All One in Christ Jesus

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:27-28 (ESV)

In ancient Greek and Roman society, access to the temple sanctuary, to the presence of the god, was often dictated by social standing. Those belonging to a high social class—men, important families, the free—had ready access to their god. Those of lower social rank—women, slaves, foreigners—did not. Similarly, in first-century Judaism, temple access was dictated by sex, race, and social status. Each morning, a Jewish man would pray, “Blessed be He [God] that He did not make me a Gentile; blessed be He that He did not make me a boor;¹ blessed be He that He did not make me a woman.”²

Paul’s concern for the Galatians stemmed from certain people seeking to force them to be circumcised (6:12). These teachers did not believe that faith in Christ was sufficient for salvation, but wanted the Galatian Christians to come under the Mosaic law through circumcision. If the Galatians were to experience the full blessing of being part of God’s people, they needed to become Jews. In other words, these “Judaizers” were racialists. They could not come to grips with the truth that God’s covenant included all believers (3:7-29).

Explaining the significance of Christ, Paul echoes the language of the Jewish man’s prayer to show how inappropriate such prejudice is now that Christ has come (v. 28). Being a Gentile, woman, or slave no longer matters. Ethnicity, sex, or social class no longer inhibits access to God. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the old division and inequalities are ended. In particular, the barrier that separated Jew and Gentile has been broken down. Circumcision no longer defines God’s people; Christ does. Those baptized into Christ are marked out with a new identity: clothed with Christ, distinct from the world (v. 27).

That distinctiveness is one important way of determining whether Christianity is really different from the pagan alternatives. In a given congregation, for example, could it be rightly said that a person’s standing in the church is largely determined by one’s connections, money, or mere demographics? If it is, then the local church becomes just another political organization, more a social club than the living body of Christ. Access to and participation in the life of the kingdom of God are available to anyone who will obey the Lord in faith. Paul reminded the Galatians—and every church since for that matter—that the ground is level at the foot of the cross.

The sin of prejudice is alive and well today. Churches often find themselves segregated racially, economically, and demographically. If for any reason such is due to prejudice, then the name of “Christian” is put to shame. The gospel obliterates, once and for all, the notion of social, gender, or ethnic differences as a way to please God. By following this message, the Church becomes the ultimate exemplar of e pluribus unum—out of the many, one.

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