Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,… These works of the flesh have often been divided into four classes. Any classification or system, however, is scarcely to be expected; but each term of the catalogue may have been suggested by some law of association, especially as some of the terms are similarly arranged in other places. In the first class are sensual sins — fornication, impurity, wantonness; in the second class are sins of superstition — idolatry and sorcery; in the third class, sins of malice and social disorder — hatred, strife, jealousy, wraths, caballing, divisions, heresies, envying, murders; and in the fourth class-are sins of personal excess — drunkenness and revellings. In the first class, the first term, which has a distinct meaning, may have suggested the other and allied vices — miscellaneous and grosser aspects of forbidden indulgence. The two terms of the second class are somewhat similar — the first more precise in meaning, and the second more comprehensive — all occult dealings with the powers of evil. In the third class there is a climatic enumeration — hatreds ripening into strife; jealousy venting itself in passionate outbursts; cabals yet darker and more selfish; divisions, the result of deepening hostility; envyings quite fiendish in nature; and murders — the extreme result, and no uncommon thing in such countries, to obtain an end and consummate an intrigue by the removal of a rival. In the fourth class are first the simple term drunkenness, and the more inclusive term after it, referring either to scenes of dissipation so gay and wanton, or to orgies so gross and sensual, that they may not be described. (John Eadie, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, |
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