ガラテヤの信徒への手紙5:19-21 Galatians 5:19-21,

肉の業は明らかです。それは、姦淫、わいせつ、好色、偶像礼拝、魔術、敵意、争い、そねみ、怒り、利己心、不和、仲間争い、ねたみ、泥酔、酒宴、その他このたぐいのものです。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（ガラテヤ5:19-21）

「敵意」と翻訳されているエクスラというギリシア語は、英語の聖書では「憎しみ」（hatred）とも翻訳されます。「争い」と翻訳されているエリスというギリシア語は、ほかのパウロの手紙の中でもしばしば用いられています。たとえば、党派争いのあったコリントの教会に対してパウロは「お互いの間にねたみや争いが絶えない以上、あなたがたは肉の人であり、ただの人として歩んでいる、ということになりはしませんか」（一コリント3:3）と警告しています。「そねみ」と翻訳されているゼーロスというギリシア語は、少し複雑な意味をもっています。それは、一方では「何かに対する熱烈な積極的興味」を表し、その場合は「熱心」という意味になります。しかし他方では「ほかの人の業績や成功についての熱烈な否定的感情」を表します。ここでは後の方の意味で「そねみ」と翻訳されています。新しい翻訳の聖書では「嫉妬」と翻訳されています。ほかの人の業績や成功に対する嫉妬は、ほかの人との間に敵意と争いを生み出すのです。「怒り」と翻訳されているシュモスというギリシア語は、神様の正しい怒りをも表す言葉です（ローマ2:8参照）。しかし、人間の怒りは神様の怒りのように公平ではなく、ほかの人には厳しく自分には甘いことが多いですから、悪徳の一つとして挙げられているのでしょう。

「利己心」と翻訳されているエリセイアというギリシア語は、元々アリストテレスが「不正な方法で政治的な地位を自分の利益のために追い求めること」という意味で使った言葉だそうです。そこから「利己主義」という意味になりました。パウロはこの言葉も手紙の中で、そうならないようにという教えでしばしば用いています（フィリピ2:3-4参照）。「不和」と翻訳されているディコスタシアというギリシア語は、「党派的な敵対の状態にあること」です。パウロはローマの信徒への手紙16章17節で、この言葉を用いて「あなたがたの学んだ教えに反して、不和やつまずきをもたらす人々を警戒しなさい。彼らから遠ざかりなさい」と教えています。「仲間争い」と翻訳されているハイレシスというギリシア語は、元々「特色のある主義をもつ集団」のことを指していました（たとえば、ユダヤ教のサドカイ派やファリサイ派、使徒5:17、15:5、26:5参照）を指すときにこの言葉が用いられていました。その言葉をパウロは「仲間争い」という意味で用いているのです。新しい翻訳の聖書では「分派」と翻訳されています。「ねたみ」と翻訳されているフソノスというギリシア語は、先ほどの「そねみ」という言葉とよく似た意味の言葉です。福音書を読むと、ローマ帝国のユダヤ総督ピラトは「祭司長たちがイエスを引き渡したのは、ねたみのためだと分かっていたからである」（マルコ15:10）と記されている箇所があります。その箇所で用いられているのがこの言葉です。　　　　（6月23日の説教より）

One of the reasons why the Bible has captured the hearts of so many people throughout the ages is probably because of its profound insights into human beings. The Bible teaches that human is a sinner. In other words, it teaches that all human beings have a nature that is opposed to God because our ancestors, Adam and Eve, were opposed to God. One prominent person who took the biblical teaching on human sins to heart was the ancient Christian leader Augustine. Augustine was born in the town of Thagaste in North Africa in 354 AD. At the age of 16, he left for Carthage, the centre of North Africa, to pursue his studies, where he began living with a woman. At the age of 18, he had a son, but his relationship with this woman was long-lasting and eventually ended in a breakdown. Augustine’s mother’s strong disapproval forced him to leave her after 16 long years. This was due to the fact that Augustine had become a professor at Milan and his mother thought that her son’s official wife should be a woman of status. Augustine then became engaged to a new woman. However, because he had to wait two years before this fiancée was old enough to marry, Augustine also began a relationship with another woman. It was in the midst of this suffering, gripped by lust, that Augustine came to seek Christ’s salvation. Augustine describes his state of suffering in Book VIII, Chapter 11 of his Confessions, where he writes as follows.

The very toys of toys, and vanities of vanities, my ancient mistresses, still held me; they plucked my fleshy garment, and whispered softly, “Dost thou cast us off? and from that moment shall we no more be with thee for ever? and from that moment shall not this or that be lawful for thee for ever?”

Augustine’s words show that there is a deep-seated nature in us human beings that opposes God. The nature that opposes God is called “original sin” in Christian language. Reformer, John Calvin, wrote as follows.

Original sin, then, may be defined a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in Scripture are termed works of the flesh. (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 1, 8).

In other words, man’s innate nature is distorted in such a way that his emotions, reason and will are all in opposition to God.

Such an old sin-driven ego, which man is born with, Paul called “the flesh.” Some may think that by the word “flesh” he means the body. But “the flesh” to which Paul refers is not just the body, but the old sin-driven ego, which includes both soul and body. Verses 19-21 of today’s passage describe in detail what such thoughts and deeds of the old ego of human are like.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

Fifteen wickednesses, or so-called vices, are listed here. The first three, “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality” are sexual vices. The next two, “idolatry, sorcery” are religious vices. The next eight, “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy” related to human relations. And the last two, “drunkenness, orgies” are vices related to alcohol. And after listing these, Paul writes: “and things like these.” There are many other vices that the old ego of human produces, but Paul have listed the most common ones here.

The Greek word porneia (πορνεία), translated as “sexual immorality,” refers to an unlawful sexual intercourse. It includes prostitution as well as so-called adultery. The Greek word akatharsia (ἀκαθαρσία), translated as “impurity,” originally referred to something unclean and dirty. Here it means something morally unclean. The Greek word aselgeia (ἀσέλγεια), which is translated as “sensuality,” originally meant “lack of self-control which violates all bounds of what is socially acceptable.” From its original meaning, it probably refers to extremely immoral or disorderly conduct. Paul’s first reference to these vices of human sexuality is probably because in the various parts of the Roman Empire where he preached the gospel, these vices were taken for granted without condemnation.

The following two, “idolatry, sorcery” were not condemned, but rather actively encouraged in various parts of the Roman Empire. “Idolatry” (eidōlolatria, εἰδωλολατρία) is the worship of images of the gods of Greek and Roman mythology. In Greek mythology, there were twelve gods who were said to dwell on the summit of Mount Olympus. Zeus, king of the gods; Hera, queen of the gods; Athena, goddess of wisdom, handicraft and warfare; Apollo, god of prophecy, art, music and medicine; Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty; Ares, god of war; Artemis, goddess of hunting, wilderness and virginity; Demeter, goddess of agriculture; Hephaestus, god of volcanos, fire and smithing; Hermes, god of messages; Poseidon, the god of seas; Hestia, the goddess of hearth or Dionysus, god of fertility and wine are the twelve gods. These Twelve Olympians and their corresponding twelve Roman deities were also worshipped in the Roman Empire. In Greek and Roman culture, it was right to worship these gods. However, according to biblical teachings, these gods were merely idols created by man, and worshipping them was an evil because they are false gods who were not the true God. The Greek word pharmakeia (φαρμακεία), translated as “sorcery,” originally meant to produce medicine for medical purposes. However, it was used to mean the use of medicine in sorcery and came to refer to sorcery itself. The use of drugs to manipulate human consciousness in the name of opening the human mind to the world of spirits was probably also practised in the ancient world.

The eight vices listed next, “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy” relate to human relationships. Paul believed that many of the vices produced by man’s old ego were those that created strife between people. This is probably because in the Galatian churches there were disputes within the churches over teachings. As I have preached before, Paul, who first preached the gospel of Christ in Galatia, taught that “human beings are saved by believing in Jesus Christ.” However, the Jewish evangelists who came after Paul left the Galatian churches taught that “one cannot attain full salvation without not only believing in Christ but also undergoing the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law.” The Galatian believers were then misled by the teaching of the Jewish evangelists, and there was confusion in the churches. Because there was such conflict over the teachings, there may have been “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy” in the Galatian churches.

The Greek word ekhthra (ἔχθρα), translated as “enmity,” is also translated as “hatred” (NIV 2011: hatred). The Greek word eris (ἔρις), translated as “strife,” is often used in other Pauline letters. For example, Paul warns the believers in Corinthian church, where there was partisan strife, “while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” (1Cor. 3:3) The Greek word zēlos (ζῆλος), which is translated as “jealousy,” has a slightly more complex meaning. On the one hand, it stands for “intense positive interest in something,” in which case it means “zeal.” However, on the other hand, it represents “intense negative feelings over another’s achievements or success.” Here it is translated as “jealousy” in the latter sense. “Jealousy” over the achievements and successes of others creates enmity and strife with others. The Greek word thumos (θυμός), translated as “fits of anger,” is also used to describe God’s righteous anger. For example, the word is used in Romans 2:8 which says, “for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” However, human anger is not as impartial as God’s anger, and is often harsh on others and lenient on oneself, so it is probably listed as one of the vices.

The Greek word eritheia (ἐριθεία), translated as “rivalries,” was originally used by Aristotle to mean “a self-seeking pursuit of political office by unfair means.” From there it came to mean “selfish ambition” or “rivalries.” Paul often uses this word in his letters, too, to teach against it. For example, in Philippians 2:3 he says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” The Greek word dikhostasia (διχοστασία), translated as “dissensions,” is “the state of being in factious opposition.” Paul uses this term in Romans 16:17: “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.” The Greek word hairesis (αἵρεσις), translated as “divisions,” originally referred to “a group that holds tenets distinctive to it.” It was used, for example, to refer to the Jewish Sadducees (Acts 5:17) and Pharisees (Acts 15:5; 26:5). Paul uses the word in the sense of “divisions.” The Greek word phthonos (φθόνος), which is translated as “envy,” is a word with a similar meaning to the word “jealousy” mentioned earlier. In the Gospels, we read in one passage that Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, “perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up” (Mark 15:10). This is the word used in that passage.

Thus, Paul lists the vices related to human relationships as if it weren’t already enough. One reason for this may be that, as I mentioned earlier, there were disputes over teachings in the Galatian churches. But also because Paul was deeply aware, from biblical teachings and his own experiences, that people fight with each other. And that people fight each other applies to today’s society as well. Not only that, but it could be said that he is warning us that if we do not walk according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, these vices of strife will arise even within the church.

The last two on the list of vices, “drunkenness, orgies” relate to alcohol. Paul exhorts the young evangelist Timothy, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (I Timothy 5:23). However, “drunkenness” (methē, μέθη) and “drunkard” were strictly forbidden. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:10 that “nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” The word kōmos (κῶμος), translated “orgies,” originally referred to “a festal procession in honour of Dionysus” of the Greek god of wine. The festivals probably involved excessive revelry. It has come to mean excessive feasting in a bad sense.

When you learn about the vices of the old human ego one by one, many of you may think, “Oh, I used to be like that,” or “I still have something like that in me.” For those who think so, the last words of today’s passage, “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God,” may sound very harsh. And perhaps you might say, “Oh, so that means I cannot go to heaven. Then I want to stop believing in Christ.” However, the words “those who do such things” are written with the present participle of the Greek verb, which a biblical scholar interpret as indicating that the deeds are continuous. That is, the words, “those who do such things” do not refer to persons who are sometimes defeated by these vices even though they strives to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but to persons who always live doing these vices. To make the most of this nuance, one English Bible translates it as “those who live like this” (NIV 2011).

Even when we live by faith in Christ, these “flesh” thoughts and deeds remain in our personalities. And within the Christian soul, two forces are always in conflict with each other. One force is the power of the old ego, the sin-driven ego that we are born with. The other power is the power of God the Holy Spirit. Sometimes both forces do not give way to each other and may come to a stalemate. Or sometimes the power of the old ego may temporarily prevail, and this may be its own will and action. But in the long run, God the Holy Spirit’s power will outweigh the old ego’s power, and God the Holy Spirit will prevent the old ego from doing what it took for granted. Let us trust in the power of God the Holy Spirit this week and live our lives cleansed from the “works of the flesh.”