| In Gal. 5:19-21 the Bible says, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Okay, don t do this stuff. But what do all these words mean? Some of them are pretty simple. Others are not. Let s define a few. The first two are pretty easy. Fornication is any kind of illicit sexual sin. Adultery is that kind of sin done in violation of the marriage covenant. Uncleanness and lasciviousness are in the same family of thought but are much more general terms. Lasciviousness means the same as lewdness. It can mean lewd behavior, gestures, jokes (HELLO!), clothing, etc. Uncleanness is a similar word, but more general in meaning. We might put it like this. Some conduct is sexual in nature but not necessarily fornication. This kind of behavior is still wrong because it fits the words used here. So just because a person doesn t go all the way , doesn t mean they didn t sin. The next two terms are related. Obviously, idolatry is worshipping something besides God. Witchcraft is any kind of occult activity. That s right, the modern fascination with tarot cards, horroscopes, casting spells and such; it s all witchcraft. So not only is idolatry wrong, but religious practices long associated with idolatry are wrong. Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies and emulation are all similar words related to similar sins. We ll discuss what they mean in the next study. |
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| It makes me mad (in a righteous sort of way) how school and work demands more and more of our time. Used to, teachers wouldn t give homework on Wednesday nights, extra curriculars wouldn t schedule during church times, bosses respected the religious and let them off for church. But now it seems like everybody wants to OWN your life. Well GOD owns our lives! And this other stuff getting too demanding really makes me mad! |
Question For This Study
Okay, here s one for you. Was Abraham ever a leader of an army? You know, was he ever a general?Answer to the Last Question
Last time we asked if a good man stand by a let a bear attack a group of children. If you ve heard many Bible stories, you may know the answer is YES. In 2 Kings 2:23-24 Elisha did it. Some kids were being smart-alec so he watched them die.