“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3:26-29
There’s a lot going on in the passage above, but we’re going to keep things short, sweet, and simple here.
In a time and culture that feels very busy and overwhelming, there are some simple truths that are worth visiting and revisiting.
The big picture that we’re focusing on here is unity, or oneness. As Believers, we are called to unity with each other, with those outside of the faith, and with God Himself. This covers… everyone, actually.
We’re called to be unified with every single person that you and I have ever met.
That’s kind of a scary thought, isn’t it? Do you feel unified with every stranger you see on the street? Do you feel unified with those who belong to other worldviews or religious or political beliefs?
The passage here from Galatians speaks to an enormous, all-encompassing aspect of unity, and we cannot ignore it in good faith.
We are called to unity because we are all part of the same family.
Both the first and final line of these verses speak to the fact that we all belong to God’s family as His children, as His creation. And that label as “child of God” trumps any other label we might apply to ourselves, or that others might apply to us.
Moreover, because of this label, we ought to be recognized by our faith in Jesus – we have “clothed [ourselves] with Christ.” What does this mean? Think of wearing a jersey representing your favorite team from your favorite sport. You would be recognized by your jersey, and your jersey would even dictate how you act and who you relate to.
Clothing ourselves with Christ is like this, in that 1) we must chose to clothe ourselves with Him every single day, and 2) others will recognize and make assumptions about who we are as members of Jesus’ team – as members of His family.
To bring this topic to our current cultural climate, we’re going to get uncomfortably practical for a moment. To keep this devotional in line with this topic as well, we’re keeping things short in an effort to rely less on words and more on actions.
Paul, the author of this passage, writes out a few specific examples of labels that have now been unified together that may otherwise have been divisive.
Here are a few thoughts based on each of his lines:
“There is neither…”
‘Jew nor Gentile’ – As believers, we are to called to dissolve the tensions over religion and the tensions over race. Both of these issues plagued the early Church, and they are as prevalent and relevant as ever right now.
‘Slave nor free’ – We’re also called to see past signs of status, like wealth, influence, lifestyles, and possessions. Within the Church, we must not discriminate along these labels, and outside of the Church we must not use these labels to justify being unkind or unloving.
‘Male and female’ – At the time this was written, there were societal norms and standards that typically ranked men above women in various measures of importance – again, this is an area that we still struggle with today, and change must start and gain momentum with the Church.
Rather than seeing us by these or other labels, God simply sees us as His children and, even more specifically, His heirs. God has called us to take up His calling, His promises, and His blessings. He has set out an inheritance for each one of us – are you living in light of this inheritance? How does your label as a “child of God” affect how you view yourself and others?