Rotten Fruit of the Flesh

[Jim]

Galatians 5:19
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Adultery - Sexual relations outside your bond of marriage

Fornication - illicit sexual intercourse of ANY fashion

Uncleanness - the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living

Lasciviousness - unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness

Idolatry - ANYTHING you put more time into, or place higher than, the Lord Jesus Christ

Witchcraft - sorcery, magical arts, the deceptions and seductions of idolatry

Hatred - enmity

Variance - contention, strife, wrangling

Emulations - excitement of mind, ardour, fervour of spirit (i.e. the fierceness of indignation, punitive zeal, an envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy)

Wrath - passion, angry, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again

Strife - a courting distinction, a desire to put one's self forward, a partisan and fractious spirit which does not disdain low arts

Seditions - dissension, division

Heresies - dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims, esp. to cause issues from selfish viewpoints (i.e. Sadducees, Pharisees)

Envyings - for envy, i.e. prompted by envy

Murders - murder, slaughter

Drunkenness - intoxication

Revellings - used generally of feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry


Which one(s) are you guilty of????????

Love in Christ,

Jim

[deputydog530]

Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

I am guilty of most if not all. At some point in our wretched lifes we fall to the works of the flesh. When we are saved we are a new creature 2 Cor 5:17.

We can sin just by dwelling on an issue. The Temptation is not sin, but acting on that Temptation is sin.

Christians battle sin everyday. It comes down to winning the war of the spirit and the flesh Gal 5:16-18. The new man must be fed and strengthend daily with the word of God, and prayer. Unfortunately the old man still is with us and if we are not faithful to our time with God, the old man will get stronger and the flesh will rear its ugly head.

This is why we are saved by grace through faith and not of works. We could never work for salvation. Eph 2:8-9

I was not saved until I was 24 years old. I grew up in an alocholic home, so to my shame there was much sin that was normal to me. So when I got saved the change in me was radical, yet sin is still a battle. The difference, I do not want to do the things I do. And I do the things I dont want to.

Paul understood this.
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Praise God for the free gift of salvation and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

[George]

Ah but Praise God Brother that we have a way out of those terrible things. Continuing in Galatians 5 we see the following:

(Gal 5:22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

(Gal 5:23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

(Gal 5:24) And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

(Gal 5:25) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

(Gal 5:26) Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

We have the Fruit of the Spirit to guide us if we let Him. Notice the very important verse 25: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. That is incredibly difficult to do at times and at times I believe my favorite hobby is arguing with the Holy Spirit. I never win but I never seem to learn either.

We are also blessed by God's grace to have an Advocate. That is very fortunate because probably the only one of those terrible things I am not guilty of is murder. That is physical murder, I believe I have murdered people's character and countenance a number of times.

In Christ,
George

[deputydog530]

Amen Brother.

I think one of the hardest things for Christians to do is to remember we are free from the bondage of sin and walk with the spirit.

We are like a prisoner that has been freed. The cell door is open, we can walk out of it any time but we stay in the cell. Or we leave the cell only to return to it and find ourselves in dispare.

Praise God for his Longsuffering toward us, that he gives us his grace and mercy to start again from our knees asking forgivness, and then getting up and entering the battle again with the armor of God on.

[Jim]

Exactly right George, and you beat me to the punch. I had not had a chance ot post my second prt. It is coming up shortly.