Works of the Flesh: Sects (1)

Let us now examine the work of the flesh known as "sects" (translated as "parties" in the ASV below; translated also as "heresies") in Galatians 5:19-20:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties...

The word translated in various versions as "sects," "parties," and the like is the Greek word hairesis, from which our English word "heresy" derives. Thayer defines the term as:

Act of taking, capture: e.g. storming a city; choosing, choice; that which is chosen; a body of men following their own tenets (sect or party); dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims.

The term is used in Acts 5:17, Acts 26:5, and Acts 28:22 to refer to various "sects" within a larger body (the Sadducees and Pharisees within Judaism; also the belief expressed by the Jews in the first century that Christianity was just another Jewish sect). The term is also defined as "factions" in 1 Corinthians 11:19 and "heresies" in 2 Peter 2:1. We see, therefore, that the New Testament usage of hairesis denotes the latter definitions as expressed by Thayer, either a sect or party within a larger group or one bringing forth a message contrary to that which had already been given, or a combination of both.