18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We should notice three things in particular in this passage describing the works of the flesh. In the first place there seems to be a near identity between 'flesh' and 'law' in Paul's mind. Not that they are the same thing, of course, but it is true that to be 'under the law' means also that a man is 'in the flesh' - for this reason, that both 'law' and 'flesh' belong to the old order of existence from which we are delivered by Christ. Secondly, Paul does not speak of the 'fruits', but of the 'works of the flesh', although he goes on in the next verses to describe the fruit of the Spirit. What he means is that the flesh is completely non-productive and can bring forth nothing that is pleasing to God, even if it 'works itself to the bone'. 'They that are in the flesh cannot please God' (Romans 8:8 - cf Romans 6:21), 'What fruit had ye then in those things...?'). Thirdly, it is striking to see the kind of activity that is included in the works of the flesh - not only the various forms of uncleanness, but also idolatry and heresy. This should serve to remind us that there is a moral question involved in these things. The worship of false gods is never merely a question of ignorance and darkness, there is also a moral fault. It is a willing blindness that keeps men's eyes from being opened. This applies equally to heresy (see Note on 5:7-12). Error in doctrine is always in the first place error in life and in their minds. Men go wrong first, then their minds. There are two further points to note before we pass from these verses. The first is the word 'manifest' which Paul uses in 19. The word occupies an emphatic place in the sentence. The works of the flesh will out, Paul means, that is to say, a fleshly attitude cannot ultimately be hidden, it will come out and find expression, on the surface of a man's life. The second point relates to what is said at the end of 21, that those who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This does not mean that people who have in the past committed such things will be excluded from the kingdom: there is no condition of sin or uncleanness that cannot be reached, and rectified, by the grace of God. The reference is to those who continue unrepentantly in them. Now, we must be careful not to fall into the error of supposing that 'we would never fall as low as this', for this would simply mean that we had not read our own hearts aright. It is true that these grim verses do not give a picture of all human behaviour, but they do accurately picture human nature, and what we read here is what every human heart is capable of, and would certainly fall into, but for the restraining grace of God. If we do not see this, we do not know the truth about ourselves.