Galatians 5:20 Meaning and Explanation
“Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Many items in this verse are relational. Disordered desire does not remain private; it creates rival worship, manipulated power, resentments, explosions, competitions, and camps. Paul names the patterns so believers can refuse them and walk by the Spirit toward love, peace, patience, faithfulness, and self-control.
Paul's works-of-the-flesh list exposes false worship, occult manipulation, hostility, uncontrolled anger, selfish rivalry, faction, and other forces that tear community apart.
The Context of Galatians 5:20
Paul tells the Galatians that freedom should serve love rather than provide an opportunity for the flesh. The command to love one's neighbor fulfills the law, while biting and devouring threaten the community. Walking by the Spirit resists the flesh's desires. Verses 19-21 list visible works of the flesh, beginning with sexual wrongdoing and uncleanness, then idolatry, sorcery, hostility, jealousy, anger, rivalry, division, faction, envy, murder, drunkenness, and revelry. Those practicing such things will not inherit God's kingdom. The Spirit's fruit follows immediately, and those belonging to Christ crucify the flesh's passions and desires.
What Does Galatians 5:20 Mean?
Idolatry gives ultimate allegiance to a created power, while 'witchcraft' translates a term associated with sorcery and manipulative occult practice. The warning should not become superstition, a witch hunt, or suspicion toward legitimate medicine; the related Greek word's history does not make pharmacy evil. Paul confronts attempts to secure power, knowledge, protection, or harm through spiritual forces opposed to God. Christian worship trusts God, rejects exploitative ritual and magical control, and tests spiritual claims by their allegiance to Jesus, truth, holiness, and loving fruit.
Hatred, variance, emulations, and wrath move from settled hostility into conflict, jealous rivalry, and uncontrolled anger. The KJV terms may sound distant, but the pattern is familiar: nursing contempt, repeatedly provoking disputes, resenting another's honor, and releasing rage upon a community. Anger can recognize injustice and motivate protection; 'wrath' here belongs to a destructive work that has escaped righteous direction and self-control. Walking by the Spirit tells truth about harm while refusing humiliation, revenge, intimidation, threats, and emotional violence as acceptable methods.
Strife, seditions, and heresies concern selfish ambition, divisive camps, and factions that elevate a group's victory over the body's good. 'Heresies' in this setting can carry the sense of chosen parties or sects; it should not be wielded casually against every question or interpretive disagreement. False teaching is serious, and so is the fleshly manner of pursuing controversy. A church can defend correct words while being ruled by rivalry and faction. Spirit-shaped discernment combines truth, patience, humility, accountability, and love, refusing both doctrinal indifference and tribal warfare.
Bible Verses Related to Galatians 5:20
“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
- 1 Corinthians 3:3
“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.”
- Deuteronomy 18:10
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”
- Ephesians 4:31
“A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;”
- Titus 3:10
Where Galatians 5:20 Echoes in Scripture
First Corinthians 3:3 points to envy, strife, and divisions as evidence that believers are still walking according to the flesh. Paul repeatedly treats rivalry and hardened faction as serious spiritual disorders that directly contradict a loving community formed together by Christ.
How to Apply Galatians 5:20 Today
Audit conflict by more than whether your position is correct. Ask whether contempt, jealousy, uncontrolled anger, personal ambition, or factional loyalty is directing the method. Step away from occult or manipulative practices that promise control over people or outcomes, and seek sound spiritual and professional care instead. Do not stigmatize medicine or vulnerable people through careless use of 'witchcraft.' In disagreement, state the truth, document harm, maintain boundaries, and pursue proper accountability while refusing rage and humiliation. Invite the Spirit to replace each named pattern with its opposite fruit.
Reflection & Prayer
Which work in Paul's list most often hides beneath a respectable spiritual explanation in your life? Pray: Holy Spirit, expose false worship, manipulation, hostility, and faction within me. Govern my anger, purify my loyalties, and grow the fruit of Christ in our conflicts. Amen.