Category: fornication

The Danger of Backsliding

The Danger of Backsliding
Robert Wurtz II

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9, 10 NKJV)

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 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. (Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV)

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. (Ephesians 5:5 KJV)

Satan is a cunning master at inducing skepticism towards God and His word. His strategy is the same today as it has always been. In Eden he asked Eve, “Has God said you cannot eat of any tree in the Garden?” (Gen. 3:1 ESV emphasis added) Notice that he called God by the generic word for God, Elohim. He sought to reduce God Almighty in her eyes to a mere god figure (numen divinium). Second, he overstates the command in order to incite a rebellious feeling. Then, as the Father of Lies, he tells Eve she will not surely die and then says that man would become like God — knowing good and evil.

Today, there is a wholesale attack on God’s word — especially in the area of prohibitions. Satan has even managed to transform the practitioners of some sins into protected demographics. It is no longer politically correct (PC) to call sin –sin. However, just as in the Garden of Eden, God has already spoken and 10,000 lies from hell cannot undo what God has plainly said. For this reason it is important to revisit some clearly defined prohibitions from scripture. Paul told the saints repeatedly bout the dangers of these sins and we ought to imitate his approach. Otherwise the cunning craftiness of Satan will eventually lull multitudes into the same trap he took Eve in.




Understanding the Verbs

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 and Mark 10 who will enter the Kingdom. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5 and 1 Cor. 6:9, 10 who will not inherit the Kingdom. All of our passages above state or imply that the practitioners of these sins will not inherit the kingdom of God. Our Greek verbs for inherit are in the future active — meaning that there is an inheriting of the kingdom of God that has yet to take place. Our Greek verb for practice is prassonte (root is prassō) and is the verb for habitual practice, not poieō (poy-eh’-o) for occasional doing. Generally speaking, in Paul’s Epistles poieo denotes “an action complete in itself,” while prasso denotes “a habit.” (Vines) The habit of these sins is proof that one is not in the kingdom of God and will not inherit it. (A.T. Robertson) This is not to say that occasionally doing these sins is somehow OK, it is not. But we need to know exactly what we are being warned of. These sins can and must be repented of so as not to continue in the practice of them. 

Forewarned

Paul tells the Ephesians, “(…) for this you know.” The means he has warned them before. They are quite aware of these truths. He tells the Galatians, “(…) 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.” He asks the Corinthians, “(…) do you not know?” These statements all imply that for Christians this should be common knowledge. 

In case some would seek to dismiss these truths, he adds the phrase “be not deceived” (1 Cor. 6:9). Paul is telling them not to deceive themselves or allow others to deceive them into living like Pagans and yet believing they are still in the kingdom. All such sinners are outside of the kingdom of God. This is an awful judgment. They will not be citizens of that kingdom and will not receive the benefits of being in the kingdom. The practice of these sins disqualifies a person from the future inheritance of the kingdom of God unless they are repented of. 

Understanding the Sins

Paul has two lists in 1 Cor. 6:9, 10, one with repetition of oute, neither (fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, or malakoi, abusers of themselves with men or arsenokoitai or sodomites as in 1 Tim. 1:10 a late word for this horrid vice, thieves, covetous), the other with ou not (drunkards, revilers, extortioners). Paul’s adds to this list in Galatians 5 the works of the flesh.

1. Fornicators (porneia, prostitution, harlotry. Illicit sexual relations for money/lust)
2. Idolators (eidōlatreia, worship of idols, eating things as sacrificed to idols)
3. Witchcraft/Sorcery (pharmakeia, a drug, the ministering of mind altering drugs) 
4. Adulterers (moichos, marital infidelity. Illicit relations with a married person)
5. Effeminate (malakos, soft as in Matt. 11:8, yields their body to homosexual uses) 
6. Sodomites (arsenokoites, one who lies with a male as with a female vise versa)
7. Uncleanness (akatharsia, reckless lustfulness and pleasure seeking)
8. Lewdness (aselgeia, outrageous, unbridled, shameless, lust) 
9. Thieves (kleptai, a thief.) 
10. Covetous (pleonektēs, eager for more. Greedy of gain)
11. Drunkards (methai, drunken excesses, Luke 21:34; Rom. 13:13)
12. Extortioners (harpax, to take things by force. )
13. Revilers (loidoros, railing on people with rude talk. 1 Sam. 25:14 of Nabal)
14. Sinful personal relations expressed by eight words in Galatians 5, all old words, sins of the spirit, like enmities (exthrai, personal animosities), strife (eris, rivalry, discord), jealousies (zēlos or zēloi, MSS. vary, our very word), wraths (thumoi, stirring emotions, then explosions), factions (eritheiai, from erithos, day labourer for hire, worker in wool, party spirit), divisions (dichostasiai, splits in two, dicha and stasis), heresies (haireseis, the very word, but really choosings from haireomai, preferences), envyings (phthonoi, feelings of ill-will). And such like (kai ta homoia toutois). And the things like these (associative instrumental toutois after homoia, like). It is not meant to be exhaustive, but it is representative.

Some Final Warnings from the Revelation 

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

Here we have six more things to add to the list not already covered:

15. Fearful (deilos, timid. Christians that fall back under persecution, etc.)
16. Unbelieving (apistos, disloyalty, unbelieving and without trust in God.)
17. Abominable (bdelysso, to pollute, to turn away because of a stench. (Rom. 2:22)
18. Murderers (phoneus, murder, homicide, man-slayer, assassin)
19.  Whoremonger (pornos, man who sells his body for lust or for hire)
 20.  All Liars (pseudes, seudos is a noun found in nine contexts, meaning “lie” or “lying.” Lying is a natural expression of Satan’s character (John 8:44), the embodiment of the evil one in 2 Thess. 2:9, 11. Rom. 1:25 refers to the fundamental attitude underlying the sin of idolatry — exchanging the truth of God for a lie. Rev. 21:27; 22:15 refer to those who utter lies as having no part whatever with the people living in the heavenly city. (Renn-Bible Words, Steven D. Renn)

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One Nation Under Sin (Pharmakea and Sexual Immorality)

One Nation Under Sin (Pharmakea and Sexual Immorality)
Robert Wurtz II

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:16–18 NKJV)


It’s amazing the kind of things that people will say when they are in an argument. The sons of Abraham according to the flesh had passed under the Roman yoke after spending centuries in bondage to Egypt, and Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, and the Syrian (Seleucid) kings. Yet these “believers” had the nerve to argue, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” This was denial at its finest. 

Those Jews “who believed Jesus” soon revealed why He frequently does not believe “believers.” As the late G.W. North once said, “God doesn’t believe you! He is the great unbeliever. God’s got to be able to believe us!” Their faith was exposed in all its fickleness. Many people believe well so long as they think God agrees with them; but when challenged to agree with God “these poor believers soon came to the end of their faith” (Stier quoted in Vincent). 


Anytime you read the phrase “do you not know” in scripture it is generally because the people do not know what is being said. They either once knew and forgot or they never knew at all. Nevertheless, Paul faces the same ignorance that Jesus dealt with. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? Adam plunged the human race into slavery to Sin when he disobeyed God. Rebellion came in and handcuffed itself to man (if you will). We are slaves to what we yield ourselves to no matter how free we pretend to be.

One Nation Under Sin



In 1831 Samuel Francis Smith penned the words, “My country, ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, […] From ev’ry mountainside Let freedom ring!” In those days America prided itself as the arsenal of freedom. Seven years later twenty-eight year old Abraham Lincoln asked a question in Springfield, Ill. that today reads more like a prophecy, “At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? — Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! — All the the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”


Nearly two hundred years later multitudes in America are laboring under the tyranny of Sin. The days when she boarded the ship are now a distant memory. It’s seems like yesterday that she stood upon the auction block and sold her soul to the Devil. Behold the pitiful sight of haggard sinners wearing their shakles as a badge of honor! Having been promised liberty by those who were themselves servants of corruption — the nation of once freemen smile as they fall upon their own sword.

My fellow countrymen, do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? You say that all the the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. But do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 

True Freedom

The first step to true freedom is to acknowledge you are in bondage to Sin to begin with. Not as the Jews in John 8 who would rather argue knowing good and well they were wrong rather than acknowledge the truth. And political correctness is not going to save you — nor is the Supreme Court. No matter how many laws this nation passes in order to legitimize sin- sin is still sin. What makes the difference whether it’s legal sin or illegal sin? 

America has legalized most every kind of sin and are working on the rest. A cursory look at the Ten Commandments reveals that only theft is purely illegal. Murder is illegal, but a child can be terminated in the third-trimester and the killer not be charged. False witness is illegal in court or in regards to official business — but it is “legal” to lie to most anyone else. Drugs (sorcery) is becoming more lawful every year as is all kinds of sexual immorality. This helps us make sense of Revelation 9:20-21 “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 idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (NKJV) Sorceries is from pharmakeuoœ, from which we get our English word pharmacy meaning “to prepare drugs” (A. T. Robertson). These are not aspirins, but spell-binding drugs. 

The only hope for people who are under bondage to sin is to repent and turn to Christ in faith. Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”     

   
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Vexation Without Representation (Scotus Ruling)

Vexation Without Representation
Robert Wurtz II

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning 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 by the filthy 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)— then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. (2 Peter 2:4–9 NKJV)


I have been giving it some thought and decided today that I would alter the description of this blog to read, “This blog is intended to be a means of putting into writing some of my musings about New Testament Christianity in post-Christian America. We are instructed in scripture to, “gird up the loins of our minds.” Whereas it used to read “in a post-modern culture” … now it reads “in post-Christian America.” I’m altering it because Western society continues down the path that many nations have trod before us: and they all ended the same. Christian America has been dead for a long time; we’re just no longer able to ignore the putrefying smell. The days of “speaking those things that are not as though they were” have long been over. Those who live in rebellion against their Creator are emboldened more every day to blaspheme as if they will never meet Him. 

History Repeats Again 

Lot was a man vexed by the behavior of the people of Sodom; but it’s hard not to be vexed by the decisions of Lot. He pitched his tent towards Sodom and then moved in there (This is the city from which we get our Engish word sodomy). Although vexed and oppressed, he remained until two angels had to drag him out of the city. Peter comments saying, the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. Our word “temptations” could be translated “trials.” Lot’s actions had put him in the trial of his life. God’s grace drew him out of that wicked city, but not before his decision to move to Sodom had destroyed his family. Before it was over his wife will be killed and his daughters will be found with child of their own father; pure evidence that the environment our kids are subject to will affect their moral reasoning. 

Remember Lot’s Wife

Jesus once told the disciples to “remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32) This is a pertinent illustration to warn against looking back with yearning after what has been left behind (A. T. Robertson, see Gen. 19:26). We are called to leave sin behind. nevertheless, Lot’s wife is to be examined and remembered. She had the gall to defy God while His fiery judgment was in route. If she defied God, it would be a light thing to defy her husband. She was the type who would go on Facebook and boast of how “open-minded” she is and refer to the righteous as “bigots” or some other abusive adjective. Her friends had the morals of an alley cat and wore that fact as a badge of honor. What these bold blasphemers didn’t realize was that they were within hours of being sent straight to hell by God Himself. As Jude tells us, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 1:7 KJV) Fornication is any sexual activity besides between a married man (male) and woman (female). 

Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom after being commanded not to do it. She sought to gaze one last time upon the wickedness that God was annihilating. Her actions were judged swiftly and she became a pillar of salt. Jesus said, “Remember her.” One is left to wonder, was she the driving force behind Lot moving his family to Sodom in the first place? Lot was worn down and tormented in the very city that his wife looked back upon with yearning. She seemed to crave rebellion — even when fire and brimstone was raining down. She had obviously sided with her fellow Sodomites against God. Wrong move. 

Nevertheless, Lot’s wife wouldn’t be the first woman to bring a man of God down — nor the last. Jezebel stirred up Ahab to do all kinds of evil. Yet both Lot and Ahab are accountable to God for how they led their family. When God showed up in the Garden He did not cry out, “Eve, where art thou? … but Adam, where art thou?” The buck stops at the man in the government of God.

Vexation and Oppression 

One thing is certain, if you are a Christian and ever wondered what Lot felt when he lived in Sodom, you are about to find out first-hand. Churches losing their 501 C3 tax exemption status will be the least of our worries. The years of ministers serving Mammon seem to be all but over now. We are going to find out who will still serve God even if they don’t get paid. Moreover, we are also headed for a hostile taste of being oppressed by the filthy 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). The unlocked wheels of iniquity are gaining speed; while the masses are like clones mindlessly under the control of the spirit of Antichrist. The average person bases their morality on whatever is “popular” or “hip” in the media. It used to be that “hip” only extended to automobiles, clothing styles, and music trends. Today the concept of “hipness” has crossed over into other categories such as education and moral values. It’s hip to bash the righteous. Indeed, we are on our way into a godless society that our minds cannot now fathom. In less than twenty years it may well be safer to be a Christian in China than in America. 

Ministers of bygone years warned of this time. The trouble is that the masses were too busy preaching financial prosperity or some other false teaching to focus on what was happening around us. But there were some sounding a clarion call. The late Leonard Ravenhill gave a sobering illustration once when he wrote:

Dr. Carl F. Henry, founder and editor of Christianity Today, sent out a questionnaire to what he called, “Twenty of the leading intellectual preachers in the country.” And the question that he sent out was this: “What do you see for the church of Jesus Christ by the year 2000.” I remember only one of the replies, it was given by Elton Trueblood, the Quaker philosopher. He said this amazing thing: “By the year 2000 the church will be a conscious minority surrounded by an arrogant, militant paganism.” I swallowed that hook, line and sinker, and woke up about 2 o’clock in the morning with mental and I think spiritual indigestion. Then I began to remind myself that Christianity was not served up to the world in a silver platter. Christianity was born in a sophisticated, totalitarian society. The early church was walled in on one side with the mightiest military machine in history, the power of Rome. It was walled in on the other side with Greek intellectualism. It was blocked ahead by the monopoly the Jews thought they had on God. Those men who turned the world upside down had no colossal intellectual capacity; no great financial backing; no social standing. They were about the most despised men in and around Jerusalem. And yet they broke out somehow – and later it was said that they turned the world upside-down.


It would only seem fitting that the battle cry for America in the beginning was “taxation without representation” only to have it end with a lingering “vexation without representation.” The notion that America would be changed at the voting booth has been a farce from the beginning. Looking back it seems ludicrous to think that Republicans or conservatives could save America. Many of those people don’t even believe what they say they stand for; it’s just a means to an end. All of the carnal measures have failed. Now it’s time to face the music. America is in moral and spiritual darkness and decaying at an unprecedented pace. Maybe now Christians in the West will start asking whats wrong with their salt and light. 






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SIN… On The Side

Sin… On The Side
Robert Wurtz II

Their backslidings have increased. “How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. They were like well-fed lusty stallions; Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife. Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?” (Jeremiah 5:6–9 NKJV)


I have been taken aback of late reading the many articles that are trending on popular web news programs dealing with infidelity among married people (adultery). Simply put, adultery is a serious problem… depending on whom you ask. Foxnews and other news organizations have even discussed these articles on their programs. What strikes me most is the cavalier attitude that prevails among those discussing the subject. Where has this insouciant and dismissive view of adultery arisen from? I hope to examine this question in this article. 

Horses neigh, so I understand, for different reasons. The context of our passage is obviously sexual in nature, so we can carry the metaphor in that direction. The prophet is telling us that the men would give off signals (what we call flirting today) in order to express their wanton lust. Neighing is the horses way of expressing its desires. Men (and women) do the same type things today as if it were no sin. How awful are these behaviors in the sight of God when He would resort to using a wild, well fed, lusty horse as a metaphor for describing these men? This is strong language that borders on vulgarity. As Jesus referred to the religious leaders as vipers and serpents, the prophet, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit characterizes these adulterous people as a bunch of wild, lustful neighing horses… going after other men’s wives. Shocking it is. 

Although we give a lot of time to the subject, homosexuality is not the only sexual sin running rampant in the world today. Other forms of perversion are taking over like a plague. We are being desensitized to the seriousness of mortal sins. Every one-liner from “judge not” to “what’s so bad about it” rally together to cool our moral sensibilities. What are some factors we need to be aware of? 

One article suggests that people who had committed adultery themselves are much more likely to forgive than those that did not. That makes sense, I suppose. What they should have said is that they are more understanding of the sin; and that is a totally different thing. A person who truly repents hates the sin they committed. They don’t look for ways to justify it or condone it. They who committed the sins and never repented are far more likely to tolerate it. Some even encourage it or savour talking about it. In public and private, they are far more likely to downplay the seriousness of it. Why? Because they know what it is like to desire to fool around so they want to sympathize with others that are doing the same. Birds of a feather flock together. It’s not rocket science.
Old Notions Revived

It may come as a surprise to you, but there are people in this generation that think having what the 60’s generation called “a little strange” on the side is no big deal. In fact, some wives are being pressured to accept their husbands whoredoms as normal. The age old notion has somehow resurfaced that a man can cheat on his wife and in the morning remain a gentleman; but if the wife does it she is a (pardon the expression) whore. Should we accept this type of devilishness? Have we come to the point where they commit adultery and assemble themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses? They are like well-fed lusty stallions; Every one neighing after his neighbor’s wife? 

The Rebuke-less Sin
So where can a man (or woman) find a rebuke these days for these type sins? With each passing day there seems to be more people guilty of infidelity. Theoretically, this means fewer people around that will take a strong stand. 

Will the rebuke come from parents? Sometimes and sometimes not. One concern I have is that we live in a perverse generation where some moms and dads enjoy seeing their sons and daughters as sex objects. It is a twisted mindset that enjoys seeing ones child (no matter how young or old they are) as the object of other peoples’ lust. “Men just throw themselves at my daughter!” or “Women just throw themselves at my son!” Really? 

What is worse is when that warped mindset travels into the spouses and they excuse the infidelity (whoredom) by convincing themselves that their spouse is so attractive, that the opposite sex can’t help but run a lusting after them. It may help ease the pain of an adulterous spouse to tell onesself that – but it probably has no basis in reality. Again, if not from friends, family, or spouses… where can an adulterer find a rebuke? Few feel passionately about it and even fewer stand ready to confront it. 

God Answers

Their backslidings have increased. “How shall I pardon you for this?… Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”

All the articles in the world can be written to discuss adultery and immoralty. Foxnews and their panel of experts can talk about it until the cow eats the cabbage; but God is going to have the last word in all this. How can God pardon a sin that people refuse to truly repent of? How can He pardon people who have an entourage of supporters standing willing to make excuses and justify their adulterous sins? Why would a friend or family member ever see the need to repent when so many of their supporters encourage and defend the behavior? 

God says, Shall I not punish them for these things? The first step is to realize that God is going to judge what the writer to the Hebrews calls unrepentant whore mongers and adulterers. (Hebrews 13:4) Popular culture may change their standards until every one neighs after his neighbor’s wife, but God has not changed. Could it be that the cavalier attitude towards adultery that prevails, even among professed Christians, is an expression of the falling away that the scriptures speak of in the last days? Nevertheless, God is not depending on men to deal with what offends Him. “And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?” God is going to take care of it Himself.  



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Run For Your Soul! (Flirting with the Devil Revisited)

Run For Your Soul!
(Flirting with the Devil Revisited)
Robert Wurtz II

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)


Our passage is a reference back to the Old Testament where God commanded Israel to enter the Promised Land and commence throwing down all the altars and idols, even driving out the Cananites from the land. We read this sobering passage, “And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.” (Leviticus 18:25) God is saying that these people were as vomit. They were as that thing that would enter your belly to kill you, but as a natural God-given response your system heaves out the deadly contents before it has a chance to do the job. The land had vomited the people out for their evil, but according to Judges 2:1-20 the people of God refused to utterly throw down the alters and drive out this people. Instead they began to fellowship with them.

Unequally Yoked

Samson used a phrase in Judges 14:18 that comes front and center; … “If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.” (Judges 14:18) The story is common so we will not visit it in detail, but Samson had given a riddle to the Philistines and his wife was privy to it. She told the Philistines the secret and Samson expressed this betrayal as the Philistines “plowing with his heifer.” The problem is that Samson should not have been plowing with her himself! Why? Because God warned the people of God over and over not to become romantically involved with the Philistines because they will draw the people of God to their false idols and gods. He had been “unequally yoked” with this woman and it was he in fact that was “plowing with the wrong heifer”. But Samson loved to yoke up with such figures as her and he will eventually give in to Delilah that will ultimately divulge not the secret of his riddle, but the secret of his power.

The Bosom of a Stranger

The longer I live the more I believe that every child should memorize the book of Proverbs. It is loaded with practical wisdom. If a young man or woman would simply heed the advice, they would save themselves untold pain and suffering. Samson could have used Proverbs, for sure. Consider this passage:

My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.
(Proverbs 5:1-5 NKJV)

 

The Delilah’s of the world have one thing in common: they hunt for the precious life of the unsuspecting. They use their eyes to flirt, their words to flatter, and their bodies to seduce. The result? Unimagined and unforeseen destruction. I don’t typically quote the paraphrase version of the Bible, but listen to the next verses from Proverbs 5 in the CEV:

My son, listen to me and do everything I say. Stay away from a bad woman! Don’t even go near the door of her house. You will lose your self-respect and end up in debt to some cruel person for the rest of your life. Strangers will get your money and everything else you have worked for. (Proverbs 5:7-10 CEV)



This is the Bible in street language. The Delilah’s of this world will rob you of your hard earned reputation for being a good man (or woman). Nobody recovers from scandal unscathed. The only real solution is prevention. However, Sampson could have stopped when he was laying in this woman’s lap over and over again. Let’s not kid ourselves. He liked to lay his head in her lap, gazing into her eyes as would a babe it’s mother. she was real good at mothering him… right into the hands of the Philistines. God’s solution? Drink water from your own cistern. That is to say, if your going to lay your head down, make sure its in the lap of a God-fearing wife and not a stranger. That’s the most vulnerable position a man can be in and it had best be in the lap of one who can be trusted. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

An Invitation to Satan

Satan does not pass up invitations. If you flirt with him, he say “yes” every single time. He doesn’t discriminate, he wants to “plow” with every soul he possibly can. 

We communicate our intentions by who and what we identify ourselves with. Birds of a feather flock together. My late grandmother used to say, “Tell me who your friends are… and I’ll tell you who you are.” If you hang around people that tend to fornicate and adulterate you will soon fornicate and adulterate. 

People who are identifying themselves a certain way to communicate their intentions. Who is a fool? People telegraph their intentions by the way they carry themselves. If they are flirting, seducing and flattering they are walking in the path of destruction. Don’t make excuses for them. Because if you do, you will make excuses for yourself when you do the very same things. solution/ Avoid them. 

Symptoms of Destruction

The question most people ask about these type things is, “what’s wrong with it?” What’s wrong with Samson fooling around with a Philistine? What’s wrong with a little flirting now and then? What’s wrong with Delilah dressing seductively and flattering with her honey filled lips? She may have said, “You people are just jealous of me! You wish you were as attractive as I am!” That’s and age-old cover for whoredom. You can’t market yourself like a prostitute and then pretend your innocent. It’s too late, Delilah. We blew your cover. The cat is already out of the bag. 

What’s wrong with a little risque or suggestive? Nothing at all if you want to identify with sinners. When a person carries themselves seductively they might as well have a sign on them, “open for business.” Everybody knows it and it is foolery to go along with their pretensions. We know what your doing! But what did Paul say? What communion hath light with darkness? Some people seem to almost get a high off of flirting with sin. They bring all manor of compromise into their lives and then have the nerve to blame God when their lives are destroyed and their family is demon possessed. The devil knows where he is welcome; all he has to do is look at you and see what you are identifying yourself with. It’s too late to play dumb once your life is ruined.

Run For Your Soul

We live in a time like unto Sodom and Gomorrah. People will fragrantly identify themselves with Satan and darkness and then wipe their mouth as if they have done nothing wrong. They are only fooling themselves. The devil knows when he is welcome some place. The devil can take a hint. His song is as the old tune goes, “Just give me some kind of sign girl (boy)…” and he’ll come a running. It’s too late once the enemy gets a foothold in your mind and he wins you over to his cause. By the time you start justifying all these things you are already under his delusion. If you are involved in these things, flee even now! Run for your soul! Not as Lot’s wife who turned back to see one last time, but turn and run while there is still hope and you are still reachable.

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Run For Your Life!

Run For Your Life!
Robert Wurtz II


But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. (Genesis 39:11, 12 NKJV)

There are some temptations, which the most effective means of avoidance is not a protracted argument, prayer, rebuking the devil, or anything else: it is to run for it! Joseph understood this. It’s as if the man was fleeing from a thousand pit vipers. Time was of the essence. He was mere seconds away from total destruction. Solomon tried desperately to instill in his sons the wisdom Joseph was moving in. He wrote, For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life (Proverbs 6:26 NKJV). The KJV uses the phrase, “a whorish woman…will hunt for the precious life.” Hunters go to great lengths to conceal themselves in order to ambush their prey and take them unawares. Joseph understood that he too was being hunted; so his instinct was to run.

A Mighty Hunter of Souls

No matter what form it takes, fornication (sexual immorality) is a mighty hunter of souls. The time would fail to discuss how men like Sampson, David, or cities like Sodom and Ephesus had been reduced to a crust of bread by sexual immorality. Sampson carried off the gates of Gaza, but was effectively “slain” by a whorish woman. Sampson was not the type of guy to run from anybody; hence, his downfall. There are some situations where the only solution is to make a break for it; scram; beat it; get out of Dodge; head for the hills; clear out; bolt; or any other imperative verb phrase you can think of. The way you win the battle against fornication is to flee in fear for your life!

Flee Fornication

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV).

Although the world makes light of sexual sins, the Bible places the strongest possible warnings against them. Sexual immorality is a sin against one’s own body that effects a person in a way different than any other sin. All of the terrors of Dante’s Inferno do not rival the warnings in the New Testament. Paul writes:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 NKJV)

This is not an isolated passage. In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul gives a similar list and then adds this statement, I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The great Greek scholar of the late 19th century, A.T. Robertson, gives this comment, “Do not be led astray by plausible talk to cover up sin as mere animal behaviourism. Paul has two lists in 1 Cor. 6:9, 10, one with repetition of oute, neither (fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, or malakoi, abusers of themselves with men or arsenokoitai or sodomites as in 1 Tim. 1:10 a late word for this horrid vice, thieves, covetous), the other with ou not (drunkards, revilers, extortioners). All these will fall short of the kingdom of God. This was plain talk to a city like Corinth. It is needed today. It is a solemn roll call of the damned even if some of their names are on the church roll in Corinth whether officers or ordinary members.”

Making a Break For It

Except for people born with the gift of being eunuch, human beings have a preprogrammed, God-given, natural desire for procreation. It was given to Adam and passed to his progeny in order to replenish the earth. It is a good, natural desire. The problem is when that good natural desire is fed by impure thoughts and images until it becomes an unnatural lust. This is why we must abstain from the very appearance of evil. Lust is a desire that seeks to control you. The more it is fed, the more powerful it becomes. People do not just wake up one day and start breaking boundaries and doing unnatural things. It comes as a direct result of feeding a natural desire until it becomes a controlling lust. Solution? Run! Turn aside! Discipline your eyes and ears! Don’t allow your mind to be filled with impurity. 

The famous last words of a Christian are “I can handle this.” You and I are no match for fornication or anything that would lead to fornication. The only way to fight the battle is to flee! Avoid the source of temptation. If you can’t handle it, get rid of your TV, computer, cell phone, iPad or anything else that the devil is using to hunt your soul. Jesus said if your eye offends you, pluck it out! It sounds harsh, but once Sampson’s eyes were put-out by the Philistines, he could finally focus on God again. I’m not telling you to pluck out your eyes, but I am saying get rid of whatever would lead you into sexual impurity of mind, and or body. Amen. 
    

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Called, but Almost Killed

Called, but Almost Killed
Robert Wurtz II



And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband artthou to me. (Exodus 4:24-25)

  
Moses’ wife Zipporah was a Midianite and apparently refused to allow her son to be circumcised. The Midianites already had a history with the people of God at this juncture. You will remember that it was the Midianites that sold Joseph into Egypt in the first place. (Genesis 37:36) Time will not change these people. In the centuries to come they will serve as Israel’s enemies. It was the Midianites, along with Moab, that hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel.(Numbers 22:4-7) When Moab gave up, Balaam, a man who loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15), hung around with the Midianites as an adviser for evil. (Numbers 31:16) This is the same man that tried to go and curse Israel against the counsel of God and met at angel in the doorway to waiting to kill him too. Peter comments on this as well, “but he was rebuked for his own lawlessness: a dumb donkey speaking with the voice of a man restrained the madness of the prophet.” (2 Peter 2:16) The Lord Jesus in Revelation 2:14 tells us that Balaam taught the people to commit idolatry and fornication. Historically we know that this combination idolatry/fornication was of a terrible sort. His point was that there were people doing this very same thing in the church at Pergamos. Peter tells us that these are the type of men that promise freedom, but are themselves servants of corruption. The darkness of hell has been reserved for such. (2 Peter 2:17) This is the Midianite way.
 Called to obedience

“If Moses was to carry out the divine commission with success, he must first of all prove himself to be a faithful servant of Jehovah in his own house.” (K&D) The key words here, “…in his own house.” Moses had two sons and only the older one had been circumcised. Obviously Zipporah did not like the practice and it was an area of strong contention in the home. As if she would say, “We circumcised my firstborn; were not doing that to this son!” The penalty for not circumcising was death, but since this was a child the responsibility fell to the father. Moses, as the head of the household, was responsible before God to follow the commandment. He defied God by obeying the voice of his wife. We have a comment some centuries years later when Paul gave commandment concerning elders in the churches; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) (1 Timothy 3:4-5) 
A divided house
Moses obeyed his wife over God and it nearly cost him his life. God had big plans for Moses. Maybe Moses figured, “Well, God was just speaking to me and He didn’t say anything about it. It must be OK. He must not care.” Yet visiting with God should have brought the issue up before his own mind. Why should God have to keep telling a person to do something they already know they should do? What happened? And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Some might say, “You mean God was really going to kill Moses.” That’s right. But what about his calling? What about the plans to lead the people out? I am convinced that had Moses not followed through with circumcising his son God would have killed him. Why? Because God is going to be glorified by our lives one way or the other. He will either be glorified by our obedience or he will be glorified by the demonstration of the consequences of disobedience. God cannot use a person that obeys others in front of Him. Fortunately, Zipporah recognized that God meant business and had the good sense to change her mind; though she did it reluctantly and grudgingly.
The God of Thy Fathers
 When God got ready to speak to Moses He introduced Himself saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. (Acts 7:33) If Moses, as the leader of Israel, did not maintain continuity with the past he would have been starting a new religion. It would have been false. He was expected to walk in the steps of the faith and obedience of his forefathers. God does not change, so Moses was to serve God according to the revelation given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This means that God had given Moses the same commandment concerning circumcision that He had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was the sign of the covenant. He was expected to maintain the same level of obedience that they had exhibited. There are no privileged characters in the program of God. Moses was expected to utterly obey God. Here is a man that in the years to come will give a command to step forward and over a million people will take a step. As the leader he had to utterly obey God. He found that the enemy of obedience was in his own household.

The deceitfulness of sin

If Moses had gotten by with disobeying God he would have never reverenced God. Sin is deceitful when God’s judgment is not swift. Solomon said it this way, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11) Men and women sin when they perceive there will be no consequences or if they perceive the consequences will be well into the future. David said it a little differently, “The transgression of the wicked says within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.” (Psalms 36:1b) In other words, when I see people in sin and compromise it is evident that they are devoid of the fear of the Lord. Because judgment is not instant, people carry on like God will never bring them into judgment. But the day is coming. It is just not yet. 
Lifelong struggle
 
Moses dealt with the Midianites at the beginning of his calling and at the end of his life. They were constantly trying to bring the people of God down. From Zipporah the wife to Balaam the prophet. Moses sent warriors out and utterly routed the Midianites. For a few centuries their was rest from their antics. Then some two hundred and fifty years after this the Midianites had regained their ancient power, and in confederation with the Amalekites and the “children of the east” they made war against the the Israelites, whom for seven years they oppressed and held in subjection. They were at length assailed by Gideon in that ever-memorable battle in the great plain of Esdraelon, and utterly destroyed (Judges 6:1-7). Frequent allusions are afterwards made to this great victory (Psalm 83:10, Psalm 83:12; Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:6). They now wholly pass away from the page of history both sacred and profane. (Easton) God finally dealt Midian it’s death blow and He did it through total obedience to Him.

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The Devil’s Device of Discouragement

The Devil’s Device of Discouragement
Robert Wurtz II

Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. (2 Cor. 2:8)

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Cor. 2:11)

I wish in this short entry to draw attention to this passage in order to demonstrate how the enemy of our soul will use discouragement to destroy a person if he is given the opportunity. It is one of his ‘devices’ or ‘strategies’. The church at Corinth was dealing with a young man that committed a terrible sin, worse than was even found among the Gentiles. He took his fathers wife to himself. Paul gives direction to them that they are to put away from themselves this wicked person. He has as a first line of priority the protection of the congregation. Fornication is a leaven that will leaven an entire church if it be not dealt with. So Paul deals strongly with it. However, it was not to destroy the person, but was always with a design of seeing the person come to repentance. 

 Restoring the Person

Paul never forgot about this young man. In fact, a close reading of the text reveals that he was very concerned about his time having been put out of the church. His desire was to see a godly sorrow bring about a repentance where the mind and behavior changed and did not change back. But there is a point in which leaving the person in the hands of Satan and this world could actually destroy them and their faith- rather than securing repentance. This is important to consider. Satan desires to destroy our faith. He wants people to feel unloved and bitter towards the church. Paul said we are not ignorant of the Devil’s devices. We know he will try to do this. The solution? Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. (2 Cor. 2:8) This is it. We must confirm our love. 
Discouragement

There are times when things go on in the churches of God that need to be dealt with, but we must ever be mindful that the enemy will try to jump right in the middle of what we are doing to bring confusion and destruction. He uses discouragement as a powerful weapon. Paul said if we are not careful Satan will gain an advantage over us. Literally the passage reads, “in order that we be not made gain of, or overreached, by Satan.” The Revised version renders it, “that no advantage may be gained over us.” Satan is opportunistic and when we let our guard down he will strike. Discouraged people are a primary target of Satan. It is during these times that he will move in with temptation and lies seeking to turn your heart away from God. 

Common Sense

Satan wants people mad at the church or mad at God. He wants circumstances to develop that may or may not be of our own doing that he can use to discourage us. It could be a misunderstanding or what C.S. Lewis spoke of in Screw Tape Letters when he described how Satan works on peoples minds. The devil talks to people in their mind and heart and he will work a situation with slander and lies until he has made a mountain out of a molehill. He will put the worst possible construction on an event and speak that into your mind. Where there are uncertainties he will fill the blanks in with all kinds of lies and exaggerations. Before we know what has happened Satan has brought the whole church low. Understand that the word discourage means to cause a person to lose confidence or enthusiasm. Both parties in a conflict could be right from their particular point of view and yet both end up discouraged because of the conflict of disagreement. This is Satan’s common sense strategy. Sow strife and confusion. 

Discouraged and Tempted

Don’t be surprised when Satan comes to tempt you during times of discouragement. It is his strategy. Thanks be to God we are not ignorant of it. He is liable to tell you to go back to the very sins that God set you free from. Stress and pressure can weaken our defenses and if we are not careful we can fail in the grace of God. Satan don’t discriminate, he wants to destroy the fornicator and the minister. He wants to destroy everyone he possibly can. So we have to be on guard. How? Recognize when Satan is bringing discouragement and try to deal with situations such as sin and disagreements without allowing him to prevail. Some situations are complicated and hard to deal with. Paul’s answer, again, Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. (2 Cor. 2:8) The answer is love. Why? because love counteracts the lies of Satan by compelling us to put the best construction on events. Satan will work our minds to put the worst construction on. We must not succumb to his slanderous ways. 


What about just overall discouragement? Satan will move in those times as well and we must be alert to his plan. If we get discouraged he will start talking into our ears and before we know it we are thinking carnally and reverting back to old patterns of dealing with things. Recognize these times and submit yourself unto God. We are told that if we will do this and resist the Devil- He will flee from us. (James 4:7)
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Sobering Prohibitions

Sobering Prohibitions
Robert Wurtz II
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9, 10 NKJV)

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 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. (Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV)

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. (Ephesians 5:5 KJV)

Understanding the verbs

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 and Mark 10 who will enter the Kingdom. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5 and 1 Cor. 6:9, 10 who will not inherit the Kingdom. All of our passages above state or imply that the practitioners of these sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Our Greek verbs for inherit are in the future active, meaning that there is an inheriting of the Kingdom of God that has not taken place yet. Our Greek verb for practice is prassonte (root is prassō) and is the verb for habitual practice, not poieō (poy-eh’-o) for occasional doing. Generally speaking, in Paul’s Epistles poieo denotes “an action complete in itself,” while prasso denotes “a habit.” (Vines) The habit of these sins is proof that one is not in the Kingdom of God and will not inherit it. (A.T. Robertson) This is not to say that occasionally doing these sins is somehow OK, it is not. But we need to know exactly what we are being warned of. These sins can and must be repented of so as not to continue in the practice of them. 

Forewarned
Paul tells the Ephesians, for this you know. The means he has warned them before so they are quite aware of these things. He tells the Galatians, 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. He asks the Corinthians, do you not know? These statements all imply that for Christians this should be common knowledge. In case some would seek to dismiss these truths, he adds to this the phrase be not deceived (1 Cor. 6:9). Paul is telling them not to deceive themselves into living like Pagans. All such sinners are outside of the Kingdom of God. (Grosheide First Corinthians, p.140) This is an awful judgment. They will not be citizens of that Kingdom and will not receive the benefits of being in that Kingdom (ibid). No matter what name one places on themselves or what church they may associate themselves with, the practice of these sins disqualifies a person from the future inheritance of the Kingdom of God unless they are repented of. 

Understanding the sins

Paul has two lists in 1 Cor. 6:9, 10, one with repetition of oute, neither (fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, or malakoi, abusers of themselves with men or arsenokoitai or sodomites as in 1 Tim. 1:10 a late word for this horrid vice, thieves, covetous), the other with ou not (drunkards, revilers, extortioners). Paul’s adds to this list in Galatians 5 the works of the flesh.

  1. Fornicators (porneia, prostitution, harlotry. Illicit sexual relations for money/lust)
  2. Idolators (eidōlatreia, worship of idols, eating things as sacrificed to idols)
  3. Witchcraft/Sorcery (pharmakeia, a drug, the ministering of mind altering drugs) 
  4. Adulterers (moichos, marital infidelity. Illicit relations with a married person)
  5. Effeminate (malakos, soft as in Matt. 11:8, yields their body to homosexual uses) 
  6. Sodomites (arsenokoites, one who lies with a male as with a female vise versa)
  7. Uncleanness (akatharsia, reckless lustfulness and pleasure seeking)
  8. Lewdness (aselgeia, outrageous, unbridled, shameless, lust) 
  9. Thieves (kleptai, a thief.) 
  10. Covetous (pleonektēs, eager for more. Greedy of gain)
  11. Drunkards (methai, drunken excesses, Luke 21:34; Rom. 13:13)
  12. Extortioners (harpax, to take things by force. )
  13. Revilers (loidoros, railing on people with rude talk. 1 Sam. 25:14 of Nabal)
  14. Sinful personal relations expressed by eight words in Galatians 5, all old words, sins of the spirit, like enmities (exthrai, personal animosities), strife (eris, rivalry, discord), jealousies (zēlos or zēloi, MSS. vary, our very word), wraths (thumoi, stirring emotions, then explosions), factions (eritheiai, from erithos, day labourer for hire, worker in wool, party spirit), divisions (dichostasiai, splits in two, dicha and stasis), heresies (haireseis, the very word, but really choosings from haireomai, preferences), envyings (phthonoi, feelings of ill-will). And such like (kai ta homoia toutois). And the things like these (associative instrumental toutois after homoia, like). It is not meant to be exhaustive, but it is representative.

Some final warnings from the Revelation 

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

Here we have six more things to add to the list not already covered:

15. Fearful (deilos, timid. Christians that fall back under persecution, etc.)
        16. Unbelieving (apistos, disloyalty, unbelieving and without trust in God.)
        17. Abominable (bdelysso, to pollute, to turn away because of a stench. (Rom. 2:22)
        18. Murderers (phoneus, murder, homicide, man-slayer, assassin)
        19.  Whoremonger (pornos, man who sells his body for lust or for hire)
 20.  All Liars (pseudes, seudos is a noun found in nine contexts, meaning “lie” or “lying.” Lying is a natural expression of Satan’s character (John 8:44), the embodiment of the evil one in 2 Thess. 2:9, 11. Rom. 1:25 refers to the fundamental attitude underlying the sin of idolatry — exchanging the truth of God for a lie. Rev. 21:27; 22:15 refer to those who utter lies as having no part whatever with the people living in the heavenly city. (Renn-Bible Words Steven D. Renn)
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