Works of the Flesh

Text and Content

The "works of the flesh" appear in Galatians 5:19–21. In this passage the apostle Paul sets out a catalog of sins in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit (5:22–23). The New Korean Revised Version names the following fifteen items and adds "and such like." Commentators commonly arrange them into four groups, although the text itself does not make this division.

• Sexual sins: sexual immorality, impurity, lasciviousness (sensual indulgence)
• Religious sins: idolatry, sorcery
• Sins that break relationships: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, envy
• Excess: drunkenness, carousing

Paul warns that "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (5:21). The surrounding context is covered in the article Galatians 5:16–21.

Background

At the time, the Galatian churches were being unsettled by the claim that Gentile believers must also receive circumcision and keep the law. While emphasizing freedom in Christ, Paul urges his readers to "use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh" (5:13). He also refers to conflict within the community, whose members "bite and devour one another" (5:15), and some interpreters connect this situation with the fact that sins that break relationships make up the largest group in the list.

The Greek word sarx, translated "flesh," is widely understood in this passage to refer not to the body itself but to fallen human nature that opposes God. "Works" (erga) is plural, whereas "fruit" (karpos) is singular. Some interpret this difference as a contrast between sins that scatter in many directions and the character of the Spirit, which ripens as a single whole. The original word for "sorcery," pharmakeia, is associated with magic involving the use of drugs. Vice lists of this kind are also known from Jewish and Hellenistic ethical literature of the period.

In the Rest of Scripture

Similar lists appear in Romans 1:29–31, 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, Ephesians 5:5, and Colossians 3:5–8. Jesus likewise taught that evil thoughts and deeds come from within a person (Mark 7:21–23). In the same letter Paul adds, "he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Galatians 6:8).

Interpretation and Debates

• The meaning of "heresies": The Greek word hairesis, rendered "heresies" in the New Korean Revised Version, originally denoted a "faction," a party that splits off from the larger group. It therefore does not correspond exactly to the later sense of doctrinal heresy. Some modern translations render the word as "factions" or a similar term.
• The warning of verse 21 and salvation: The Reformed tradition reads "they which do such things" as describing a life of habitual, ongoing sin. It understands the warning in light of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which holds that those who are truly born again are kept in faith to the end. By contrast, Methodist, Holiness, and other churches in the tradition of Wesleyan theology hold that the warning can genuinely apply to believers as well. They therefore emphasize a life of sanctification and holiness in which sin is overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Drunkenness: What the text directly forbids is drunkenness. Many Korean denominations have cited this passage as one basis for upholding abstinence from alcohol as a mark of faith. Others hold that the Bible does not forbid drinking as such. A fuller discussion can be found in the article Alcohol and Tobacco.

In Korean Churches

The works of the flesh are most often introduced in sermons and Bible studies on the fruit of the Spirit, where they are presented alongside it as the contrasting list.