Galatians 5:20 is Paul’s list of behaviors that grow out of a life lived for self rather than in step with the Spirit. The list includes idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, angry outbursts, rivalries, divisions and heresies, and Paul is warning the believers in Galatia that these are the patterns to recognize and resist. The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the churches of Galatia, a region in what is now central Turkey, and he addressed it to Christians who were being pressured to add rules to their faith in Christ.
Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies…
Galatians 5:20 (WEB)
What Galatians 5:20 Means
The verse opens with idolatry and sorcery, which in Paul’s world would have meant worship of false gods and the occult practices tied to them. Paul uses these terms to point to anything that takes the place of God at the center of a person’s life, whether that is a religious object or a pursuit like money, status or pleasure. The next words, hatred, strife, jealousies and outbursts of anger, describe the relational damage that follows when a heart is turned inward. Rivalries, divisions and heresies bring the picture into the community, showing how the same self-focus can split a church.
Paul is describing a pattern, not handing out a checklist for judging people. He lists these works as obvious, meaning their fruit is visible in ordinary life, and he uses the word “flesh” for the self-centered impulse that opposes God’s Spirit. The verse does not promise that a believer will never feel jealousy or anger again. It tells the reader what the flesh produces so that they can see it clearly and turn away from it.
The Context of Galatians 5:20
Galatians was written by Paul, traditionally dated to the late 40s or early 50s of the first century, to churches he had founded on his first missionary journey. The letter was written to correct a teaching that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be fully accepted by God. Paul argues that freedom in Christ does not mean license, and this is why he turns in chapter 5 to the question of how a free person should actually live.
The verses just before Galatians 5:20 describe the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, and the verses after it describe the fruit of the Spirit, beginning with love and joy. Read in that setting, the list of works of the flesh functions as a contrast: the same community that is meant to show love and peace can be torn apart by the very behaviors Paul names. The verse is therefore less a standalone condemnation and more a diagnosis of what happens when people try to live free from God’s Spirit.
Key Phrases in Galatians 5:20
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(WEB)
These verses describe the fruit of the Spirit that Paul sets directly against the works of the flesh. Reading them alongside Galatians 5:20 shows that the believer is not left to fight the flesh by willpower alone, but is shaped by the Spirit into love, joy, peace and self-control.
Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
(WEB)
Paul’s counsel to live at peace with everyone, as far as it depends on you, speaks directly to the strife and divisions named in Galatians 5:20. It shows that the pursuit of peace is a practical discipline that flows from a life not controlled by the flesh.
A Short Prayer From Galatians 5:20
Father, you see the places in my heart where jealousy, anger and the desire to win still take root. I confess that I often want my own way more than I want your peace. Holy Spirit, lead me away from the works of the flesh and into the fruit that only you can grow in me. Help me to love the people in my life rather than compete with them, and to pursue unity in my home and in your church. Amen.
