What does Galatians 5:19 mean?

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness," -Galatians 5:19
The first three sins in this list are sexual sins: adultery, fornication, uncleanness. The fourth sin, lasciviousness, can include sinful sexuality but seems to refer more to noisy, drunken partying.

As appalled as we are at modern sexual immorality, we should remember that first century sexual immorality was as bad or worse. King Solomon told us:

"There is nothing new under the sun."
Sexual life in the first century Greco-Roman world was celebrated in plays and novels as well as on pottery and in tile mosaics. Illicit sexuality in New Testament times included same sex activity whose sole purpose was to serve the fertility goddess.

Galatians 5:19

The first thing to note about our passage is the distinction between works, v. 19, and fruit, v. 22.

Works are a product of the flesh and are never acceptable to God to earn your salvation.

Fruit is a product of the indwelling Holy Spirit and is one evidence you are born again. If your life doesn't exhibit some of the fruit of the Spirit, you need to examine whether you're just a religious lost person or a backslidden saved person.

Have you taken the Good Person Test and watched the short video to help determine if you are saved or lost?

The term "flesh" refers not just to the body but also to the old nature, the part of us that is not saved or born again.

When you trusted Jesus Christ, (1) your soul got saved, Romans 10:13, (2) your spirit got born again, John 3:3-8, and (3) nothing happened to your flesh, Galatians 2:20. Your saved soul and born again spirit dwell in your fleshly body but your body will not be redeemed until the rapture, 2 Corinthians 5:1-6.

Lust Gets - Love Gives

"The flesh lusts against the Spirit," Galatians 5:17 and that battle confuses many Christians. Victory over the flesh does not mean to eradicate or suppress the flesh/the old nature as your method to stop sinning.

Walking in victory means to obey the Holy Spirit instead of obeying the flesh. Victory means yielding to God instead of yielding to the flesh. Victory is a moment by moment thing and God leaves the choice up to you.

If you are saved, you already have the power to walk in the Spirit (which means to obey God's Holy Spirit). The real issue is, Do you have the desire to walk in the Spirit, to obey the Spirit instead of the flesh? You are either God's servant, obedient to the Holy Spirit or you are a servant of your old nature, obedient to the flesh, Romans 6:16.

1. Adultery - from the Greek word, moicheia, occurs 4 times in the New Testament.

It means sexual relations with someone to whom you are not married and is generally translated, adultery, a married person stepping outside the marriage for sex, thus breaking the marriage vow, Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:21, John 8:3, Galatians 5:19.

2. Fornication - from the Greek word, porneia, occurs 26 times in the New Testament.

Porneia carries a broader meaning than moicheia, referring to almost any kind of sexual sin. It is often translated, fornication yet includes adultery, Matthew 5:32. The sin of fornication also includes shrine prostitution, Acts 15:29 & Revelation 2:21, 9:21, street prostitution, 1 Corinthians 6:13, sexual intercourse by single people outside the bounds of a committed partnership, 1 Corinthians 7:2, and spiritual fornication or worshiping false gods, Revelation 17:2, 4, 18:3, 19:2

3. Uncleanness - from the Greek word, akatharsia, occurs 10 times in the New Testament.

It means uncleanness physically or morally, including lustful attitudes and impure motives. It originally described a rotting corpse, which gives a bit of insight into its meaning. To be unclean in the sense of akatharsia is not a compliment.

Romans 1:24 uses akatharsia to describe idol worshipers or shrine prostitutes who dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Paul repeats the Greek word akatharsia in Romans 6:19, probably describing shrine prostitutes who got saved. He encourages them to yield their bodies to God's service with the same enthusiasm they yielded their bodies to serving the fertility goddess.

4. Lasciviousness - from the Greek word, aselgia, occurs 9 times in the New Testament.

It means public sexual excess, shameless lust, noisy partying.

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