Arriving home after a trip triggers a predictable chain of events: sifting through a stack of mail, watering parched plants, unpacking suitcases, and re-stocking groceries. Before heading out to buy new food, I take inventory of the refrigerator. Most of the time, I discover a few funky smells wafting out–a forgotten container of leftovers growing mold, a bag of lettuce that’s turned brown and mushy, or strawberries covered with green fuzz. These inedible landmines often trigger a full cleaning of every shelf and drawer because there’s nothing worse than putting fresh food in a stinky fridge.
With those smells and images in mind, consider Paul’s words to the Galatians as he urges them to embrace God’s grace and walk in step with the Spirit: “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses… Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:16-18, 24-25 NLT)
Paul encourages believers to understand that their freedom in Christ enables them to live in the way God intended them, no longer bound by the shackles of sin or the burden of the law. Elizabeth Woodson explains, “For Paul, freedom is not about living a life without any boundaries but living a life that is ordered by the boundaries of godliness.”1 He’s admonishing believers to clean out their spiritual refrigerators to make space for the fresh nourishment of the Holy Spirit.
In order to do this, however, we need to identify sin that’s keeping us from growing to maturity. Paul provides an extensive and specific list to consider—the old and decaying things in our lives that we need to surrender to the Lord so that we can live the abundant lives He intended: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21, NLT)
We may skim through this list without applying it personally, but the sins Paul calls out to the Galatians are just as relevant in our world today. Instead of glossing over them and focusing on less convicting passages, let’s take a minute to ponder them prayerfully.
Sexual Sins: Paul dives right in by calling out sexual immorality, impurity, and lustful pleasures. The biblical definition for sexual immorality is any sexual activity outside the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman. Lustful pleasures include anything that prioritizes gratifying a sexual craving over seeking God’s will and caring for the well-being of others. (This is what fuels the booming industries of pornography and sex-trafficking.) Our culture normalizes and even glorifies sexual behaviors and thought patterns that not only dishonor God but damage our relationships and souls. If you’re not paying attention to what’s forming your perspective on sex, it’s likely you’ve adopted the world’s way of thinking without realizing it. Take a moment and prayerfully consider where our current culture influences your views on sexuality more than the Bible. For a deeper dive on this topic, click on the sermon link at the bottom entitled “Two Beds.”
Spiritual Sins: Next Paul touches on spiritual straying by calling out idolatry and sorcery. The late Tim Keller describes an idol as anything that “has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought.” Family, children, career, making money, achievement, social standing, romantic relationships, peer approval, security, comfort, beauty, brains, even moral or social causes can all become “ultimate things.”2 Paul also speaks against sorcery, which is the use of spells, divination, or speaking to spirits. Any attempt to seek spiritual wisdom and power from a source other than God should not be part of a believer’s life—this includes practices that have recently regained popularity ‘just for fun” such as consulting mediums or psychics and reading tarot cards or auras.
Relational Sins: Paul gives a variety of examples including hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, and envy. It’s not hard to see how social media has given us more opportunities to be led into these kinds of sins. Most of them are rooted in unrestrained anger and selfishness. Anytime we’re tempted to have an “us vs. them” mentality or to resent a person for having what we think we “deserve” we’re heading into relational sin. If anger or sins related to it are a struggle for you, make time to listen to the excellent sermon by Christine Caine linked at the bottom of this post. If envy or jealousy regularly pop up for you, there’s a sermon at the bottom for you too.
Social Sins: Again, Paul doesn’t mince words and calls out drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these as practices to avoid. When alcohol, drugs, pills or other mind-altering substances become a necessary ingredient for having a good time or become the focal point of a social event, we’re veering into sin. They also lower our inhibitions and open the door for other sins. “When we choose to ingest mind-altering substances, we are effectively choosing to give ourselves over to the control of something other than the Holy Spirit. Anything that takes control of our mind, will, and emotions is a false god.”3 If you rationalize or minimize times when you’re tipsy or joke about being “over served,” maybe it’s time to bring it to the Lord in prayer. If you’re feeling convicted, be honest with yourself, the Lord, and a grace-filled friend who can walk alongside you. To learn more, see the article linked in reference #3 at the bottom.
Galatians 5 is most famous for this verse: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT) Many of us like to skip right to these verses without considering what comes before them. But growing this kind of spiritual fruit means confronting our sin and letting the Lord remove it as a hindrance so that we can abide closely with Him. Rather than seeing Paul’s list of sins as restrictive, consider Elizabeth Woodson’s explanation: “The more we deny our flesh and say yes to the things of God (all by the power of the Holy Spirit), the more we are able to experience life as it was designed to be lived. God created us to be image bearers, living for His glory and for the good of others. When we live like this, we are free from the burden of sin, and are free to experience an abundant life—full of love and joy.”4
Inspired by Live Free: A Study of Galatians by Elizabeth Woodson, Lifeway, 2025. Follow along by ordering your copy here.
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“Two Beds” sermon on sexual sin by Tyler Scott (start at 24:24)
“Anger” sermon by Christine Caine
- Elizabeth Woodson, Live Free: A Study of Galatians, Lifeway Press, 2025, 131
- Tim Keller Counterfeit Gods, Introduction (quoted from Jake Griesel’s website.)
- “Is Getting Drunk a Sin?”, gotquestions.org
- Elizabeth Woodson, Live Free: A Study of Galatians, Lifeway Press, 2025, 131