Lasciviousness
Short answer: Lasciviousness, in older English Bibles, translates a Greek word behind the World English Bible's rendering lustfulness in Galatians 5:19-21. It names an unrestrained, shameless readiness for sin — not a single act only, but a disposition that has stopped resisting. Paul places it in the same list as adultery and sexual immorality, then warns that those who practice such things will not inherit God's Kingdom. The New Testament treats it as a deed of the flesh, something the Spirit's work in a believer opposes and progressively puts to death, not as an excusable personality trait. It appears in many sin lists, including Romans 13:13-14 and Colossians 3:5-8, always as something to be renounced rather than managed. The biblical answer is not merely to feel guilty, but to put it to death and walk by the Spirit.
What the word lasciviousness actually means
The English word lasciviousness is unfamiliar to most modern readers because it has largely dropped out of everyday speech. Older translations such as the King James Version used it to render a Greek term that carries the sense of shameless, unrestrained excess. It is not simply strong desire; it is desire that has thrown off restraint and lost its sense of shame. The World English Bible renders the same term as lustfulness in Galatians 5:19-21, where Paul writes, "Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness."
That placement matters. Paul does not list lasciviousness alone, as though it were the one great sin. He lists it alongside adultery, sexual immorality, and uncleanness, each with its own shade of meaning. Lasciviousness points especially at the inner condition: a readiness, a shamelessness, a willingness to indulge. Where adultery names a specific act and uncleanness names moral defilement, this term names the unrestrained posture of the heart that produces both.
So when we ask what lasciviousness means, the honest answer is that it describes more than behavior. A person can commit no outward act and still cultivate an inner life that welcomes impurity, and Scripture refuses to treat that inner life as harmless. Jesus made the same point when he located defilement in what comes out of a person rather than what enters from outside.
Why Paul lists it among the deeds of the flesh
Paul's list in Galatians 5 comes in the middle of his argument about freedom. The Galatians were being tempted to add law-keeping to the gospel, and Paul insists that freedom in Christ is not freedom to indulge the flesh. So he sets the deeds of the flesh against the fruit of the Spirit and tells the church plainly which direction each way of life leads. Lasciviousness belongs to the first category, and it is called a deed, not an accident.
That word deed is significant. Paul does not describe these things as misfortunes that happen to people, nor as sicknesses for which no one is responsible. He describes them as works — the ordinary output of a life oriented toward the flesh. This does not mean every person who struggles with impurity is beyond hope; it means the pattern of life reveals which power is governing. A deed may be repented of. A life defined by such deeds is another matter.
Paul also assumes these deeds are visible. He says they are obvious, which means the church does not need special revelation to recognize them. Lasciviousness may be dressed up in respectable clothing, but its shape is recognizable in the way a person talks, watches, flirts, and treats others. The list is not a trap for the sincere; it is a map of where the flesh leads.
Lasciviousness is a heart condition, not only outward behavior
Jesus addressed the root of this issue directly. In Mark 7:20-23 he said, "That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man." The context is a dispute about ceremonial washing, and Jesus turned the whole discussion inside out. Uncleanness, he taught, is not contracted from the outside; it comes from the heart. That is exactly the logic behind lasciviousness. The act is the fruit; the disposition is the root.
This matters because it prevents us from managing the outside while leaving the inside untouched. A person can avoid certain behaviors out of fear, shame, or social pressure and still be lascivious in the biblical sense, because the appetite is still enthroned. The Pharisees were famously scrupulous about external purity while their hearts were full of things Jesus named without flinching.
Paul makes the same assumption when he tells the Colossians to put to death not only sexual immorality and uncleanness but also evil desire and covetousness. If the root is not addressed, the deeds will regrow. Lasciviousness, then, is not defeated by willpower alone; it is defeated by a renewed heart that learns to hate what God hates and love what God loves.
It appears in the New Testament's other sin lists
Lasciviousness is not an isolated concern in Galatians. The same family of terms runs through the New Testament's ethical teaching. Romans 13:13-14 says, "Let's walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy." Notice how Paul groups unrestrained sexual conduct with drunkenness — both are forms of losing self-control.
Ephesians 5:3-7 goes further in tone. Paul says, "But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints." He is not merely restricting actions; he is shaping speech and reputation. Then he warns that no one practicing such things has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God, and tells the church not to be partners with those who do. The language is deliberately sober.
Colossians 3:5-8 adds another layer by calling covetousness idolatry and commanding believers to put these things to death. The consistency across letters shows this is not Paul's personal preference. It is the settled moral teaching of the apostles, applied to churches in different cities facing different temptations.
Why the King James word is often misunderstood
Because the word lasciviousness has fallen out of use, people sometimes assume it refers only to sexual sin, or only to something extreme and unusual. In practice it is broader than a single act and more ordinary than people expect. It describes the shameless, unrestrained appetite that makes sin feel normal. That can show up in entertainment choices, conversation, humor, dress, or the way a person treats a coworker — not only in explicit contexts.
Others hear the word and assume it applies only to non-Christians. But Paul is writing to a church. He lists the deeds of the flesh to warn believers, not to describe outsiders. That is why he follows the list with a call to walk by the Spirit. The warning is pastoral, not merely descriptive. It is meant to wake people up, not to give them a label to apply to others.
The most common mistake is to treat the old word as archaic and therefore irrelevant. But if we translate it as lustfulness, or worse, as no wrong, we shrink a serious warning. A word falling out of fashion does not make the sin disappear.
How to put lasciviousness to death in practice
Colossians 3:5-8 begins with a command to put these sins to death. That means lasciviousness is not managed; it is mortified. Practically, that starts with honesty before God. The flesh is obvious, and Paul says as much; there is no point pretending. Confession, not concealment, is where change begins.
Second, it means refusing the small compromises that feed the appetite. Lasciviousness grows on repeated indulgence in movies, websites, conversations, and fantasy. Cut off the food supply. Jesus spoke bluntly about this in the Gospels, saying it is better to enter life maimed than to be cast into hell. He is not commanding self-harm; he is insisting that nothing is too precious to give up if it keeps us in sin.
Third, it means walking by the Spirit rather than fighting alone. Paul's answer to the flesh in Galatians 5 is not a longer list of rules but a person. The Spirit produces self-control, and self-control is precisely what lasciviousness lacks. Prayer, Scripture, honest accountability, and the ordinary life of the church are the means God uses. This is slow, unglamorous work, but it is real.
What lasciviousness is not
It is worth saying clearly what lasciviousness is not, because careless teaching has wounded many sincere people. It is not the presence of sexual desire itself. Desire is part of being human and, within marriage, is good. The Bible condemns the unrestrained, shameless direction of desire, not the existence of desire. Nor is it every temptation. Jesus was tempted and did not sin.
Lasciviousness is also not the same as struggling. A believer can fight an impure habit for years and still be walking in the right direction. The question is whether the pattern of life is repentance or indulgence. A person who hates the sin, confesses it, and keeps returning to Christ is not practicing lasciviousness in the sense Paul condemns. A person who has made peace with it may be.
Finally, lasciviousness is not unforgivable. Paul wrote to real churches with real sin in them, and he did so with hope. The same passage that lists the deeds of the flesh also promises that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Grace does not excuse the sin; it breaks its power.
Biblical fidelity check
What the passage establishes is clear. Galatians 5:19-21 places lustfulness among the deeds of the flesh and warns that those who practice such things will not inherit God's Kingdom. The surrounding verses command believers to walk by the Spirit and promise that the Spirit's fruit includes self-control. Colossians 3:5-8 commands believers to put these things to death. Taken together, the New Testament treats lasciviousness as a serious, habitual pattern to be renounced, not an illness to be excused or a personality quirk to be celebrated.
What the passage does not establish is equally important. It does not teach that a single failure forfeits salvation, nor that temptation itself is sin. It does not authorize believers to police one another's private struggles or to pronounce judgment where God has shown patience. It does not replace forgiveness with penance. A common misreading treats the list as a set of sins that disqualify others while exempting us, but Paul writes to the church, and he writes to warn, not to flatter. The right response is humility, repentance, and dependence on the Spirit, not finger-pointing.
Other passages that speak to Galatians 5:19-21
Paul's warning about the flesh sits inside a wider New Testament call to holiness that runs through the epistles. Peter makes a similar appeal when he describes believers as those who no longer live for the lusts of men but for the will of God, which is the same contrast Paul draws between the flesh and the Spirit. To see how that appeal develops, read What Does 1 Peter 1:2 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application, which traces the election and sanctifying work of the Spirit. Then What Does 1 Peter 1:13 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application shows the sober-mindedness that replaces unrestrained desire, and What Does 1 Peter 1:15 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application grounds holiness in God's own character. Finally What Does 1 Peter 1:18 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application reminds us that redemption was purchased at the cost of Christ's blood. Together these passages frame the same call Paul gives in Galatians.
Frequently asked questions
What is lasciviousness in the Bible?
Lasciviousness is an older English term for the unrestrained, shameless indulgence of sinful desire. In the World English Bible it appears as lustfulness in Galatians 5:19-21, listed alongside adultery, sexual immorality, and uncleanness. It names less a single act and more a disposition — an appetite that has stopped resisting and no longer feels shame. The New Testament consistently treats it as a deed of the flesh to be renounced and put to death through the Spirit's work, not as a harmless trait or an unavoidable weakness.
Is lasciviousness the same as sexual immorality?
No, though they are close relatives. Sexual immorality usually names specific forbidden acts, while lasciviousness names the shameless readiness that leads to them. Paul can list both in one sentence, which suggests he saw them as distinct though related. Lasciviousness can exist without an outward act, which is why Jesus located defilement in the heart in Mark 7:20-23. The inner condition and the outward deed must both be addressed, and Scripture commands repentance for each.
Can a Christian struggle with lasciviousness and still be saved?
Faithful Christians differ in how they frame assurance, but the New Testament consistently distinguishes struggle from settled practice. Temptation and failure are not the same as a life defined by the flesh. Paul's warning about not inheriting the Kingdom is aimed at those who practice such things as a settled pattern. A believer who grieves over the sin, confesses it, and keeps returning to Christ is showing evidence of the Spirit's work. Persistent, unrepentant indulgence is the danger the passage names.
