Equal In Grace

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Opening Prayer

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me now. Speak to me of the things that matter most.

Read Galatians 3:26-4:7

^[26] So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ^[27] for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ^[28] There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ^[29] If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. ^[1] What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. ^[2] The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. ^[3] So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. ^[4] But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ^[5] to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ^[6] Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” ^[7] So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“We are heirs of the Father; we are joint-heirs with the Son. We are children of the kingdom; we are family; we are one” (Jimmy and Carol Owens).

Think Further

In first-century Judaism, males were the inheritors of the covenant sign and promises. In the Gentile world, slaves had no rights, even to their own marriage relationship or to children. The divide between Jews and Gentiles was firmly fixed. It is into this world that the Gospel came, reworking all the Old Testament texts to show that God’s relationship with Abraham was through faith in God’s promise. This meant the creation of a completely new sociological phenomenon, where religious identity is not based on birth or cultural status but on a relationship with Jesus in a community that is created by the work of God’s Holy Spirit and entered by baptism. No wonder they needed a new name for them in Antioch—Christians (Acts 11:26).

The implications of this truth are still a point of contention in the world church. In India it stands over against the Hindu caste system. In other places it challenges the separation of whites and blacks into different churches. In many church-planting situations it seems a contradiction to the use of homogeneous units as the basis for evangelism. It has a part in any discussion of the role of men and women in the local church.

If we realize that in Christ there are no such distinctions, we have a real foretaste of the new heaven and new earth. When we struggle with our human feelings of alienation from others, we can see the grace of God working in them and us. There is a real fellowship across these natural barriers, and the creation of a community that is evidence to all of a divinely created oneness in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Apply

How can you promote real fellowship in your church? Ask the Lord to help you be faithful to the abolition of social distinctions in Christ Jesus.

Closing prayer

Father, You have accepted me in Christ. Empower me to accept others who, although they may be different from me, are Your children also.

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