A sin is a transgression of God’s law. “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4; cf. 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2; James 2:12). Encouraging people to live for God involves both showing them what to do and how such actions will lead to blessing, and also warning them against what not to do and how such actions would lead to ruin. (To see both of these emphases side-by-side, read Colossians 3:1-17.)
We are not surprised, then, to find that the Bible is very vivid in its portrayal of both the good life and the bad life. The Bible does not simply say, “Do right, not wrong!” and leave the discussion there. Rather, in the New Testament, there are number of lengthy lists of specific virtues, or good qualities we must try to incorporate into our lives. For example, Peter writes:
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-8; for other such lists, see Romans 12:9-21; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Galatians 5:22-24).
But as we might expect, there also are a number of “sin lists,” or lists of violations of God’s law. For example, Paul writes:
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. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21, emp. added; for other such lists, see Matthew 15:18-20; Romans 1:28-30; Ephesians 4:31; 1 Timothy 1:8-10).
Notice the phrase “and things like these,” at the end of the list of sins in Galatians 5:21. This is an important phrase, for it shows: (1) Paul’s sin list (and others like it in his writing and in other biblical passages) is not intended to be exhaustive. The fact that my particular expression of unrighteousness is not mentioned explicitly in the text does not prove that God approves my action. (2) There are sins that are similar to those mentioned in 5:19-21, and Paul trusted that the Galatians could use their God-given intelligence to understand what those sins were. If they could, then so can we. (3) Because we love the Lord, we must try to develop the Christian virtues so that we will naturally avoid “things like these.”
May we ever bear the fruits of the Spirit and avoid the works of the flesh.