Adultery π Fornication π Uncleanness π Licentiousness π Idolatry π Sorcery π Hatred π Contentions π Jealousies π Outbursts of Wrath π Selfish Ambitions π Dissensions π Heresies π Envy π Murders π Drunkenness π Revelries π And the Like

2 Ki. 18:4 π Prov. 6:16 π Prov. 6:19 π Mt. 5:32 π Mt. 13:41 π Mt. 15:13-14 π Mt. 15:19 π Mt. 15:19-20; 2nd π Mt. 19:6 π Mt. 19:9 π Mt. 23:2-3 π Mt. 23:27 π Mt. 27:18 π Mk. 7:21-22; 2nd; 3rd; 4th π Mk. 15:7 π Mk. 15:10 π Lk. 4:28-29 π Lk. 17:1 π Lk. 21:34 π Lk. 23:12 π Lk. 23:18-19 π Lk. 23:25 π Jn. 2:17 π Jn. 4:24 π Jn. 8:3-4 π Jn. 8:41 π Jn. 15:2 π Jn. 15:5 π Jn. 16:2 π Jn. 19:12-15 π Acts 5:17-18; 2nd π Acts 9:1-2 π Acts 13:45 π Acts 15:5 π Acts 15:20 π Acts 15:28-29 π Acts 17:11 π Acts 19:28 π Acts 21:25 π Acts 23:12-15 π Acts 24:5 π Acts 24:14 π Acts 26:5 π Acts 28:22 π Rom. 1:24-25 π Rom. 1:28-32; 2nd; 3rd; 4th π Rom. 2:5-11; 2nd π Rom. 6:19 π Rom. 8:6 π Rom. 8:7; 2nd π Rom. 10:2-3 π Rom. 13:13; 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th π Rom. 14:17; 2nd π Rom. 16:17 π 1 Cor. 1:11 π 1 Cor. 1:12 π 1 Cor. 3:1-4 π 1 Cor. 3:2-4 π 1 Cor. 3:3 π 1 Cor. 5:1 π 1 Cor. 6:13 π 1 Cor. 6:18 π 1 Cor. 7:2 π 1 Cor. 10:14 π 1 Cor. 11:3 π 1 Cor. 11:18-19 π 2 Cor. 7:6-7 π 2 Cor. 7:11 π 2 Cor. 9:1-2 π 2 Cor. 11:2 π 2 Cor. 12:20-21; 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th; 6th; 7th π Gal. 5:4 π Gal. 5:19-21 π Gal. 5:20-21 π Gal. 5:21; 2nd π Eph. 2:14-16 π Eph. 4:17-19; 2nd π Eph. 4:31 π Eph. 5:3-5 π Eph. 5:3-7 π Eph. 5:23 π Phlp. 1:15-17; 2nd; 3rd π Phlp. 2:3 π Phlp. 3:3-7 π Col. 3:5; 2nd π Col. 3:5-7 π Col. 3:8 π Col. 4:12-13 π 1 Ths. 2:3 π 1 Ths. 4:3 π 1 Ths. 4:7 π 1 Tim. 1:19-20 π 1 Tim. 5:20 π 1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2nd π 2 Tim. 3:5; 2nd π 2 Tim. 3:12 π Tit. 3:3 π Tit. 3:9 π Heb. 3:15 π Heb. 8:13 π Heb. 10:26-27 π Heb. 11:27 π Heb. 11:37-38 π Heb. 12:14 π Jas. 3:14-16; 2nd π Jas. 4:4; 2nd π Jas. 4:5 π 1 Pet. 2:1- π 3 1 Pet. 4:3; 2nd; 3rd π 2 Pet. 2:1 π 2 Pet. 2:6-8 π 2 Pet. 2:18 π Jude 4; 2nd π Rev. 2:21 π Rev. 9:20-21; 2nd π Rev. 9:21 π Rev. 12:11 π Rev. 12:12 π Rev. 14:8; 2nd π Rev. 14:9-12 π Rev. 14:19 π Rev. 14:20 π Rev. 15:1 π Rev. 15:7 π Rev. 16:1 π Rev. 16:19 π Rev. 17:1-2 π Rev. 17:4 π Rev. 18:3; 2nd π Rev. 18:23 π Rev. 19:2 π Rev. 19:15

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, 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 also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” ( Gal. 5:19-21; top )

Now, let’s get down to it. This list of sins, if one is a consistent characteristic that dominates your life and there is no remorse for or repentance of this sin, this will qualify you as a tare among the wheat. When we read this list, often because a word is unfamiliar or completely unknown to us, we think it has no meaning whatsoever. And it would seem that we are often quite content to remain in ignorance about the exact meaning of each of these sins for, if we don’t know, then surely we’re not guilty or at least not accountable. But as we examine these words individually, we are quite likely to find that, not only do these words have a very specific meaning, we are often, both as individuals and as a corporate group, quite guilty of practicing many of these things.

Interestingly enough, these words are not used very often - and they are often used together. In each following section, every usage of each word in the New Testament is given (except for its appearance in the above list from Galatians). When another word from this list or when a closely related word appears in the same passage, it will be emphasized as well to make readily apparent the connectedness of these words, these actions, these sins. The numbers in brackets [ ] are the Strong’s numbering system to make it easier for you to do your homework by checking these things out for yourself. ( Acts 17:11; top ) Definitions in quotes are also taken from the Strong’s Greek Dictionary.

But as we examine these words, let us remember that this is not an academic exercise. Let us remember that he who commits any of these things on a regular, ongoing basis with no remorse or repentance - even if that might apply to ourselves - this person is a son of the devil, a tare sown among the wheat for the express purpose of preventing a true son of God from becoming a mature wheat ready for harvest. The one who refuses to repent of any of these sins will be removed from the kingdom of God and taken out and burned. If you read this and are convicted by the Holy Spirit that you are guilty of any of these, by all means, repent! Confess your sin(s) to God that you may be cleansed. “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts...? ( Heb. 3:15; top )

The Greek word used here is “moicheia” [3430]. This word appears only 4 times in the New Testament. And every time, it means a married individual engaging in extra-marital sexual relations. Here are the three other usages:

• “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders [5408], adulteries [3430], fornications [4202], thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man...” ( Mt. 15:19-20; top ) Adultery proceeds out of the heart along with all the other evils which defile a man.
  
  
• “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries [3430], fornications [4202], murders [5408], thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness [766], an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” ( Mk. 7:21-23; top ) Again, adultery comes from within and defiles a man.
  
  
• “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery [3430]. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, [3431] in the very act.’” ( Jn. 8:3-4; top ) Okay. So where’s the other partner if she was caught in the act? Why’d they let the guy go? This is legalistic religious hypocrisy in action. What is so wrong for the one isn’t so bad for the other – especially where women are concerned!
  

The Greek word here is ?porneia? [4202] and it simply refers to any sexual act with anyone other than your marriage partner. This word is used 26 times in the New Testament:

• “But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality [4202] causes her to commit adultery [3429]; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery [3429].” ( Mt. 5:32; top ) Two sins for the price of one.
  
  
• “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders [5408], adulteries [3430], fornications [4202], thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man...” ( Mt. 15:19-20; top ) Fornication also proceeds out of the heart along with all the other evils which defile a man.
  
  
• “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality [4202] and marries another, commits adultery [3429]; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery [3429].” ( Mt. 19:9; top )
  
  
• “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries [3430], fornications [4202], murders [5408], thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness [766], an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” ( Mk. 7:21-23; top )
  
  
• [Jesus said,] “You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication [4202]; we have one Father - God.” ( Jn. 8:41; top ) Oh, that’s rich! The Pharisees (quite probably the same ones from the beginning of the chapter who brought the woman caught in adultery but not the man) accuse Jesus’ mother of fornication and then claim that God is their Father! When the truth is, Mary did not commit fornication and God was Jesus’ Father. The religious liars always get things exactly backwards and apply descriptions onto others that are true of themselves.
  
  
• James the brother of Jesus said, “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality [4202], from things strangled, and from blood.” ( Acts 15:20; top ) Keep it simple, keep it pure is the message.
  
  
• The Jerusalem assembly would then write, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality [4202]. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” ( Acts 15:28-29; top )
  
  
• Upon Paul?s return to Jerusalem, James and the elders reassured him, “But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality [4202].” ( Acts 21:25; top )
  
  
• “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality [4202], wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy [5355], murder [5408], strife [2054], deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” ( Rom. 1:28-32; top ) Another list of sinful actions and attitudes. Notice how this list begins with simply forgetting about God and His righteous requirements.
  
  
• “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality [4202] among you, and such sexual immorality [4202] as is not even named among the Gentiles - that a man has his father’s wife!” ( 1 Cor. 5:1; top ) Gross sexual immorality earned Paul’s stern rebuke.
  
  
• “Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality [4202] but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” ( 1 Cor. 6:13; top ) We are not our own - we have been bought with a price. Sexual immorality is not an option for the genuine believer.
  
  
• “Flee sexual immorality [4202]. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” ( 1 Cor. 6:18; top ) Run from it as if your life depended upon staying away from this sin. It does.
  
  
• “Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality [4202], let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.” ( 1 Cor. 7:2; top ) Marriage is the cure for this sin.
  
  
• “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions [2054], jealousies [2205], outbursts of wrath [2372], selfish ambitions [2052], backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness [167], fornication [4202], and licentiousness [766] which they have practiced.” ( 2 Cor. 12:20-21; top ) This is a list we will see often in this study. Paul is writing to the people he rebuked for their many sins. And he is afraid they will not have repented of them and he will have to rebuke them again in person.
  
  
• “But fornication [4202] and all uncleanness [167] or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.” ( Eph. 5:3-7; top ) Don’t be deceived. You can’t commit this sin in a regular and ongoing basis and be a genuine believer. You are only making yourself a son of disobedience who will receive the wrath of God.
  
  
• “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication [4202], uncleanness [167], passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry [1495].” ( Col. 3:5; top ) Kill this sin. Do not toy with it.
  
  
• “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality. [4202]” ( 1 Ths. 4:3; top ) Wondering what God’s will for your life is? Sexual purity. This is a no-brainer.
  
  
• “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality [4202], and she did not repent.” ( Rev. 2:21; top ) The reference is to a false prophetess, Jezebel, who was leading many astray through this sin.
  
  
• “And they did not repent of their murders [5408] or their sorceries [5331] or their sexual immorality [4202] or their thefts.” ( Rev. 9:21; top ) Mankind, what is left after witnessing and experiencing many plagues and judgments, still refuses to repent.
  
  
• “And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath [2372] of her fornication [4202].’” ( Rev. 14:8; top ) All nations have partaken of Mystery Religion’s fornication, the worship of a god other than the true God, and all will drink of the cup of God’s wrath because of that.
  
  
• “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication [4202].’” ( Rev. 17:1-2; top ) The inhabitants of the earth will be intoxicated, made giddy and impaired in their ability to recognize reality, by the practice of idolatry, spiritual fornication.
  
  
• “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication [4202].” ( Rev. 17:4; top ) Spiritual fornication is considered by God to be filthy and abominable.
  
  
• “For all the nations have drunk the wine of the wrath [2372] of her fornication [4202], the kings of the earth have committed fornication [4203] with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” ( Rev. 18:3; top )
  
  
• “For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication [4202]; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” ( Rev. 19:2; top ) One day, true righteousness will reign and all the wickedness of this harlot, the religious spirit, will be avenged.
  

The Greek word here is “akatharsia” [167] and it means to be “unclean, dirty.” In its moral sense, it carries the idea of “the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living.” It is comprised of two words: “a” (the negative, “to negate”) and “kathairo” [2508]. “Kathairo” is the word from which we derive “catharsis” and it means “to cleanse of filth and impurity.” In an interesting sidenote, “kathairo” is the word that Jesus uses when He speaks of pruning trees and vines of useless shoots that bear no fruit. ( Jn. 15:2; top ) When used metaphorically, “kathairo” means “to cleanse from guilt, to expiate.” To be unclean, then, is to refuse to be cleansed. It is a persistence in being dirty.

• “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white-washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness [167].” ( Mt. 23:27; top ) You just can’t judge a book by its cover. It requires patient observance and the discernment the Holy Spirit gives to know what’s really on the inside of a person. And since evil is truly inside every man because of the fall, the difference between a wheat and a tare would be the question of which nature rules, the Spirit of God or the sinful nature, the nature of the devil.
  
  
• “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness [167], in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” ( Rom. 1:24-25; top ) Only God can keep a human from obeying the sinful nature. Part of His judgments against an individual and a people is to give them up to the evil that is resident within themselves.
  
  
• “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness [167], and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” ( Rom. 6:19; top ) We were once slaves of filthy living - now, with the same gusto, pursue righteousness and holiness, for without righteousness and holiness, you won’t see or know God. ( Heb. 12:14; top )
  
  
• “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions [2054], jealousies [2205], outbursts of wrath [2372], selfish ambitions [2052], backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness [167], fornication [4202], and licentiousness [766] which they have practiced.” ( 2 Cor. 12:20-21; top ) Paul did not want to have to confront, in the assembly of the Corinthians whom he loved and spiritually fathered, persons who were unrepentant in their filthy living.
  
  
• “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to licentiousness [766], to work all uncleanness [167] with greediness.” ( Eph. 4:17-19; top ) The Gentiles, those people who do not adhere to the One True God, not only live in filthiness but plunge into it with enthusiasm. We are not to live in the way that draws men into that lifestyle.
  
  
• “But fornication [4202] and all uncleanness [167] or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator [4205], unclean person [169], nor covetous man, who is an idolater [1496], has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” ( Eph. 5:3-5; top ) Uncleanness is not only inappropriate for believers, it will cost you your place in the kingdom.
  
  
• “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication [4202], uncleanness [167], passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry [1495].” ( Col. 3:5; top ) Kill it. Put it to death. Do not compromise by leaving it alive and bringing it out whenever you wish to play with it. Put it to death or it might just kill you.
  
  
• “For our exhortation did not come from deceit or uncleanness [167], nor was it in guile.” ( 1 Ths. 2:3; top ) The message of the Lord is pure.
  
  
• “For God did not call us to uncleanness [167], but in holiness.? ( 1 Ths. 4:7; top ) Have you been wondering what God’s call on your life is? Holiness. This is also a no- brainer.
  

The Greek word used here is “aselgeia” [766] and it means “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence.” In essence, it is the extremity of the sinful nature, a greed for sin and sinful living.

• “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries [3430], fornications [4202], murders [5408], thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness [766], an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” ( Mk. 7:21-23; top ) This greed for sin is also part of the resident evil within. Only Christ is able to remove its stain from our hearts.
  
  
• “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry [2970] and drunkenness [3178], not in licentiousness [766] and lewdness, not in strife [2054] and envy [2205].” ( Rom. 13:13; top ) Gratifying this greed for sin is not acceptable practice for a true believer.
  
  
• “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions [2054], jealousies [2205], outbursts of wrath [2372], selfish ambitions [2052], backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness [167], fornication [4202], and licentiousness [766] which they have practiced.” ( 2 Cor. 12:20-21; top ) Paul is not interested in confronting supposed believers who live only to gratify every whim of their sinful nature. He would rather they repent now.
  
  
• “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to licentiousness [766], to work all uncleanness [167] with greediness.” ( Eph. 4:17-19; top ) The people who do not know God gratify every whim of their sinful nature - we are to no longer live in that way.
  
  
• “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles - when we walked in licentiousness [766], lusts, drunkenness, revelries [2970], drinking parties, and abominable idolatries [1495].” ( 1 Pet. 4:3; top ) We’ve wasted enough time gratifying every whim of the sinful nature. Now it is time to pursue God in purity, holiness and righteousness.
  
  
• “[God turned] the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy [766] conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds).” ( 2 Pet. 2:6-8; top ) The filthy lifestyle of God-less people is oppressive to genuine saints. If you can be in the world and not be bothered by the rampant sin around you, perhaps you are overdue for a long heart-to-heart talk with your heavenly Father.
  
  
• “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through licentiousness [766], the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.” ( 2 Pet. 2:18; top ) The context here is false teachers in the last days that use flattery, words that convey any inflated notion about the listener that is inconsistent with reality. Even the presentation of an intellectual gospel to those who are too lazy to study the word for themselves is a form of flattery because it makes the hearers think they are Christians in good standing with God because now they know (at least they think they do) what the Bible says since someone has explained it to them in a way that did not make them feel convicted (though most of these would-be “saints” would prefer to use the word “condemned” here). These false teachers use flattery to stir up their listeners’ greed for sinful living to gain followers for themselves or their own ego-gratification. And the chief way they stir up this greed for sinful living, that is, any life independent of God, is to call for improved moral living, all accomplished by the power of the soul. This is how those escaping misbeliefs and false doctrines are lured away from a true life in the Spirit of God.
  
  
• “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness [766] and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” ( Jude 4; top ) Jude is also warning about false teachers at the end of the age. These men will pervert the grace - the power of God to cause you to become what He knows you to be - into a willful expression of the sinful nature to become all that you want to be. This is the essence of the New Age gospel - the exaltation of man completely independent of God. But a true believer is still completely reliant and dependent upon God.
  

The Greek word used here is “eidololatreia” [1495] and it refers to “the worship of false gods, idolatry.” It refers to the formal sacrificial feats held in honor of false gods and it refers to the practice of having anything as a higher priority than obeying and following God. The clearest example of this latter form of idolatry is the greedy love of money which is referred to as the worship of the god Mammon. When this word is used in the plural, it refers to any and all of the vices that come from practicing idolatry. An obvious example from the Scriptures is the practice of sexual immorality that often accompanied the worship of false gods.

• “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry [1495].” ( 1 Cor. 10:14; top ) Run, do not walk to the nearest exit! Run as if your life depends on your being free from idolatry because it does.
  
  
• “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication [4202], uncleanness [167], passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry [1495]. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you also once walked when you lived in them.” ( Col. 3:5-7; top ) Having anything as a greater priority than your life with God is something that is to be put to death. It is not to be tolerated in small doses. It is not negotiable. It must die.
  
  
• “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles - when we walked in licentiousness [766], lusts, drunkenness, revelries [2970], drinking parties, and abominable idolatries [1495].” ( 1 Pet. 4:3; top ) We’ve wasted enough time worshiping false gods and committing all the abominable practices that come with that - let us now turn to the true God and worship Him in purity and truth.
  

The Greek word used here is “pharmakeia” [5331] and it refers to “the use or the administering of drugs or poison, sorcery and magical arts.” It is often found in connection with idolatry and, when used metaphorically, it refers also to the deceptions and seductions of idolatry. It is the reliance upon drugs to perform miracles of healing or power rather than trusting God to work. As we are believers living in this world but not being of this world, the system of medicine competes against God’s provision of divine health for our faith. It is when our faith rests in the medicines and powers of drugs that our faith is displaced from God. God may and has healed people through medicines - but as we mature our faith needs to be in God, not the powers of medicines and drugs.

• “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders [5408] or their sorceries [5331] or their sexual immorality [4202] or their thefts.? ( Rev. 9:20-21; top ) Again, men have seen plagues and judgments but still have no heart to repent of their sins - in this case, their reliance upon drugs to perform miracles.
  
  
• “And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore. And the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery [5331] all the nations were deceived.” ( Rev. 18:23; top ) The power of drugs and medicines is a contributing factor in the deception of the nations.
  

The Greek word is “echthra” [2189] and it means “enmity or hatred.” It is derived from the Greek word “echthros” [2190] which is used either passively, “odious,” or actively, “hostile.”

• “That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for before that they had been at enmity [2189] with each other.” ( Lk. 23:12; top ) Their evil treatment of the King of kings brought these two rulers into friendship.
  
  
• “Because the carnal mind is enmity [2189] against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” ( Rom. 8:7; top ) One cannot be a genuine believer and live by the dictates of the carnal or fleshly mind - it is hatred or antagonism towards God.
  
  
• “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity [2189], that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity [2189].” ( Eph. 2:14-16; top ) Jesus’ death on the cross is the end of racism, the hatred and antagonism between Jew and Gentile, and it is the end of the law of sin and death, that antagonism between the spirit and soul of man. There is now no distinction between men. All are guilty of sin and all are freely redeemed if they will but come and live in and by His Spirit.
  
  
• “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity [2189] with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy [2190] of God.? ( Jas. 4:4; top ) One or the other. You can have God or you can have the world. But you can’t have both.
  

The Greek word here is “eris” [2054] and it means simply “contention, strife, wrangling.” It is the idea of being argumentative, often for no better reason than just to be “right” or more “right” than others. As we examine these Scriptures, let us also recall that this word “contention” or “strife” is also in the list of “works of the flesh” which, Paul warned, “those who practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” ( Gal. 5:21; top )

• “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality [4202], wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy [5355], murder [5408], strife [2054], deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” ( Rom. 1:28-32; top ) The lifestyle of those who have forgotten about God and His righteous requirements are characterized by, among other things, strife and contentions.
  
  
• “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry [2970] and drunkenness [3178], not in licentiousness [766] and lewdness, not in strife [2054] and envy [2205].” ( Rom. 13:13; top ) Striving and contentiousness are not acceptable patterns of living for a genuine believer.
  
  
• “For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions [2054] among you.” ( 1 Cor. 1:11 ) The context is the opening paragraph of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. And what were the outward symptoms that showed there were contentions among the Corinthians? Some say, “I’m of Paul,” others, “I’m of Apollos,” others, “I’m of Peter,” and still others, “I’m of Christ.” ( 1 Cor. 1:12; top ) If it was contentious for people of Paul’s day to claim allegiance to a certain man as an excuse to divide from and ostracize other believers in Christ, then how is it different when we claim our denominational allegiance and use it as an excuse to divide ourselves away from other believers in Christ? Is saying, “I’m of the pope,” (Catholic) or “I’m of Martin Luther,” (Lutheran) or “I’m of John Wesley,” (Methodist) or “I’m of Chuck Smith,” (a non-denominatonal denominationalist), is this any different than saying, “I’m of Paul,” “I’m of Apollos,” “I’m of Peter,” or “I’m of Christ”? No! And if, in Paul’s day, it was a sin that, if it is allowed to become a lifestyle, characterizes one who was not a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, then what is it in our day? It is a sin that is characteristic of the tares and not the wheat. Those who persist in their denominational alliances at the expense of the life they could have in Christ will be removed by the angels from God’s kingdom and they will be taken out and burned before the great harvest at the end of the age.
  
  
• “For you are still carnal. For where there are envy [2205], strife [2054], and divisions [1370] among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” ( 1 Cor. 3:3; top ) Paul is returning to the idea with which he opened his letter to the Corinthians. Here he adds the description that those who are practicing contentions, dividing from other believers in Christ because of loyalties to a man, that these people can only be carnal. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” ( Rom. 8:7; top ) As has already been said, one who is a genuine believer cannot live by the carnal or fleshly mind - it is hatred or antagonism towards God. But it is also true that we cannot expect a denominational “church” goer to have any spiritual maturity or depth so long as he is God’s enemy. Contention is carnal living while the spiritual mind “is life and peace.? ( Rom. 8:6; top ) They are mutually exclusive. If you have an allegiance to any man that supersedes your relationship with Christ, you can only be God’s enemy and you will never have any spiritual understanding or maturity that would enable you to genuinely lead others to a true and deep relationship with Christ - no matter what titles you claim as yours and no matter how many people are following you into the ditch.
  
  
• “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions [2054], jealousies [2205], outbursts of wrath [2372], selfish ambitions [2052], backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness [167], fornication [4202], and licentiousness [766] which they have practiced.” ( 2 Cor. 12:20-21; top ) This is the end of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. He is afraid that his first letter which addressed the contention and strife among the Corinthian believers would have been a wasted effort.
  
  
• “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy [5355] and strife [2054], and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition [2052], not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.” ( Phlp. 1:15-17 ) There are those who would see this verse and suppose that preaching Christ from the motives of envy, strife and selfish ambition is an acceptable practice. And there is a small bit of truth enclosed in that idea. That is, it is always true that others have to live their own life and we who witness their life only have so much influence over their actions and we must, ultimately, surrender them to their accountability to God. If these who preach Christ from these false motives persist in their hypocrisy and sin, we may indeed confront and expose them. (see 1 Tim. 5:20 for example) But, when it comes to dealing with these religious people who have a form of godliness but no power, Paul said, “from such people turn away.” ( 2 Tim. 3:5 ) Jesus said of the Pharisees, a sect within the Jewish religion who were also characterized by hypocrisy and sin in the midst of their religious zealotry, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but they do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.” ( Mt. 23:2-3 ) When the Pharisees sat in Moses’ seat, they read the Law. What they said when they read was the written words of God. Those were to be listened to - but the example of the Pharisees? lives was to be completely ignored. Jesus also said of the Pharisees when His disciples questioned Him about offending their religious sensibilities, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” ( Mt. 15:13-14 ) Jesus clearly tells us here that the religious hypocrites, no matter what title or position they have, if they were not planted by the Father, they will be uprooted. He also points out that they are incapable of leading people to God for they are blind themselves. In warning about such things as this, Jesus also said, “It is impossible that no offenses (sins) should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!” ( Lk. 17:1 ) At the end of the age, the angels will remove every thing that causes offense or sin. ( Mt. 13:41; top ) So, while hypocrisy and preaching Christ from false motives merits the confrontation and exposure of these false preachers, it does not give us excuse to seek them out just to argue with them. For, if we did, we would be guilty of the strife and contention with which they practice their religion and we would probably soon be insane or dead and they would be none the less deceived and not one bit more saved.
  
  
• “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy [5355], strife [2054], reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” ( 1 Tim. 6:3-5; top ) Paul is pointing out the danger of remaining around those who are contentious. Those who see nothing wrong with having an allegiance to men or men’s traditions that is superior to an allegiance to Christ will produce only strife and contentiousness. And their sin will produce the same sin in you. Thus, Paul says, “from such withdraw yourself.” That’s pretty clear, don’t you think?
  
  
• “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contention [2054], and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.” ( Tit. 3:9; top ) Here Paul says that contentions, any loyalty to a man, philosophy or tradition that usurps the loyalty we are to have to the Person of Jesus Christ is “unprofitable and useless.” Those who engage in these disputings are able only to accomplish nothing of eternal value - just as Jesus said, “apart from Me, you can do nothing.” ( Jn. 15:5; top ) We can pour great amounts of time, energy and resources into a great number of activities, especially arguing with other believers to show how wrong they are and how right we are, but if it is done apart from Christ, it amounts to absolutely nothing.
  

The Greek word here is “zelos” [2205] and it means “excitement of mind, ardor, fervor of spirit” and it has three basic manifestations, one good, one evil and one that could be either depending on how far one goes with it and what motivates it. It can be a good “zeal, ardor in embracing, pursuing, defending anything, zeal in behalf of, for a person or thing.” Or it can be an evil, “envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy.” Or it can be “the fierceness of indignation, punitive zeal.” It is to be noted that, most often, only God is capable of exhibiting a sinless jealousy.

• “Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal [2205] for Your house has eaten Me up.’” ( Jn. 2:17; top ) The context here is when Jesus cleared the temple of the money-changers, the greedy frauds who were cheating the worshipers of God of their money by changing foreign money at extravagant rates and buying the “flawed” sacrificial animals and selling “flawless” sacrificial animals (or reselling the “flawed” ones because there was never anything wrong with them in the first place, except that the priest responsible for approving the animals was getting his share of the take). Zeal or jealousy for the purity of God’s house led Jesus to take up a whip and chase out the frauds. When we consider that the sons of the kingdom, the true people of Christ, are His house now, what do you suppose is His attitude toward those who fraudulently con His people, His house, out of their money now? Perhaps the tares should be grateful that He sends the angels to gather them out of His kingdom and does not come to do so Himself.
  
  
• “Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect [139] of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation [2205], and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.” ( Acts 5:17-18; top ) When the Sadducees saw that the new Nazarene sect (as they called the followers of Christ at first) was more popular than their own, they were jealously indignant and imprisoned the apostles.
  
  
• “But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy [2205]; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.” ( Acts 13:45; top ) Again, popularity of others caused an envious jealousy and led these Jews to contradict the truth, the fresh revelation of God, and to even blaspheme God.
  
  
• “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal [2205] for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” ( Rom. 10:2-3; top ) Paul is saying, “Oh, the Jews are zealous alright - but not according to a true understanding of the nature of God. They are jealous over their own religion which permits them to be their own gods but they will not submit to the One True God.”
  
  
• “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry [2970] and drunkenness [3178], not in licentiousness [766] and lewdness, not in strife [2054] and envy [2205].” ( Rom. 13:13; top ) A jealous zeal apart from a true knowledge and experience of God that causes envy of others and discontent with one’s own situation in life is not appropriate for genuine believers.
  
  
• “I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy [2205], strife [2054], and divisions [1370] among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” ( 1 Cor. 3:2-4; top ) Wherever you find people jockeying for positions of leadership or advantage and seeking only to gather followers after themselves, there is no possibility of finding spiritual maturity in those people. They can only be blind leaders of blind followers heading directly toward a ditch.
  
  
• “Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal [2205] for me, so that I rejoiced even more.” ( 2 Cor. 7:6-7; top ) Here Paul rejoices over the news that Titus conveyed about the repentance that Paul’s first letter produced in the Corinthians. When the Corinthians were zealous to obey the truth he had spoken and they were able to recognize him as a genuine messenger of the Lord, it was cause for his rejoicing.
  
  
• “For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal [2205], what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” ( 2 Cor. 7:11; top ) Again, after their godly sorrow came, among other things, a godly zeal to obey God.
  
  
• “Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal [2205] has stirred up the majority.” ( 2 Cor. 9:1-2; top ) The context here is a large gift of money for the believers in Jerusalem. Paul is rehearsing the fact that the Corinthians were among the first to be eager and zealous to give to meet this need.
  
  
• “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy [2205]. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” ( 2 Cor. 11:2; top ) Paul is fervently zealous that the Corinthians be kept from following after false teachers who would lead them astray from the pure and straight ways of the Lord. It was appropriate for Paul to be passionate about keeping the Corinthians aware of false teachers and teachings - even to the point of naming names in some cases (see 1 Tim. 1:19-20; top for example) - but if anyone does it today (including this author), well, they’re just “divisive and contentious.”
  
  
• “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions [2054], jealousies [2205], outbursts of wrath [2372], selfish ambitions [2052], backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness [167], fornication [4202], and licentiousness [766] which they have practiced.” ( 2 Cor. 12:20-21; top ) Envious jealousy of the positions and advantages of others was among the list of the Corinthians failings which Paul was not eager to confront in person. He would rather they simply repent now.
  
  
• “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal [2205], persecuting the ekklesia; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” ( Phlp. 3:3-7; top ) “Fleshly zeal?” Paul asks. “If you think that’s a sign of greatness, especially spiritual greatness, I had that as much as anyone could have - so much so I tried to kill the people of Christ. But, no, zeal and all these other supposedly great things I had as a religious leader are a loss, a complete waste of time, to me now that I want to know Christ.”
  
  
• “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal [2205] for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.” ( Col. 4:12-13; top ) Epaphras is a spiritual hero to be emulated. He laid down his own life zealously for the people whom God had burdened his heart with.
  
  
• “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation [2205] which will devour the adversaries.” ( Heb. 10:26-27; top ) God’s judgment is jealous over those who receive the truth but become opposed to it. It will seek you out and hunt you down. If you oppose the truth after tasting of it, your judgment is not sleeping. It will tear you apart on the appropriate day. Do not be deceived. It hungers for you.
  
  
• “But if you have bitter envy [2205] and self-seeking [2052] in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy [2205] and self-seeking [2052] exist, confusion and every evil thing will be there.” ( Jas. 3:14-16; top ) If someone has a zealous envy, you will find confusion and sin surrounding that person. Do not receive such a one as any kind of a leader in the body of Christ. He is only deceived or a deceiver.
  

The Greek word here is “thumos” [2372] and it means “passion, angry, heat, anger boiling up and soon subsiding again.” It can also refer to “glow, ardor, the wine of passion, inflaming wine (which either drives the drinker mad or kills him with its strength).” It is when anger explodes out of the soul in either verbal, emotional or physical violence. Whether you scream at the cat, the dog, your children or the computer, if you verbally abuse and browbeat your wife, your friends or your employees, or if you actually engage in physical violence, you have committed the sin of “outburst of wrath.” It is to be noted that God is capable of displaying His wrath without sinning but this does not seem to be possible for the human being unless that person is completely directed and controlled by the Spirit of God at the time.

• “Then all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath [2372], and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.” ( Lk. 4:28-29; top ) The context here is that Jesus is speaking things the people in the synagogue didn’t want to hear. Wrath leads to attempted murder.
  
  
• “And when they heard this, they were full of wrath [2372] and cried out, saying, ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians!’” ( Acts 19:28; top ) The context here is that Paul’s preaching of the gospel was having a very seriously deleterious effect on the income of the idol makers’ trade in Ephesus. Demetrius, one of the most prosperous of the idol makers, first stirs up the silversmiths about their financial losses and then gets the whole town in an uproar by accusing Paul of bringing the temple and worship of Diana into disrepute. When the Ephesians’ idolatrous religion was challenged, it stirred up their wrath just as is the wrath of the average “church” goer stirred by speaking honestly and accurately about the deceptive “church” paradigm.
  
  
• “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking [2052] and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness - indignation [2372] and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” ( Rom. 2:5-11; top ) One day, God will unleash His wrath on all those who are self-seeking, disobedient to the truth and obedient to unrighteousness. Count on it. It will happen.
  
  
• “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions [2054], jealousies [2205], outbursts of wrath [2372], selfish ambitions [2052], backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness [167], fornication [4202], and licentiousness [766] which they have practiced.” ( 2 Cor. 12:20-21; top ) Temper tantrums seemed to be among the list of the Corinthians’ failings also.
  
  
• “Let all bitterness, wrath [2372], anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” ( Eph. 4:31; top ) All wrath is to be put away from the genuine believer. Not most, not some - all.
  
  
• “But now you must also put off all these: anger, wrath [2372], malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” ( Col. 3:8; top ) Again, wrath is something to be put off, not tolerated.
  
  
• “By faith [Moses] forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath [2372] of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” ( Heb. 11:27; top ) Moses thought it better to obey God than to worry about Pharaoh’s wrath. The Red Sea proved that Moses was right.
  
  
• “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath [2372], because he knows that he has a short time.” ( Rev. 12:12 ) When the devil is cast to the earth, he will be furious and he will vent his wrath, his anger at being defeated by Michael and the angels and at his impending final defeat by the returning Christ, he will vent this wrath upon the people of God who are on the earth at that time. (But the saints of God do overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony that they did not love their lives so much as to avoid dying for the name of Christ - see Rev. 12:11; top . So even as he vents his wrath, he seals his defeat.)
  
  
• “And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath [2372] of her fornication [4202].’” ( Rev. 14:8; top ) The wrath is God’s. The sin is Babylon’s. One day, righteous judgment will fall upon all who practice religious infidelity.
  
  
• “Then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath [2372] of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’ Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” ( Rev. 14:9-12; top ) Everyone who takes the mark of the beast, that number which identifies one as a willing participant in the devil’s rebellion against God, will experience God’s wrath for eternity.
  
  
• “So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath [2372] of God.” ( Rev. 14:19; top ) The wrath of God is expressed in one great battle wherein the blood will flow in a depth “up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs” - a distance of approximately 180 miles ( Rev. 14:20; top )
  
  
• “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath [2372] of God is complete.” ( Rev. 15:1; top ) Perhaps God’s wrath is not sinful because it is not out of control as is true of human wrath. When His wrath is done, it is done and it is gone. Humans, even after getting satisfaction, often carry and nurse a grudge, unforgiveness, against the object of their wrath. When the righteous judgments of God upon wickedness are complete, there is simply no more need for wrath.
  
  
• “Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath [2372] of God who lives forever and ever.” ( Rev. 15:7; top ) These angels are agents of God’s wrath.
  
  
• “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath [2372] of God on the earth.’” ( Rev. 16:1; top )
  
  
• “Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness [2372] of His wrath.” ( Rev. 16:19; top )
  
  
• “For all the nations have drunk the wine of the wrath [2372] of her fornication [4202], the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” ( Rev. 18:3; top ) Not just one nation, all the nations have participated in the religious spirit’s deceptions and are due for God’s wrath.
  
  
• “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness [2372] and wrath of Almighty God.” ( Rev. 19:15; top ) Jesus Himself also carries out the execution of the wrath of God. So much for the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” theory.
  

The Greek word here is “eritheia” [2052] and it means “electioneering or intriguing for office, courting distinction, desiring to put one’s self forward, a partisan and fractious spirit which does not disdain low arts, partisanship, fractiousness.” It is also interesting that this word is found before New Testament times in Aristotle where it denotes a self-seeking pursuit of political office by unfair means. Our modern equivalent is “the ends justifies the means,” especially when the end is some selfish, self-centered or self-aggrandizing goal.

• “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking [2052] and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness - indignation [2372] and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” ( Rom. 2:5-11; top ) Selfish ambition, seeking the agenda of our selfish nature and using whatever evil methods are required to accomplish that agenda, is a characteristic of those who are destined to experience the impartial wrath of God.
  
  
• “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions [2054], jealousies [2205], outbursts of wrath [2372], selfish ambitions [2052], backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; and lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness [167], fornication [4202], and licentiousness [766] which they have practiced.” ( 2 Cor. 12:20-21; top ) Selfish ambition, the seeking of self’s desires and doing whatever was required to realize those desires, was another trait of many Corinthians.
  
  
• “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy [5355] and strife [2054], and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition [2052], not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.” ( Phlp. 1:15-17; top ) Yes, Christ can be preached from selfish ambition, that is, using the gospel to gain followers who stroke the ego of the leader or who line his wallet with money. But woe to those who so preach the Good News for they turn the grace of our Lord into an abomination. ( Jude 4; top )
  
  
• “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition [2052] or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” ( Phlp. 2:3; top ) Selfish ambition, letting some selfish end justify all manner of wicked behavior, is not to be any part of our life in Christ. Nothing is to be done because self wants it done that way. Yet, how often do we choose a certain “church” simply because religion is conducted there in a manner which I approve of?
  
  
• “But if you have bitter envy [2205] and self-seeking [2052] in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy [2205] and self-seeking [2052] exist, confusion and every evil thing will be there.” ( Jas. 3:14-16; top ) Where confusion and wicked activity is found, especially in “church” leadership, it is a sure and certain indication that someone has their own agenda and is neglecting God’s agenda. Run, do not walk to the nearest exit when someone, anyone, claiming to be a leader in the body of Christ is surrounded by confusion and sin.
  

The Greek word here is “dichostasia” [1370]. It is a compound word from “dicho” (“twice or again”) and “stasia” (“stasis or condition of standing”). In English, it is rendered “dissensions” or “divisions,” but, in the Greek, this word carries a much larger and more precise picture in its meaning. To understand this word, we must first understand how the body of Christ works and how men with natural eyes distort what spiritual things they see, measure and, especially, analyze with reason and logic.

The body of Christ, in Scripture, is not an analogy. Nowhere in Scripture do any of the writers say that the people of Christ are like a body. No, all the writers that use this terminology say that the people of Christ are His body. The Scriptures plainly state that Christ Himself is the Head of the body and that His body is the called-out people of God, the ekklesia. ( 1 Cor. 11:3 ; Eph. 5:23; top ) With the human body as the explanation of a spiritual truth, we recognize that the Holy Spirit performs a similar function in the body of Christ to that of the human nervous system. He transmits the commands of the Head to all the various parts of the body.

“Stasia,” and especially the English word which derives from it, “stasis,” is a term associated with fluids, particularly bodily fluids like blood and waste products. When a fluid is measured, a “cross section” or sample is taken and the measurements applied to the whole, even though not every “cross section” or sample would necessarily be completely identical. “Stasis” is also associated with the idea of a person suspended in time, when everything comes to a condition of standing perfectly still.

When a leader in the body of Christ sets forth his understanding of what God is doing and that understanding is then used as the basis for gathering followers to that leader, “stasia” has occurred. A sample of the bodily fluids of the body of Christ have been captured and the findings are then applied to the whole, often with a margin of error which is apparent when compared with another sample, another “stasia.” A picture, a snapshot, of the way the body of Christ was at that moment in time has been taken and now men worship that picture as if it were God Himself. That is “stasia.” This is the method by which theological doctrines and denominational creeds are formed. The doctrines and creeds may contain a great deal of truth, but they are a photograph of a living being - something is lost in the transaction. It is, in truth, much like the superstitions of the American Indians who feared that their spirit would be lost if their image was captured in the white man’s picture box. The Spirit of God is simply not available to those who worship only a photograph of God’s past movements among men.

This Greek word, “dichostasia,” goes one step further. It speaks of “twice standing.” In slang English, we would call that the “double standard” whereby the ones teaching a certain code of behavior are exempt from having to actually live it out - in this case, they cry out against the sin of divisiveness, applying it to anyone who disagrees with their teachings, when, all the while, their whole position is only a “stasia,” a lifeless photograph of God’s past movements among men, a thing of their own creation, a “nehushtan,” a thing of brass that has outlived its usage by God (see 2 Ki. 18:4; top ) “Dichostasia” happens when those who have formed and grasped, to one degree or another, a “stasia” of the body of Christ, that momentary snapshot in time of what God was doing, will not allow for anyone else to present their own snapshots. And, of course, those who don’t agree with the leaders’ understanding of the truth are expected to leave and go form yet another denomination based around that second snapshot of their own making.

And so long as you form another denomination but don’t call into question the underlying fallacy of taking such snapshots in the first place, religion has absorbed you and you pose no threat to the spirit of antichrist who is raising up its own sons so that the true sons of the kingdom might never reach maturity.

Let me say that again with great deliberation and careful choice of words. “Stasia” is the taking of a snapshot in time of the body of Christ, a theological understanding of the body of Christ at a particular moment in time. “Dichostasia” is the separating of the body of Christ according to the dictates of a “stasia,” that snapshot in time of the body of Christ. Thus you could have a Catholic “stasia,” a Baptist “stasia,” a Lutheran “stasia,” a Methodist “stasia,” an Episcopalian “stasia,” a Presbyterian “stasia,” a Charismatic “stasia,” an Evangelical “stasia” and even a non-denominational “stasia.” But each of these are incomplete pictures of the body of Christ for they are pictures frozen in time. The body of Christ is not frozen in time. It is not even of time. It is an eternal entity which has its existence throughout time. When we first create a “stasia,” a denominational or doctrinal understanding of Christ and His body in the context of a certain culture or time, we have only attempted to put God in a box, to limit His abilities to fit within our understanding. It is no wonder the “church” of the end times has the form of godliness but no power. ( 2 Tim. 3:5; top ) The “church” is fragmented by multitudes of these “stasias” - and each “stasia” is only a graven image to what Christ was doing in times past that really has no connection to what the Spirit is doing in their own time.

“Dichostasia” happens when I take my own particular “stasia” of the body of Christ and force someone to leave my circles of influence so that they can seek God according to their own light - whether that light be true revelation from God or just their own “stasia.” When someone is forced to leave my circle fellowship because there exists differences of beliefs or opinions about the Lord Jesus Christ, the sin of division, “dichostasia,” has occurred. And so long as the person I have forced to leave goes off and forms yet another “stasia,” the spirit of antichrist has scored yet another victory and the religious “church” spirit will not antagonize this new movement too greatly - only enough to “verify” (at least in the minds of the adherents) that this new division, this new “dichostasia,” is indeed a “new work of God.”

But let anyone refuse to buy into the practice of taking snapshots in time of the body of Christ but rather insist that the Holy Spirit rule freely and completely in his or her life, and the religious “church” spirit will go to great lengths to silence and even crucify the one who so enters into the true liberty of the Spirit.

This word “dichostasia” appears only three times in the New Testament, but I think the precision of the meaning of this Greek word went a long way in uniting the believers of the first centuries. There were many disagreements and isolated instances of division (like Corinth), but it was not until the second and third centuries that people began to routinely divide into theological or ideological camps based on the teachings of leaders.

With this understanding of the word “dichostasia,” then, let us consider what is said in the Scriptures.

• “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions [1370] and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.” ( Rom. 16:17; top ) Note those who cause divisions and avoid them. The Senior “Pastor” who insists on his views and says, “If you don’t agree with me, then leave,” is one who causes divisions and is to be avoided. But don’t you go off and start your own brand name either - for then you will be a partner in this Senior “Pastor’s” divisiveness. “The doctrine which you learned,” which Paul speaks of here, are not 3rd, 10th, 15th or 20th century theological constructs and creeds. The doctrines the Romans received are the original announcements about the Person and Spirit of Christ. When we downgrade the Person and/or Spirit of Christ to a list of doctrinal beliefs or theological creeds, we have created a “stasia.” When we force other believers away because they don’t recognize every point listed in our “stasia,” we have committed “dichostasia,” the double standard that, by its own nature, unnaturally divides the body of Christ. As Jesus said of marriage, “What God has joined together, let not man separate.” ( Mt. 19:6; top )
  
  
• “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy [2205], strife [2054], and divisions [1370] among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” ( 1 Cor. 3:1-4; top ) Paul could not speak to the Corinthians as being spiritual people but was forced to speak to them as fleshly, spiritually immature people. Why? Because they were dividing the body of Christ along lines of loyalty to men’s differing “stasias” of the body of Christ. Anyone who embraces the “stasia” of any man prohibits himself from reaching the fullness of spiritual maturity that is found in the full measure of Christ. If your “church” is founded on the “stasia” of a man and you give your loyalty to your “church,” you have no hope of ever being spiritually mature in Christ.
  

This word, with its specific definition and few usages, strikes at the roots of denominationalism with astonishing precision. “Dichostasia” is a work of the flesh that will keep you from inheriting the kingdom of God - a kingdom characterized by righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ( Gal. 5:20-21 ; Rom. 14:17; top ) And it is a sin that will keep you from growing up spiritually and which makes you someone to be avoided.

As is evident in the parable of the wheat and the tares, it is not our responsibility to uproot the tares - that is the angels’ responsibility. Indeed, the tares do practice division based on their own misunderstanding of Scriptures - they are guilty of “dichostasia” and they are to be exposed and avoided. Thus, as the Spirit leads you to do so, you may speak freely of these modern-day Pharisees and their hypocrisy. But if you are only obedient to an agenda of removing from public view anyone you believe to be a tare, you are taking far too much upon yourself. The tares are to be left for the angels who will do far more to them than removing them from public view. The angels will remove them from the kingdom of Christ and take them to a fire where they will be burned. It is our responsibility, however, to take care that in the rampant divisiveness of today’s denominationalism, we do not get drawn into the same sin and form yet another “stasia” whereby we think it appropriate to disassociate ourselves from other true believers in Christ who subscribe to a different “stasia” than our own - even if our “stasia” is based on a more complete revelation of the work and purposes of God. For, if we do that, then we are simply another tare, one who causes offense and commits lawlessness and we will be removed from the kingdom along with all the other tares before the harvest at the end of the age.

The Greek word here is “hairesis” [139] and it has several meanings. It can refer to “the act of taking or capturing,” as in storming a city. It can refer to “choosing, choice or that which is chosen.” It can refer to “a body of men following their own tenets”(sect or party like the Sadducees, Pharisees and even Christians). Or it can refer to “dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims.” It is a direct opposite to the concept of the body of Christ which is based in unity and oneness. “Hairesis” is dividedness and multiplicity.

• “Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect [139] of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation [2205], and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.” ( Acts 5:17-18; top ) The Sadducees were a division of their own within the Jewish religion - that is, they had captured followers, they willfully chose to believe their false doctrines, and there was a body of men who followed what they had chosen to believe.
  
  
• “But some of the sect [139] of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.’” ( Acts 15:5; top ) The Pharisees were another sect of the Jewish religion and they attempted to bring their sectarian ways into the body of Christ. They became known as the Judaizers who sought to draw genuine believers away from the grace bestowed by Christ and back under the Jewish Law. (see Gal. 5:4; top )
  
  
• “For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect [139] of the Nazarenes.” ( Acts 24:5 ) The context here is that Paul is on trial before the Roman governor Felix. This is the accusation brought by Tertullus, the lawyer brought in by Ananias the high priest to prosecute Paul. The Jews viewed the first Christians as a divisive sect within the context of Judaism - or at least that was how they explained it to the Roman (Gentile) governor. It is interesting to note, however, that true believers are very often accused of divisiveness by those who are themselves inextricably involved in yesterday’s revelation. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” ( Heb. 8:13 ) So, even though the Old Covenant, the Jewish law and religion, was now obsolete and vanishing, the high priest, in an effort to maintain the status quo was willing to murder Paul. (see Acts 23:12-15; top ) When that attempt failed, the high priest resorted to false accusations and prosecution in the Roman legal system. This is the pattern of organized religion - it will always attempt to kill off and silence those who pursue the current revelation of God because that current revelation always and clearly reveals the selfish ambition of the current leaders of the various sects.
  
  
• “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect [139], so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.” ( Acts 24:14; top ) Here is Paul’s defense: “They say we are a sect but we worship God in spirit and in truth.” The unspoken truth here is: “They are really the ones who are trafficking in deception and false religion while I’m the one that’s on trial.”
  
  
• “They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect [139] of our religion I lived a Pharisee.” ( Acts 26:5; top ) The context here is that Paul is now before King Agrippa. The charge is the same and the issues are the same. This is part of Paul’s defense to the charge of causing divisions in the Jewish religious structure. “They knew me when I was part of their division.” The underlying truth is that the Jewish leaders had no problem with Paul while he agreed with a sect within their false religion. But as soon as Paul began to preach and demonstrate the true Way, he, just as was Christ, became the targeted enemy of organized religion.
  
  
• “But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect [139], we know that it is spoken against everywhere.” ( Acts 28:22; top ) The context here is that Paul has arrived at Rome and the Jews of that city want firsthand information. All they had received were rumors of a new sect, a new division, a new denomination, of Judaism.
  
  
• “For first of all, when you come together as an ekklesia, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions [139] among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.” ( 1 Cor. 11:18-19; top ) Here is the jockeying for positions of prominence that divides the body of Christ. Someone argues with and schemes against other leaders to show that he has the true anointing of God upon him. For those who miss it, this is sarcasm on Paul’s part. God does not approve of those who divide the brothers - in fact, He hates it and considers it abominable. “These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: [# 7] ...one who sows discord among brethren....? ( Prov. 6:16 , 19; top ) He who has ears, let him hear.
  
  
• “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies [139], even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” ( 2 Pet. 2:1; top ) Here is where the common misunderstanding of this word is most often exhibited. This verse is most often taught that false teachers will bring in false teachings and those teachings are called “heresies.” But a heresy is not just a teaching - it is practicing division based on a teaching, even if it be a true teaching. It is a capturing of followers’ loyalties, a choosing to believe certain notions, and a group of people who follow after those notions. Thus every denomination (even the “non-denominational” denominations) that secludes itself from other parts of the body of Christ is a heresy. It denies the Lord His Lordship over that first group of believers and denies the Lord in the other believers - and it will bring upon all its followers swift and certain judgment on the day Christ unleashes the angels to remove the tares from the wheat.
  

The Greek word here is “phthonos” [5355] and it means simply “envy.” Envy is defined as “a feeling of discontent or jealousy, usually with ill will, at seeing another’s superiority, advantages or success; a desire for some advantage possessed by another.” (Webster’s Dictionary)

• “For [Pilate] knew that because of envy [5355] they had delivered [Christ].” ( Mt. 27:18; top ) The Jewish leaders desired something that Christ had - whether it was His holiness, His personality or the way He drew so many away from following after them - they envied Him so much that they had Him killed.
  
  
• For [Pilate] knew that the chief priests had handed [Christ] over because of envy [5355].” ( Mk. 15:10; top ) Pilate was not fooled into believing the chief priests had anything other than selfish motives.
  
  
• “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality [4202], wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy [5355], murder [5408], strife [2054], deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” ( Rom. 1:28-32; top ) Being filled with envy, a discontented desire to possess or enjoy what others have, is one of the consequences of forgetting about God and His righteous requirements.
  
  
• “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy [5355] and strife [2054], and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition [2052], not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.” ( Phlp. 1:15-17; top ) Envy can be the driving force behind a preacher or teacher of Christ - even if all the outward appearances seem quite appropriate. Inwardly, the one who preaches Christ because he envies the following or charisma that other teachers have is only a tare among the wheat. Follow him at your own risk.
  
  
• “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy [5355], strife [2054], reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” ( 1 Tim. 6:3-5; top ) The religious man who argues endlessly is driven by envy or some other evil within his own heart. Leave him alone.
  
  
• “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy [5355], hateful and hating one another.” ( Tit. 3:3; top ) Envy is a characteristic of lost and dying mankind - not of the redeemed of the Lord.
  
  
• “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously [5355]’?” ( Jas. 4:5; top ) This is another instance where God can do something without sinning that would most likely produce sin in a human. God yearns over us jealously as He watches how we practice our enmity against Him by dabbling in the things of the world. (see Jas. 4:4; top ) This ought not be so.
  
  
• “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy [5355], and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” ( 1 Pet. 2:1-3; top ) All envy is to be laid aside. Not some, not most - all. If you won’t give up your envy, don’t expect to grow out of your spiritual immaturity - that is, assuming you have truly been born again and truly experienced the grace of God, that power of God at work in you to conform you into the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ. And if you continue to thwart the grace of God, don’t be surprised when you are uprooted as a tare from among the wheat.
  

The Greek word here is “phonos” [5408] and it simply means “murder, slaughter.” Murder is to kill another human being without having justifiable reason. Executing a man convicted of a capital crime or defending one’s self or one’s family from marauders and villains is not murder. Those who distort the sixth commandment teach “You shall not kill.” The sixth commandment is: “You shall not murder.” There is a vast difference. Those who advocate no killing whatsoever most often do so from a distorted sense of the value of man. Because man is the supreme being, he is not to be killed - no matter what heinous crimes he has committed or is committing. The Bible, Old and New Testament, speaks of the value of human life but places an equal value on righteousness and peaceful living - neither of which can be maintained on a cultural level without deterrents to crime. The righteous requirements of God are not necessarily violated with the death of a human being. Rather, they are violated by the wrongful death of a human being. Murder is simply the most wrongful death possible.

• “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders [5408], adulteries [3430], fornications [4202], thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” ( Mt. 15:19; top ) Murder comes from the heart. So much for the theory that we, as humans, are innately good and would never do anything like that.
  
  
• “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries [3430], fornications [4202], murders [5408], thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness [766], an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.? ( Mk. 7:21-22; top )
  
  
• “And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow insurrectionists; they had committed murder [5408] in the insurrection.” ( Mk. 15:7; top ) Barabbas is the man who would ultimately be set free so that Christ would be crucified. The religious people who were prosecuting Jesus were so envious of Him that they would rather have one who committed murder while revolting against the rule of Rome go free than recognize Christ as their rightful King and Messiah. These were the same ones who accused Pilate of not being loyal to Caesar and who cried out that they had no king but Caesar. ( Jn. 19:12-15; top ) This is the pattern of hypocrisy of organized religion - two faces to confuse you while they arrange your execution (or excommunication) behind your back.
  
  
• “And they all cried out at once, saying, ‘Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas’ - who had been thrown into prison for a certain insurrection made in the city, and for murder [5408].” ( Lk. 23:18-19; top )
  
  
• “And he released to them the one they requested, who for insurrection and murder [5408] had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.” ( Lk. 23:25; top )
  
  
• “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder [5408] against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” ( Acts 9:1-2; top ) The religious spirit so stirred up Saul and the Jews that they were willing to murder and slaughter the men and women of the Way, the real followers of God.
  
  
• “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality [4202], wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy [5355], murder [5408], strife [2054], deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” ( Rom. 1:28-32; top ) Those who neglect to retain God in their knowledge will commit murder - no matter how religious or “civilized” they might be.
  
  
• “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword [5408]. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented - of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” ( Heb. 11:37-38 ) The context is the list of heroes of faith. Some were murdered. So why do we think that we shall be treated differently? Paul wrote, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” ( 2 Tim. 3:12 ) And as the examples of history show, from Jesus and Stephen to the Roman and Catholic and Islamic persecutions of Christians, it is organized religion that is the worst enemy of the body of Christ. This will also be true in the end times for all true believers. Jesus said, “The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.” ( Jn. 16:2; top ) The religious folks of the end times will be so deceived they will think murder is a way to serve God. And I suspect this is not just a reference to radical Islamists either.
  
  
• “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders [5408] or their sorceries [5331] or their sexual immorality [4202] or their thefts.” ( Rev. 9:20-21; top ) After all mankind has seen and experienced of man’s and God’s wrath, they still won’t repent.
  

The Greek word here is “methe” [3178] and it means “intoxication or drunkenness.” While this word was commonly associated with consuming alcohol, the chief drug of that day, it refers to the state of inebriation, the loss of self-control and recognition of reality that results from imbibing a controlled substance. It is the altered state of consciousness that is referred to and would include the state that results from the use of drugs. It cannot be said that it refers only to the inebriated state that results from consuming alcohol.

• “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness [3178], and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.” ( Lk. 21:34; top ) If you get caught up in the non-reality of an altered state of existence, the return of Christ will come unexpectedly for you.
  
  
• “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry [2970] and drunkenness [3178], not in licentiousness [766] and lewdness, not in strife [2054] and envy [2205].” ( Rom. 13:13; top ) We are not to live our lives in a drug- or alcohol-induced state of non-reality. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth. ( Jn. 4:24; top )
  

The Greek word here is “komos” [2970] and it means to “revel, carouse.” It had specific reference to a nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken and frolicsome men who, after supper, parade through the streets with torches and music in honor of Bacchus or some other deity. They would sing and play before houses of male and female friends. Thus it is used generally of feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night and indulge in revelry. It is to be what we would call a “party animal.” And while one usually has to be the center of attention to be considered a party animal, to be constantly in that atmosphere and environment, even as a “wall-flower,” is to practice the sin of revelry.

• “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry [2970] and drunkenness [3178], not in licentiousness [766] and lewdness, not in strife [2054] and envy [2205].” ( Rom. 13:13; top ) Revelry, traveling from one raucous party to the next, is not proper for true believers.
  
  
• “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles - when we walked in licentiousness [766], lusts, drunkenness, revelries [2970], drinking parties, and abominable idolatries [2970].” ( 1 Pet. 4:3; top ) Revelry, partying the night away, is a characteristic of people who don’t know God, not those who do.
  

Paul, with the Holy Spirit inspiring him, inserted this phrase just so no one can say, “Well, what about this activity? It’s not on the list. Must not be a sin.” No, this list from Paul’s letter to the Galatians is by no means exhaustive - as can be easily seen in some of the above quotes. When it comes to the contrast between sin and righteousness, it has been appropriately said that there are any number of ways to fall but only one way to stand upright. This is particularly true of the Christian life.

It is also to be noticed that Paul ends this list by saying, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” ( Gal. 5:21; top ) This is not a reference just to eternal life - though most people read this verse and assume that’s all it refers to. And while it is true that one who practices these things on a regular basis will not spend eternity with God, it is also a reference to this life. “The kingdom of God is...righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” ( Rom. 14:17; top ) Anyone who practices any of this list of sins or any other similar activity - whether that be “gross sins” or simply religious but false imitations of the kingdom of God - cannot experience the righteousness, peace and joy of the kingdom that comes by living in the Spirit of God. It is those who seek first the kingdom of God who can expect His mighty provision for every need - those who are content to practice their favorite sins can only expect to be uprooted and burned before the harvest at the end of the age.

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