Galatians 5:20

My Notes

What Does Galatians 5:20 Mean?

Paul is cataloguing the works of the flesh — the natural output of a life lived according to human impulse rather than the Spirit — and this verse sits in the middle of the list. The first part (verse 19) named sexual sins. Now Paul moves to a different category: sins of the spirit, sins of community, sins of religion gone wrong.

"Idolatry" — placing anything in God's position. Not just carved images. Any loyalty, any desire, any allegiance that sits where God should sit. "Witchcraft" — the Greek is pharmakeia, from which we get "pharmacy." In the ancient world, it referred to the use of drugs or potions in magical rites, the attempt to manipulate spiritual forces outside of God. It's the desire to control the supernatural on your own terms.

Then the relational sins cascade: "hatred" (enmity, deep hostility), "variance" (strife, contention), "emulations" (jealousy — not the godly kind, but the kind that can't stand someone else's success), "wrath" (explosive anger, outbursts), "strife" (selfish ambition, the drive to get ahead at others' expense), "seditions" (divisions, factions), "heresies" (party-spirit, the elevation of a faction's opinion to the level of doctrine).

What's striking is the company these sins keep. Idolatry sits next to jealousy. Witchcraft sits next to church divisions. Paul makes no distinction between the sins we consider dramatic and the sins we consider normal. Jealousy is listed alongside sorcery. Strife is listed alongside idolatry. In God's taxonomy, the relational sins that destroy communities are as serious as the religious sins that horrify us.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Which 'subtle' sin on this list — jealousy, strife, factions, selfish ambition — hits closest to home for you right now?
• 2.Why do you think Paul lists relational sins alongside idolatry and witchcraft? What does that grouping reveal about how God views community destruction?
• 3.How have you seen 'heresies' (party-spirit, factional thinking) damage a community you've been part of? What fed it?
• 4.What's the difference between godly ambition and the 'strife' (selfish ambition) Paul lists here? How can you tell which one is driving you?

Devotional

Most of these sins don't feel like sins. Hatred — sure, that sounds bad. But emulations? That's just jealousy. Variance? That's just disagreement. Strife? That's just ambition. Seditions? That's just having a strong opinion. We've renamed these things and reclassified them as personality traits or leadership qualities. Paul puts them in the same list as witchcraft.

That should stop you cold. The jealousy you've been nursing — the one that flares when a friend gets blessed, gets promoted, gets the thing you wanted — is in the same list as idolatry. The faction you've aligned with at church — the "our side" mentality that turns theological preference into tribal warfare — is in the same list as sorcery. God doesn't grade on a curve. The works of the flesh are the works of the flesh, whether they're scandalous or socially acceptable.

The relational sins on this list are the ones that destroy communities from the inside. Not the dramatic falls that make headlines, but the quiet jealousies, the whispered criticisms, the faction-building, the ambition that uses people as stepping stones. These are the termites. They work in the dark. They eat the structure from the inside. And by the time you notice the damage, the house is already compromised.

Which of these has a foothold in your life right now? Not the dramatic ones — the subtle ones. The jealousy you've justified. The strife you've called passion. The faction you've called community. Paul lists them for a reason: so you can see them clearly, name them honestly, and let the Spirit replace them with the fruit described in the next verses.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture