Flesh vs Spirit (part 6)

When it comes to parties and drinking, the world is good at promoting these. Getting drunk and partying seems cool and if we don’t think it is, the world tries to convince us otherwise. Today as we wrap our series on desires of the flesh, Paul mentions these last two acts and we are going to look at how to counter them. 

The word for drunkenness here is pretty obvious, it means intoxication, having too much alcohol and not being in the right mind. The other word for party is an interesting one. It means a revelry or carousel. These were riot-like gatherings at night that were filled with wine and alcohol in which they would sing, dance, and shout usually to honor a god or deity. These may not happen today in that context, but there are such events that involve drinking and wild things happening. These are not wise to participate in because they can easily lead to sin. 

There is one result of the Spirit we have not discussed and that is the element of self-control. This is one who has control over his actions and words. In Genesis 4, God tells Cain that sin was waiting to pounce and he must rule over it. This was the idea of self-control, having control over our actions. When we have the Spirit living in us, we have control of our mind and thus our actions. We should not be participating in acts that lead to sin such as wild events and drunkenness. Paul wants his readers to know that people who do these things do not have control over themselves and thus do not have the Spirit. But we know that when we have the Spirit, we have control.