The Works of the Flesh

Galatians 5:19-21

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 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."

When a Christian is dominated by the Flesh, it will produce certain acts which the Apostle Paul lists in the passage above. The Apostle John reduces the works of the Sinful Nature into three excessive lusts, which he lists in 1 John 2:15-17.

1 John 2:15-17

"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." (NASV)

The Three Lusts of the Flesh are:

1. "the lust of the flesh" - or the excessive lust for pleasure (ie. sexual immorality, pornography, drugs, laziness, gluttony, etc.) ...

2. "the lust of the eyes" - or the excessive lust to possess what we do not have (ie. materialism, covetousness, hoarding, greed, etc.) ... and

3. "the boastful pride of life" ... or the excessive lust of our egos (ie. fame, power, dominance, controlling, possessiveness, selfish/self serving/self centered, etc.)