rather it refers here to sinful 
jealousy. Again, it's used by Paul in Romans 
13, 1 Corinthians 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Jealousies. You know what Paul tells us as 
the people of God? We're going to rejoice with those 
who rejoice. Don't be jealous of them. We're going to weep 
with those who weep. We're going to be sympathetic 
people. Not jealous of everybody. Somebody comes to the prayer 
meeting and says, I have a praise report. My son was converted. My daughter was converted. I 
got a new raise here. I got a raise at work. Don't 
in your heart say, well, my son wasn't converted. My daughter 
wasn't converted. I didn't get a raise. Nobody 
cares about me. It's wicked. It's wicked. What's the next 
thing? Number four, outbursts of wrath. Again, sometimes this is used 
with reference to God. It is wrath against sinners. 
But in this particular context, outbursts of wrath is a good 
translation. What kind of people are we? Are 
we short fuse? Do we easily explode? Do we got 
big problems when it comes to interpersonal relationships? 
Because we've got big mouths, big tempers, big anger, and we're 
not afraid to let it fly. Paul says that's not what's supposed 
to happen in the life of Christ's church. It's not supposed to 
be outbursts of wrath. Notice fifthly, selfish ambitions, 
selfish ambitions. Now, this cuts to the heart of 
everybody. You may have missed the sexual 
sins. You may be the holy pure exception. I doubt it, but you 
may just be. But as we work our way through 
these disorders in personal relationships, who hasn't at one time or another 
struggled with selfish ambition? Who hasn't wanted people to think 
they're something? Who hasn't wanted that praise 
and that adoration? And I'm not suggesting that if 
you, as a man, for instance, commend your wife, that's a wicked 
thing. There is something about us, though, where we want men 
to think so highly of us when we really ought not to. The sixth 
is dissensions. This is used in Romans 16, 17 
in a similar sort of a context, division or dissension within 
the context of the church. This would fit very well in the 
Galatian context, because the introduction of legalism into 
Galatian churches would certainly create this. It would cause dissension. It would cause division. There 
would be those who say, you know, Paul is right. There would be 
others who say, no, the Judaizers are right. There would be odds, 
or people would be at odds with one another in the context of 
Christ's church. The seventh is heresies. Heresies 
in this context. Heresy is not always the easiest 
word to sort of pin down. We oftentimes say that man's 
a heretic and he's going to go to hell. Well, in this particular 
instance, it probably refers to a party spirit, something 
these dissensions would have created in the Book of Acts. 
The word is applied to the to the faction or the sack rather 
of the Pharisees. It is applied to the sect of 
the Sadducees, and it's even applied to the sack of the Christians. But in this context, obviously, 
heresy is not a good thing. John Eady said the Judaizers 
were producing such results in the Galatian churches by their 
self-willed and bitter reactionary agitations. The next term is 
envy. This differs with jealousy in 
this particular. I know for some of you, you've 
heard this illustration. Mrs. Lawson's already smiling 
because she probably knows where I'm going. To a river in Oregon. 
Best illustration comes out of yours truly's life. I just say 
this because I'm sure in somewhere down the road you've had this 
sort of envy. I went fishing with my father and my cousin 
at a river in Oregon. Just a little guy. He was a little 
guy. My father was not a little guy. One of the fond memories 
I retain of my father. Well, we went fishing and my 
cousin caught a whole bunch of fish and I caught none. And my 
cousin put them on a stringer and put them on the side of the 
bank of the river. And in a fit of envy. That envious spirit rose up within 
me. When my cousin walked away for 
a moment, I pulled out the stringer and let the fish go. See, jealousy 
is me just wanting what someone else has. That's bad. Got to watch it. Envy means not 
only do I want what they have, I don't want them to have what 
they have. That's ended. Paul says you can't 
do that. Practically or as a matter of 
life, as a habit, as a principle. F.F. Bruce says it is the grudging 
spirit that cannot bear to contemplate someone else's prosperity. How wicked are we when someone 
else's good fortune causes us to get angry? That's just bonkers, 
man. There's something wrong within 
us. As you well know, it's called 
sin. And that's why Jesus came to redeem us from the power and 
the penalty of sin. Socrates, the famous philosopher, 
says the envious are pained by their friends successes. The 
envious are pained It hurt me to see him successful with that 
great haul of fish. So I pulled it out, dropped it 
into the water and said, I don't know what happened. I was pained 
by his success that happens in the church. We've got to watch 
it. We've got to guard against it. 
Paul is not writing here to people that have no conscience, conscious 
sense of these types of sin. And then the final one is murders, 
murders. Hopefully we're not going to 
practice the act of murder within the context of our local church. 
Hopefully within the Galatian churches, they weren't engaged 
in murder either. And then the final one is the 
sins of intemperance. I already highlighted this drunkenness 
and revelries, drunkenness and revelries. They sort of go hand 
in hand. Drunkenness, 1 Corinthians 5, 
1 Corinthians 6, Ephesians 5, do not be drunk with wine in 
which is dissipation, but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit. And then revelries, carousing 
or orgies. Again, I believe this is precisely 
why the Westminster Larger includes drunkenness in the prohibition 
of the seventh commandment. Drunkenness has the propensity 
to lead to carousing and orgies. And again, if you want to read 
Luther on that, I commend it to you very much. That's a pretty 
rough list, isn't it? I told you it wouldn't be a happy 
sermon. You felt something of the tension here? You felt something 
of the fact that, you know what, I'm in this list. And if I can 
say I've avoided all these things, that catch all gets me. And the 
light. You may be the paragon of sexual 
virtue and never engage in any lascivious looks. You may have 
never been drunk. You may have never engaged in 
revelries. You probably never have committed idolatry knowingly. 
I think the second commandment probably will convict a lot of 
us, sometimes worshiping the true God falsely, by our own 
imagination, by our own means, by our own implementation. God 
is very rigid when it comes to this matter of worship. But we 
might say, you know, I haven't done any of those things. But 
who of us in this room can claim innocency with reference to those 
disorders in the personal realm? I mean, if you say, man, I passed 
these in flying color, I got no good news for you. You've 
arrived. You've made it. You're the one 
unique exception. You're the unique snowflake in 
this world that is satisfied fully the law and the requirements 
of God. I don't believe that for a moment. 
I believe this list finds each of us out. But let's move on, 
because we can't end with just trudging through this particular 
sewage pit of sin. And I don't mean that as any 
blight upon the scripture. I mean, a description of our 
own hearts is very discouraging. Notice the judgment associated 
with these works. Paul says he had previously warned 
them, just as I told you in time past. Now, notice that those 
who practice such things. This ought to encourage us. It's a present active participle, 
that means it's continual or habitual activity. There's not 
a one of us who could say I've never done any of those things, 
but that's not what the text is specifying. The text is highlighting 
that those who live in this, those who engage in reigning 
corruption, those who never know repentance. He's not dealing 
with lapses here. He's not dealing with struggling 
here. You ever realize that in this struggle between the flesh 
and the spirit, the spirit and the flesh, there are times that 
we actually lose. That's why Paul said, Oh, wretched 
man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Do 
you realize that in a struggle at times we are failures? But lo and behold, the Apostle 
Paul says those who practice such things. Verse 17 indicates 
remaining corruption. Verse 21 speaks of reigning corruption. Those who engage in these things 
as a lifestyle. Those who engage in these things 
as a pattern. Doesn't have to be all of them. 
Could be one of them. Could be a selection of them. 
Could be this category. Could be that category. If you 
are practicing these things, there is no salvation for you. Just want to highlight this with 
some other commentators, so you don't think I'm out to lunch 
here. Fung says the participle press on test, that's the word 
that the apostle uses, denotes not an occasional lapse. We're going to get real pastoral 
here, not to encourage you to go out and sin, to realize that 
there is forgiveness with God that he may be feared. It's not 
dealing with a lapse, but with habit, it describes habitual 
behavior. John MacArthur, in his study 
Bible, page 1798, practice, he comments on this term. Here is 
the key word in Paul's warning. The sense of the Greek verb, 
literally a participle, which describes continual, habitual 
action. He says, although believers can 
commit these sins, again, don't take this as liberty and license 
to go out and sin. But realize Galatians 517 has 
not lost its power. There is a struggle. There is 
a battle flesh against the spirit, spirit against the flesh. There 
are times that we fall. But those who confess and forsake 
will find mercy. He goes on to say. Although believers 
can commit these sins, those people whose basic character 
is summed up in the uninterrupted and unrepentant practice of them 
cannot belong to God. Everybody see the difference 
here? Please. It's absolutely crucial. Walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means resisting, 
not falling prey to these particular things. But if you do fall prey, 
if you do lapse, if you do sin, go back to the Savior. Go back 
to Jesus. Go back to that fountain that 
is open for sin and uncleanness. Apply for fresh mercy. Confess 
your sin. Don't reckon, well, I've already 
looked at this internet pornography. I'm already bound and determined 
to go to hell. No, resist it. Break it. Go to Christ. Break 
its back. Seek out help. Seek out accountability. Do what it takes so that you 
don't practice in an uninterrupted and uninhibited way. And then John Calvin says this, 
but in this way we shall be told all are cut off from the hope 
of salvation. For who is there that is not 
chargeable with some of those sins? Right. He says, when we 
read this list, we realize we're all chargeable. We're going to 
be cut off from the hope of salvation. But he goes on. I reply, Paul 
does not threaten that all who have sinned. But that all who 
remain impenitent shall be excluded from the kingdom of God. The 
saints themselves often fall into grievous sins, but they 
return to the path of righteousness. And therefore, they are not included 
in this catalog. Our confession speaks to this 
very clearly. The chapters that deal with sin 
and remaining corruption. Believers at time can fall into 
remaining corruption, but God renews them. God grants them 
the grace. They repent. They come back. 
They find mercy. They find grace. This is dealing 
with those who engage in constant, continuous, habitual practice 
of these sins. Calvin goes on to say all threatenings 
of the judgments of God call us to repentance. So while not 
a happy sermon, perhaps it'll be a sermon calculated under 
the hand of God to bring us back to a position of holiness. So that we will not continue, 
so that we will seek by the grace of God to deal once and for all 
for a particular sin or sins. Again, maybe it's not internet 
pornography. Maybe it's jealousy or envy or 
it's outbursts of wrath. It's dissensions. It's a desire 
to gossip. Doesn't gossip promote and produce 
dissension and party spirit? Gossip is never designed to bring 
unity and peace and solidarity within the life of the church. 
You take dissension, you take heresy, you lead it back, very 
often you'll find a man or a woman who can't keep their big mouth 
shut. Well, maybe God is using this 
to call us to consider our with reference to the spirit and with 
reference to the works of the flesh. Calvin says they are accompanied 
by a promise that those who repent will obtain forgiveness. But 
if we continue obstinate, they remain as a testimony from heaven 
against us. Those who practice such things 
will not inherit the kingdom of God. The point and the context 
is clear. Look back for just a moment at 
verse 13. It says, For you, brethren, have 
been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity 
for the flesh. That has been a continual charge 
against the doctrine of justification by faith alone. You can see it 
alleged against the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, chapter 
3, and in the book of Romans, chapter 6. Throughout the history 
of the church, men who have preached free grace Men who have preached 
justification by faith alone have been accused of antinomianism, 
being against the law, not living a holy life. This passage does 
not allow it. Paul says, do not use your gospel 
liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. If you do that, you 
evidence the fact that you were never converted to begin with. 
You are not a Christian. You did not understand the truth 
and you certainly did not believe properly. And therefore, you 
do not inherit the kingdom of God. Well, brethren, the gospel 
ought to be precious to us as we consider a list like this. 
Usually, when I come to do some application, I always put the 
gospel last. We need the gospel first. We 
need to remember there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. 
We need to remember that Jesus came specifically because of 
these categories, because of our sexual sin, because of our 
religious apostasy, because of our difficulty in relating to 
one another in a civil, decent fashion, and for those sins connected 
to our intemperance, our lack of self-control, our lack of 
restraint. Christ came to engage perfectly. He never would have clicked. 
on Internet pornography. He never would have engaged in 
adultery. He never did engage in fornication or uncleanness 
or lewdness. He was never an idolater. He 
never engaged in pharmakeia in an ungodly way. He never engaged in sorcery. 
He didn't engage in hatred or in outbursts of wrath. He didn't 
engage in dissensions or heresies. He didn't engage in any of these 
works of the flesh. Why? so that he could win the 
righteousness that we desperately need, so that he, through his 
law keeping, we would have that righteousness imputed to us. 
And through his death at Calvary, through that sacrifice and substitute, 
his blood cleanses us from all of our sin. Do not lose sight 
of the cross when you come to Galatians 5, 19 to 21. When you consider these works 
of the flesh, may they cause you to have a fresh appreciation 
for the glorious gospel of our blessed God, for the doctrine 
contained in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, that God made him who knew 
no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness 
of God in him. Well, my brethren, please walk 
in the spirit, resist by the grace of God and the power of 
the Spirit in you these particular temptations to sin. But if you 
sin, when you sin, apply afresh to the mercy of God in Christ 
Jesus, our Lord. He is kind. He is gracious. And he does indeed forgive. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word and we thank you for the Apostle Paul's 
teaching here. God, I pray that we would take 
seriously these works of the flesh. Father, if there is any 
peace treaties in our hearts toward any of these sins, that 
you would help us to make a clear rupture, a clear breach with 
any of these acts of wickedness. We know, Father, that you are 
holy and righteous. that you have saved us unto holiness. And we pray that you would just 
fill us with your spirit and cause us to pursue the fruit 
of the spirit, cause us to walk in the spirit and cause us to 
be on guard against these temptations. I pray for the young people in 
this congregation. I pray they would look at Westminster 
Larger Catechism, that they would not just consider these things 
as old and antiquated and having no bearing upon our lives in 
the 21st century. I pray a fresh study of these truths would indeed 
instill in us a fear of God and a desire for the things that 
are pleasing in your sight. Forgive us all, Lord, as this 
list no doubt finds us out. Thank you for the Lord Jesus. 
Thank you for the announcement of the prophet Micah, using his 
own name, said, who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity. 
How we praise you and bless you and thank you that we have been 
cleansed in the blood of Christ Jesus the Lord. I pray that we 
would go live now in a manner consistent, a manner that is 
worthy of that gospel. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.