Hostility & Enmity - The Sin Lists of Paul - Part 4

Hostility & Bad Temper

The sins of bad temper are mostly found in the sin list of Romans 1:28-31. The color coded listing I have provided shows they are interwoven with sins of greed, quarreling, and sins of the tongue. I believe the sins of bad temper found here in Romans are the negative and harmful spin we put on things.

Because we have already decided the world is based on X we manage to find X everywhere we look. X can be many things… some choose to see all things through a lens of gender inequality… some choose to use the lens of class conflict. But the context of Romans is creation.

Romans 1:18-23 leading up to verse 28 Paul has discussed the refusal of humanity to see the world as the work of God, choosing instead to see it as something else. Because God values freedom of will He allows this [but He will not reward it]. By allowing it humanity is "given over" viewing the world with worthless, dead-end perceptions that will be rejected rather than receive the gift of eternal life.

One is a descent into gross sexual immorality, the other is a depraved mind. Our sin list is a description of that depraved mind.

Desire To See Harm Done [4 words]

A man was experiencing a lot of trouble... nothing made him feel better. Then he had a thought that cheered him up "Maybe my neighbor's pig will die". In other words, I'll feel better relative to my neighbor if something bad happens to him as well. Solace through the suffering of others.

Wickedness G4184 - poneria 7x [Adj. occurs 76 times] - all-purpose word that seems to carry the sense of works, fruits, doings. So it refers to the bad outcomes of maliciousness, malignity and murder. It could also include actively plotting and scheming to get those bad outcomes to happen… “maybe I can find a way to make my neighbors pigs die”.

Matthew 22:18 Jesus went about the countryside teaching a very high standard of righteousness. The Pharisees and Saducess could have said to themselves "we need to up our game"... instead they thought about ways they could bring Jesus down a peg or two. Make Him look foolish, make him look unpatriotic, tangle Him up in silly word games.

Working for a bad outcome for another person is wickedness.

Maliciousness G2549 - kakios 11x very similar to the previous word but more in the sense of thoughts and words that desire to see harm done and to stir up trouble Colossians 3:8. Appears to be related to covetousness in the Romans 1:29 sin list. You see your neighbor has lots of nice healthy pigs and you hope some of them die so he doesn't have more than you.

Malignity G2550 kakoethia - 1x literally bad-ethos. Ethos means the set of guiding beliefs that a person has... which in this case would be destructive, harmful etc. For example, if you see life as a contest of the survival of the fittest… you might welcome harm to your neighbor since it means you are getting ahead.

Murder G5408  phonos - 10x causing [or wishing] death upon others. In the sermon on the mount Jesus extended God's teachings about murder into the realm of thought. Wicked, malicious, malign thoughts are sin because they are the stepping stones that lead to the ultimate harm... murder.

James 4:1-3 your neighbors pigs are healthy... yours are not... some might go to war to take his neighbors pigs... some might go to war just to destroy his neighbor's pig's... so he doesn't have any more than me.

These thought patterns make you an enemy of God… opposed to God… because God is a creator and a peacemaker not a destroyer.

Desire to Appear More Important Than Others

Sometimes the focus of our discontent is not on our neighbors pigs, or our neighbor's wife, or his stuff. Sometimes its about status. Which brings us to our next two words on the sin list:

Proud G5244 huperephanos 5x literally means making yourself appear as above others James 4:6. 

Boaster  G213 alazon 2x means someone who pretends to be something he is not, an impostor... but who does so in an arrogant self important way James 4:13-16.

Remember the context of Romans 1… the depraved mind begins with denying God His rightful status as Creator.  The proud and boastful are not measuring themselves in comparison to the Creator, or to the Savior. If they did then they'd have to admit they are small.

Those who deny God can only compare themself to other people... which is a source of envy, jealously, coveting etc.... it can also lead us to think and act harm toward our neighbor.

Hostility and Opposition

Hatred G2189 echthra 6x means to oppose with hostility, to be an enemy of. In the sin list of Galatians 5:20 the word is rendered hatred, but the other 5 times its translated enmity. The English word hatred in the bible is usually a translation of miseo which  means to despise. So, the English translations create confusion.

Why do we ever want to see harm come to another person, or want to dominate them? Isn't it because we come to view them as our enemies... rivals for food, land, or sex?

Sometimes its me against the world... or me and my brother against the world... me and my brother and my cousins against the world... or me, my brother, my cousin, and everyone who looks or thinks like me... and everybody else is a potential enemy. And that's how our dog eat dog world is set up.

God has a very different vision for life and it is central to the gospel... reconciliation.

1. First God wants to establish reconciliation and peace between you and Him. Through sin each of us has made our self an enemy of our Creator. God opens the door to reconciliation through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. You walk through that doorway when you repent and are baptized, then you receive His holy spirit through the laying on of hands.

Through that holy spirit you begin to see the world through different eyes. You are chosen to live a life of pursuing reconciliation and peace with those around you.

2. Second, God wants you to be a reconciler and peacemaker like Him Luke 6:32-36.

Romans 12:17-21 ... heaping burning coals on their head is a quote from Proverbs. It means leaving that person to the judgment of God rather than taking revenge, or retaliating yourself.

The desire to do harm to those you perceive as rivals ends with you. It is up to you to stop the never ending cycle of animosity… leading to revenge… leading to more animosity… leading to more revenge. Even when its completely justified.

Hotness of Heart (Lacking Emotional Control)

God created us with emotions. When you're full of sorrow you might wish God hadn't made it so... but when your riding high on a wave of joy you're glad He did. Having emotions is part of being made in the image of God. To develop the holy righteous character of God our Father we must learn to control our emotions. Here are two important ones:

Wrath G2372 thumos 18x depicts fierceness, heated, heavy breathing. Like most emotions it can be good or bad depending on what its directed against or why.

12. Bad - We saw it previously in relation to quarreling & sins of the tongue.
13. Righteous it's also used in the context of God's righteous wrath against sin.

Anger G3709 orge 36x where thumos is like a sudden flame of indignation... orge is a slow burning fire that is determined and relentless. It carries a sense of relentless vengeance, or judgment.

Revelation 16:19; 19:15 in English translations the words are used interchangeably... but they are different. Here's an example of both being used in a sentence together. God's case for vengeance has been building for a long time... but when it happens it will be fast and furious!

When these words are used to describe human actions, thoughts, or words its usually in association with the sins of quarreling, or sins of the tongue, or sometimes greed. Wrath and anger are like the spicy pepper seasoning that makes a dish hot. When wrath or anger are added to other sinful behavior they can make the sin worse!

The answer is to practice emotional control:

• Wrath/Thumos - be slow to speak... listen and try to understand the situation. Resist the impulse to assume the worst.
• Anger/Orge - you've got more time to consider with this slow burning fire. So, think it through… put it into the big picture. Leave vengeance and judgment to God who will judge righteously. Answer the evils done to you with good, with offers of reconciliation, and seek peace.

Coldness of Heart (No Emotion)

God made us with emotions…. and He wants us to learn to control them… but He doesn’t want us to deaden our emotions either. If he wanted you with no emotions He would have made you that way… but them you would not be made in his image. The key is self-control.

Without Natural Affection G794 astorgos 2x  means people who have hardened themself to those close to them, parents, family, associates. Its only found in the sin list of Romans 1  and in the description of how terrible people will be in the last days 2 Timothy 3:3.

To get a sense of how it might apply lets look at a word that is sort of its opposite philostorges.

Romans 12:9-13 here are some examples of what Paul considers displays of natural affection among God's people: honoring and holding others in high esteem, praying for one another, sharing with those in need, and hospitality [getting together in one another's homes, eating together etc.].

If you are putting off doing these things until you “feel it” you are missing the point. Just as we must bring emotions like anger and wrath under control… we must also actively work to develop emotions like philostorges.

Implacable G786 aspondos 2x - here's another word only found in the sin list of Romans 1 and  the description of how terrible people will be in the last days 2 Timothy 3:3. It means a person who will not make peace, one who cannot enter into an agreement, a truce... who will not reconcile. This could be:

• Someone who does not want to make peace but wants to keep on fighting until there is a clear winner. Human beings have a strong desire to be proven right AND acknowledged as right by others.
  • 1 Corinthians 6:7-9 to make peace sometimes you have to give up your need to be proven right and acknowledged as right by others.
• Someone who will not abide by the truce...
  • Perhaps you made peace with someone over some point of disagreement... perhaps giving on a few points where you know you're right... but the other person won't let it go.
  • Or someone who won't let go a some sin that supposedly has been forgiven

1 Corinthians 13:5 ... love keeps no record of wrongs... it is not driven by being shown right

Unmerciful G415 aneleemon 1x only found in the Romans 1 sin list but we can understand it by considering its opposite, mercy.

Mercy is when we have every right to condemn or punish a person but we don't. They may have wronged you, hurt you, taken from you... but you let them off the hook.

God shows mercy because He wants sinful human being to have every opportunity to turn their life around.... to repent... to lay hold of eternal life. He wants good things for human beings. He wants you and me to feel the same way about our brothers, and sisters, and even those who oppose us.

Without mercy... everyone ends up dead.

Conclusion:

These sins of bad temper have a common thread: how we think about others… what do we desire for others. Do we think of a treat others as friends, or enemies... are they family or are they rivals? This applies within the Church and outside the Church.

If God is going to raise you up to be seated with Christ and assist Him in the millennial rule and beyond... you have to build a positive outlook towards others.