What Does It Mean?

    When reading the Bible or listening to the preachers, there comes a time when you may hear a word spoken that you don't understand the meaning of. Most preachers will tell you what it means if they think it will help you to understand the whole verse in relation to yourself or to God and Jesus. Well, I thought I should write some of these words or phrases down and explain what they mean so that I will have a written record to help myself understand the whole of the verse or chapter and how it relates to the way we should live. These 17 words are the works of the flesh.

1. Adultery: 

1. Consensual sexual intercourse between a married person and a person other than the spouse.
2. Violation of the marriage-bed; carnal connection of a married person with any other than the lawful spouse; in a more restricted sense, the wrong by a wife which introduces or may introduce a spurious offspring into a family.
3. In the seventh commandment of the decalogue, as generally understood, all manner of lewdness or unchastity in act or thought. See Mat. v. 28. Adultery is extra-marital sex partaken by a spouse, or premarital sex partaken by a betrothed person, that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept exists in many cultures and shares some similarities in Christianity, Judaism and Islam

2. Fornication: Fornication is generally immoral sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. When one or more of the partners having consensual sexual intercourse is married to another person, it is called adultery:  Sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other, especially when considered as a sin.

3. Uncleanness: According to Le 15:24-40, anyone who touched a dead beast, whether unclean or clean, was rendered unclean. According to Numbers 19:11-22, anyone touching the corpse of a human being is unclean. Likewise, everyone in the tent, or who enters the tent, where lies a dead man, is unclean seven days. Even the open vessels in the tent with a dead person are unclean seven days. Whoever, furthermore, touched a dead man's bone or grave was unclean seven days. Purification, in all these cases of uncleanness as related to death, was secured by sprinkling the ashes of a red heifer with living water upon the unclean person, or object, on the 3rd and 7th days.

4. Lasciviousness: Lascivious behavior is sexual behavior or conduct that is considered crude and offensive, or contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. In this sense, "lascivious" is similar in meaning to "lewd", "indecent", "lecherous", "unchaste", "licentious" or "libidinous: 

1. Lascivious desires or conduct; lewdness; wantonness; lustfulness; looseness of behavior.
2. Tendency to excite lust; lascivious or lewd character.
3. The state or habitual condition of feeling an excessive or morbid sexual desire.

5. Idolatry: Idol worship, any reverence of an image, statue or icon.Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic God as if it were God.Worship of idols.Blind or excessive devotion to something.The worship of idols or images; more generally, the paying of divine honors to any created object; the ascription of divine power to natural agencies.

6. Withcraft:  Witchcraft, as most commonly understood in both historical and present-day communities, is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning

7. Hatred:  Hatred or hate is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is sometimes seen as the opposite of love. A number of different definitions and perspectives on hatred have been put forth: Intense animosity or hostility.

8.  Variance:   Expectation of the squared deviation of a random variable from its mean. In probability theory and statistics, variance is the expectation of the squared deviation of a random variable from its mean. Informally, it measures how far a set of numbers are spread out from their average value. Variance has a central role in statistics, where some ideas that use it include descriptive statistics, statistical inference, hypothesis testing, goodness of fit, and Monte Carlo sampling:  Difference or inconsistency. The state or fact of being in disagreement or in conflict.

9.  Emulations: Love of superiority; desire or ambition to equal or excel others; the instinct that incites to effort for the attainment of equal or superior excellence or estimation in any respect. Effort to equal or excel in qualities or actions; imitative rivalry, as of that which one admires in another or others: as, the emulation of great actions, or of the rich by the poor.  Antagonistic rivalry; malicious or injurious contention; strife for superiority.

10. Wrath:  Forceful, often vindictive anger.   Punishment or vengeance as a manifestation of anger. Fierce anger; vehement indignation; rage.

11. Strife: Heated, often violent conflict or disagreement.  A conflict or quarrel. Contention or competition between rivals.

12.  Sedition:  Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, established authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel: Conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of a state.: Insurrection; rebellion.: A factious commotion in a state; the stirring up of such a commotion; incitement of discontent against government and disturbance of public tranquillity, as by inflammatory speeches or writings, or acts or language tending to breach of public order: as, to stir up a sedition; a speech or pamphlet, abounding in sedition.

13. Heresies:  Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam has at times been met with censure ranging from excommunication to the death penalty. An opinion or a doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs, especially dissension from or denial of Roman Catholic dogma by a professed believer or baptized church member.: Adherence to such dissenting opinion or doctrine.:A controversial or unorthodox opinion or doctrine, as in politics, philosophy, or science.

14. Envyings:  Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and wishes that the other lacked it. Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred by "those who have what we ought to have". Bertrand Russell said that envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness:  A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another.

15. Murders:  Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence of malice, brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity: The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the crime of killing a person with malice aforethought or with recklessness manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.:An instance of such killing.: Something that is very uncomfortable, difficult, or hazardous.

16. Drunkenness: Negative effect(s) induced by the ingestion of ethanol (alcohol)Alcohol intoxication, also known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol:  Alcohol intoxication, also known in overdose as alcohol poisoning,^[1] commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation,^[10] is the behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol.^[6][11] In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main psychoactive component of alcoholic beverages, other physiological symptoms may arise from the activity of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of alcohol.

17. Revellings:  The word revellings (“noisy partying” or “carousing”) is found in two places in the King James Version of the Bible. Galatians 5:19–21 includes revellings in the list of the works of the flesh. First Peter 4:3 mentions revellings as part of the lifestyle of “pagans,” meaning those who do not know God and who live as though He does not exist. More modern versions of the Bible translate the Greek word for “revellings” as “revelries” (NKJV), “orgies” (NIV, ESV), “wild celebrations or partying” (ISV), and “carousing” (NASB). The original Greek word, komos, carries the connotation of “letting loose.” When people “go wild,” they are engaging in “revellings.”

 

There are 9 FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT  and here they are:

1. Love:  Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse, which differs from the love for food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment:

2. Joy: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: the expression or exhibition of such emotion: a state of happiness or felicity:  a source or cause of delight: to experience great pleasure or delight: 

3. Peace:  Peace means societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups.: The absence of war or other hostilities.:An agreement or a treaty to end hostilities.:  Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations.

4.  Longsuffering:  To be longsuffering, then, is to have self-restraint when one is stirred to anger.:  patiently enduring lasting offense or hardship:  forbearing:  patient:  stoic: stoical: tolerant:  uncomplaining:

5.  Gentleness:  Gentleness is a personal quality which can be part of one's character. It consists in kindness, consideration, and amiability. Aristotle used it in a technical sense as the virtue that strikes the mean with regard to anger: being too quick to anger is a vice, but so is being detached in a situation where anger is appropriate; justified and properly focused anger is named mildness or gentleness:  mildness of manners or disposition:

6.  Goodness:  The state or quality of being good, in any sense; excellence; purity; virtue; grace; benevolence.:  decency, morality, righteousness, virtuous, integrity, uprightness, honesty.

7.  Faith:  Faith, derived from Latin fides and Old French feid, is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". The assent of the mind to the truth of a proposition or statement for which there is not complete evidence; belief in general.:  Specifically Firm belief based upon confidence in the authority and veracity of another, rather than upon one's own knowledge, reason, or judgment; earnest and trustful confidence: as, to have faith in the testimony of a witness; to have faith in a friend.: In a more restricted sense: In theology, spiritual perception of the invisible objects of religious veneration; a belief founded on such spiritual perception.

8.  Meekness:  Meekness is an attribute of human nature and behavior that has been defined as an amalgam of righteousness, inner humility, and patience. Meekness has been contrasted with humility alone insomuch as humility simply refers to an attitude towards oneself—a restraining of one's own power so as to allow room for others—whereas meekness refers to the treatment of others.:  The quality or state of being meek.: The quality of being meek; softness of temper; mildness; gentleness; forbearance under injuries and provocations; unrepining submission.

9 .  Temperance:  Temperance in its modern use is defined as moderation or voluntary self-restraint. It is typically described in terms of what a person voluntarily refrains from doing.: Moderation and self-restraint, as in behavior or expression.  ::  Moderation; the observance of moderation; temperateness.