The list (Galatians 5:19-21) contains seventeen items, sins! (At least, in the King James Bible it does. Although not that many in a number, in most, of the current English Translations.)
One of Paul’s longest compilations, anywhere! (And he is a list-maker!)
And today we study the ultimate (final) transgression, “revellings.” (In the lovely Latin language, “ultimare” is an infinitive which means “to come to an end.”)
“Komos” in Greek, grammatically means a “carousal,” but once in the New Testament a “riot” even! Except in our Text here the word is plural! Many wild parties!
Here’s the technical (cultural) definition for “komos” … “A nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken and frolicsome fellows who after supper parade through the streets of a city with torches and music in honor of Bacchus or some other (false) deity.”
Then the word came to mean: “Feasts and drinking parties that are protracted (continued) till late at night and indulge in all sorts of revelry.”
“Komos” is derived from the Greek verb “keimai,” meaning “to lay down,” but not simply as a “normal” night of sleep. But in a sinful way, harking back to “sexual promiscuity” I’m afraid. (Sins with which this list began!)
Here is Paul using the word (“komos”) the only other time it flows from his pen, at least in the Bible. “Romans 13:13 … “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in RIOTING (komos) and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.” Actually this short verse includes four of the seventeen sins listed in our Text Paragraph! (Only aberrant “chambering” is missing from the Galatians 5:19-21 litany.)
Then Peter uses “komos” once, in 1st Peter 4:3.
That’s it, only 3 times in all 260 chapters of the New Testament!
One ancient source translates “komos” as “debauchery,” that bad!
This sinning individual likely has his conscience irreparably seared … to the point NOTHING is wrong to him any longer! No restraints! Anything, everything is acceptable!
Bordering on what Paul further calls a “reprobate!”
Today’s term for this?
“A party animal,” perhaps.
Folks, this list has come “full circle!”
To the point I am prepared to say … that all these sins of the flesh probably stem from a person’s inner sensual cravings! Of the lower (“Adamic sin nature” here) propensity to “do what feels good” in every area of life. The path of least resistance! Total passivity to the devil, the world and the flesh!
No wonder the Presence of God the Holy Spirit is essential in our lives!
The Holy Spirit who so OPPOSES (lusts against) these sins of the flesh.
Praise God HE is here!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell