Galatians 5:20-21 “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 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.”

Let’s continue to look at some of the sins mentioned by Paul and how Christians should look at them and understand them.

Variance

As a Bible-believing or biblically functional church, we are supposed to be united.

To disagree or be at variance with one another is considered displeasing to God. Our hearts should be to find something good in others, not to find fault in others, because the latter is the work of the flesh, as we seek to fulfill our self-righteous ego.

Emulations

Let’s also remember that when a brother or sister in Christ has achieved more than we have and done more for the Lord that we have, we should not be jealous of him/her, as that is simply a sin. Instead, we should feel happy because we are family in Christ. Our feeling reflects how much we genuinely love and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Wrath

Equivalent to anger, this is something we need to watch and control ourselves with.

God despises His children to be quick to show anger. He will also use situations at church or outside to test us on how we manage our anger in the public’s eyes. Let’s say if we try to argue on matters that are right in the eyes of God, we should not feel pressed or concerned if the other party tries to fight back or does not even listen to us.

Besides, if we also allow the Holy Spirit to convict or guide us, it should not be a problem to steadfast. It should not be a problem for us to admit our wrongdoing if we hold firm of our ground.

Strife

Quite close to the meaning of wrath, which we need to get right with before other things come into place.

Seditions

Sedition is a conduct or speech that attempts to invite others to rebel against authority.

Heresies

This is self-explanatory. It means the doctrines preached are off and have strayed away from the truth. For example, suppose we claim to denounce homosexuality publicly and affirm the community that they will forever not be saved and deserve to go to hell. In that case, that is straight-up a fleshly emotion and not a spiritual one. That makes us no different from the sodomites because of the wicked hatred we hold against others. That is not what Jesus Christ preached in the New Testament.

Heresies also mean if we compromise on the word of God and not share the truth with others because it may sound controversial. If we are being heretic, we may succumb to water down our doctrines and messages to please our flesh or the flesh of others, but what’s the point of doing that if we displease Jesus Christ? Jesus says if we love Him, we should love His teachings too.

Envying

This matches up with emulations.

Murders

Even if we don’t commit murder, the book of John says that ‘he that hated his brother is a murderer.’ So if we happen to have feelings of hatred towards one another at church, we should repent and get right with God.

Drunkenness

Stay away from alcohol at all times. We should not justify even moderate or social drinking. That is like presenting ourselves with temptation.

Revellings

Partying at Mardi Gras, dancing, shouting but doing it in foolishness and wickedness is a sin because in no way does that glory the Lord. Reveling most often may involve binge drinking and sex orgies.

Verse 21 ‘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.’ 

This is precisely how preachers and pastors should minister. Sin or the repentance of sin is a topic that is inevitable at church, instead of watered-down or motivational messages that cannot even help its members to grow spiritually.

On the other hand, the last part of verse 21, ‘that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.’ is used by Lordship Salvation as a doctrine of salvation, which is utter heresy.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “also mentioned something similar. Nonetheless, both passage clearly uses the word ‘inherit’, it does not mention anything about losing our salvation, or cannot go to Heaven. It says that we will not have our inheritance at God’s kingdom. It implies that to stay away from these sins is a work after we are saved or to earn our rewards like gold, silver and precious stones, which has nothing to do with our salvation.” 

This also goes in line with other verses that encourage us to set our sight on treasures above heaven, not here on earth. This is because everything we have here will fade and rust out one day, but our inheritance in God’s kingdom is for eternity.