§23 Vices from Which the Spirit Can Provide Freedom (Gal. 5:19–21)
5:19 / So as to concretize the contrast between the flesh (sinful nature) and the Spirit, Paul says that the flesh results in certain acts. The phrase “acts of sinful nature” has a counterpart in 5:22—“fruit of the Spirit.” Vice and virtue lists such as the one Paul provides in 5:19–26 were a common feature of philosophical and religious writings in ancient times, and Paul has chosen to list obvious actions that indicate what he calls a sinful nature—actions that result in damage to self and to relationships. As Sanders notes, “proper behaviour is self-evident” (Paul and Palestinian Judaism, p. 513). Several of the actions Paul lists are ones that Jews typically characterized as Gentile vices (see these listed in 1 Pet. 4:3). Perhaps in response to the “agitators’ ” presentation of the need for law so as to avoid such Gentile vices, Paul declares that the remedy is life in the Spirit.
The first three actions concern sexuality. Sexual immorality refers to illicit sexual relations. This was an issue in Paul’s churches, for on several occasions he warns against this (1 Thess. 4:3; 1 Cor. 6:18). Impurity appears also to refer to sexual immorality, perhaps in reference to violence in connection with sexual activity. Paul connects it with “sexual immorality” and “debauchery” in 2 Corinthians 12:21. Debauchery means “wantonness” or “licentiousness.” In this context it suggests sexual licentiousness or abandon.
5:20 / Although Paul wants to separate his converts from law keeping, he maintains the characteristic Jewish antipathy toward idolatry (cf. 1 Cor. 10:14). Paul knows there to be one God (Gal. 3:20) who cannot be worshiped in idols. Witchcraft has the sense of “magic” and the use of drugs for magical purposes, which might be called black magic. This practice was regarded as offensive and dangerous by Jews (see Isa. 47:9; also Exod. 7:11, 22) and others in the Greco-Roman world. Plato writes about the dangers of “sorcery and magic” and prescribes punishments for wizards who injure others by means of sorcery (Laws 11.933). Plato warns also against “that class of monstrous natures who … in contempt of mankind conjure the souls of the living and say that they can conjure the dead and promise to charm the Gods with sacrifices and prayer” (Laws 909b; trans. Jowett). Under the Roman emperors sorcery became a punishable offense. Hatred indicates “hostile feelings and actions” (so BAGD, p. 331). The vices listed in the rest of the verse identify manifestations of hatred. Discord has also the meaning of strife or contention; jealousy or envy (cf. Rom. 13:13) suggests, as Burton puts so well, “the eager desire for possession created by the spectacle of another’s possession” (Galatians, p. 307); the word for fits of rage connotes intense anger. Selfish ambition is a difficult word to translate but bears the sense of self-seeking, strife, and contentiousness. Dissensions refer to divisiveness in a group (cf. Rom. 16:17); and factions (cf. 1 Cor. 11:19) to groups who hold to their opinions aggressively and divisively.
5:21 / The list continues by identifying envy, which is similar to “jealousy” and carries the sense of malice. Drunkenness can also be read as “drinking bouts” (cf. Rom. 13:13). In connection with orgies the word suggests the drunken abandon that was a feature of ancient life at certain festivals.
Paul ends with a warning, as I did before. His current warning is consonant with what he said previously and would undercut any criticism from the rival evangelists that Paul’s law-free gospel was a license for vice or that he had not adequately taught his converts about ethical behavior. Paul states emphatically his conviction that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul’s choice of the word “inherit” resonates with the theme of inheritance, the understanding of which has been a battleground between himself and his opponents. Until this point Paul has stressed that his converts can be assured of inheriting the promise to Abraham by virtue of being in Christ. Now he reshapes the theme somewhat. Inheritance can be lost through acting in accordance with the flesh (the “sinful nature”), which is another way of saying that it is necessary to remain “in Christ” to share in the inheritance. The flesh is that which is opposed to the Spirit (5:17), and the Spirit is the promise to Abraham realized among Gentile believers in Christ (3:14). To live in accordance with the “sinful nature” is to exclude oneself from the inheritance.
5:19 / The Greek word translated “acts” is lit. “works” (erga), a word that Paul used in the phrase “works of law” (2:16) and contrasted to the Spirit (3:2) and faith (3:5). The word has a negative connotation for him. This is the only occurrence of the phrase “works of flesh” (acts of the sinful nature) in Paul’s writings. We should not be too quick to understand it as equivalent to “works of law,” particularly since the works listed are largely prohibited by the law. Paul’s later understanding that the law provided an opportunity for sin (Rom. 7:7–25) is not in view here.
5:21 / The word live is a rendering of a Greek present participle (prassontes) that means “those who are given to practice.” The warning is directed at those who consciously and repeatedly indulge in these vices.
Unlike the gospel writers, Paul does not often use the phrase the kingdom of God. On occasion he uses it in ethical contexts (1 Cor. 6:9–10; Rom. 14:17) but also in other settings (1 Cor. 4:20; 15:24, 50; 1 Thess. 2:12). This is the only use of the phrase in Galatians. Perhaps Paul is reminding his readers of his original preaching or responding to the “confusers” by using a term they had introduced into the Galatian churches.