ALL ARE ONE IN CHRIST
Study Scripture: Acts 10:9 –15 Galatians 3: 28-29
Background Scripture: Acts 10 Galatians 3:19 – 4:7.
Lesson 4 March 21, 2026.
Key Verse
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3: 28
INTRODUCTION
To properly understand our Study Lesson we have to pay attention to its context which begins with God’s call of Abraham for then God promised Abraham” All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you”. ( Genesis 12: 3).
The Scriptures tell us that Israel was God’s chosen people and it was their task of bringing the knowledge of God to the entire pagan world.
The Book of Job, the Book that refers to how people lived even before the birth of Abraham teaches us that men knew about God Almighty
We also know that the pagan world knew about the Lord God of Israel for we read that Abraham met Melchizedek the king of Salem and paid tithes to him and was blessed by Melchizedek.
We also know that there were several people from pagan nations that were brought into the family of Israel, people such as Ruth and Rahab.
Moses the law-giver recognized this for Exodus 22:21: and 23:9 along with Deuteronomy 10: 19 made it clear that in Jewish law fair treatment for aliens was prescribed.
In addition, we also know that Jonah the Jewish prophet was sent to Nineveh to save the Gentile Ninevites and he succeeded in this mission even though he did not like to be sent to witness to Gentiles. (Jonah 1:2)
God blessing was clearly in mind for witness had to be made to the pagans and certainly when Jonah witnessed to this powerful Assyrian kingdom, they were the major world power at that time, the message about the Lord God of Israel would have been sent to all and sundry when the Ninevites repented and were saved from destruction for about 100 years.
The promise to Abraham was now to be fulfilled in the New Testament era in a special way, for after His resurrection Jesus told the Apostles as He gave them their marching orders,
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth”.
This instruction of Jesus is recorded in Acts 1:8
The Apostle Peter knew this well and so on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came Peter declared boldly, whether he understood the full significance of what he was saying or not,
“ For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off even as many as the Lord our God will call to him”.
Our Study Texts therefore will now give us a record of the encounter with Peter and a Roman centurion and a devout Gentile to whom Peter had been ordered by God to visit and bring the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ had to make him understand the history, and the significance of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth
This event of Peter meeting Cornelius is so important that in Romans 2:6-18 and Galatians 2:6-9 and the Council in Jerusalem meeting of the Jewish saints and the Apostle Paul, Peter, James and the other influential leaders in the Jewish community, they adopted the idea “that God shows no partiality” and therefore on this communication of God’s and the Holy Spirit’s equal treatment of Gentiles, they would be now fully accepted in the Jewish movement of Jesus without them having to take on such Jewish identity as circumcision and sundry Jewish restrictions.
See Acts 15:7-9 on Peter’s influential statement as he refers to the incident of the meeting with Cornelius when the Good News came to Gentiles as Gentiles.
So while God was dealing with the nation of Israel we know that there was this running undercurrent which reminded us of God’s love for Gentiles.
Our Lesson Study therefore is really about Covenant and God’s fulfillment of His promise to Abraham.
In the Scriptures we only have two basic Covenants. The first is that of Abraham, based on the unconditional promises to Abraham flowing from the promise of Genesis 3:15 given long before the legal covenant to Moses given after 430 years plus to Moses at Sinai.
This latter covenant was only confirmed to Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, and we see this action in Genesis 46:1-4. It was added because God knew that man would transgress, and so the Law in its various manifestation, would be given to be a tutor until the promised SEED to whom the Promise was made, would come and provide salvation in fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis.
The legal covenant and the law given to Moses at Sinai was not against the promise of God, nor in conflict with it, but it served a different purpose, not the purpose of the giving of life, but to prepare the world for the coming of the Promise.
The law’s function is to condemn, and to make men realize that they are as it were, ‘shut up’ in a prison, and need release from bondage.
All men, Jews under the Covenant, and Gentiles outside of the Covenant are addressed by Scripture in this manner for all are disobedient to God’s commands. Hence, this situation of being in bondage would continue, so that the Promise would come to those who believe by faith in the “SEED” Jesus Christ.
The Promise and Covenant to Abraham revealed to man that God’s intention was to make Himself known by the Good News of the Gospel preached to Abraham. Those Gentiles brought to God in Christ by the Gospel would be circumcised in the heart and therefore the Gospel would repair the broken relationship with God caused by sin.
Our Study therefore on the conversion of Cornelius is a great lesson stressing the fact that the Gospel is now going out to Gentiles and the Gentiles were now being received on the same grounds that the Jewish people were being received.
It is also important to note the role of angels in this call and the changing in the status of the Gentiles for we will see the work of angels with regard to Peter, and the work of angels as this pagan Cornelius and his house is brought to a knowledge of the Lord
It is important to note the significance for people of this meeting between Peter, a Jewish apostle, and Cornelius, a pagan Roman soldier. Cornelius was a soldier in charge of a cohort of soldiers in the Roman legions which ruled the nation of Israel and so they were enemies of the proud Jews who rejected the idea that any one of the Gentile nations should have complete control and authority over them and could dictate how they should live
Peter and Cornelius had every reason to be enemies but we know that they became friends once the message of the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit had done this immense work planned by the Lord God.
When we see this therefore we must immediately recognize that the racial and political upheavals in our day can we met by the Gospel, and it teach us that the Gospel will bring peace and harmony once we carry it out to the world.
We need a breakthrough to bring peace to the earth and this is exactly what the world needs to achieve that.
An examination of how God works to bring about unity and a fulfillment of His promise is extremely interesting. An examination of this story will teach a great deal to our church and to the world, for it will demonstrate how God will bring about His plan. Let us look closely at how God works.
Note that when in Acts 9 Peter travelled all over the area and he came down to Lydda he found a man named Aeneas that had been bedridden for 8 years and who was paralyzed. Peter told Aeneas that the Lord Jesus Christ now would heal him so he should rise up and take up his bed. And immediately he rose up a healed man. All the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw the healed Aeneas and turned to the Lord.
Then we read that in the nearby town of Joppa Peter came and heard about the death of a disciple named Tabitha, a name which was translated Dorcas. She had become ill and died. We are told she was full of good works and acts of charity and so when she died the disciples heard that Peter was nearby and sent for him to come quickly. Peter had responded to the call and went with them and saw the widow standing beside the dead weeping and showing the clothing and other garments Dorcas had made while she was alive. Peter put them all outside knelt down and prayed and turning to the body said, “Tabitha, arise”. She immediately opened their eyes, looked at Peter and sat up and Peter gave her his hand and raised her up, presenting her alive to the saints and the widows that were in great expectation that Peter would be able to do something to help Tabitha through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It appears God was preparing Peter, and He had Peter heal people in the power of Jesus. He could heal a paralyzed man, and he could raise a woman from the dead which was a predicament much more dire.
Think therefore the effect this would be having on Peter who then ran into something even more astounding.
What had been happening to him was extremely important but God was preparing him for something beyond his knowledge. The Lord Jesus Christ was preparing Peter for the larger story of redemption to which He had been guiding him.
So what comes next? Peter travelled and was taken to rest in the house of Simon the tanner.
Now let us remember that in the occupation of tanner, the handling of dead animals, made a man defiled, and since he was unclean he would under the Mosaic law not be able to worship in the synagogue or the temple.
The Holy Spirit must have been bringing to Peter the conviction that in spite of Simon’s occupation he should stay with him despite his discomfort.
So notice what happened next! Peter had a vision where he was invited to eat what was clean and what was unclean.
Then at his refusal he was immediately accosted by emissaries from the pagan Cornelius who told him that the angel of God had instructed him to go to where Peter was and to get Peter to come to his house, a Gentile house, which Jews would not normally want to enter.
But Peter responded for he understood what the Holy Spirit wanted him to do in this new move in the plan of redemption. Redemption was not just raising the paralyzed man, or raising the beloved Dorcas from the dead, but there was something else that was magnificent in the sight of God that he would have to do.
So how can this experience of Peter relate to you and apply to you. We hope this Study therefore will lead to you asking you to think of something of great importance that might be happening in your life right now, and that God is surely preparing you for this next Chapter in your life.
You do not know what the Lord God Almighty is preparing you to do in this larger story of redemption but you know that once you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you know that you are in the family of God, you know that no matter how bleak things might look at the present time there is still something to be done something that might bring eternal life to someone.
Now what exactly does God have in mind for you? In this case Cornelius was not a Jew but a Gentile and a particularly powerful Roman Gentile since the Romans were occupying Palestine and were particularly despised by Jewish patriots. He commanded 100 soldiers and so he was a different kind of Roman soldier.
But Peter didn’t know much about Roman Centurions except that centurions were powerful people and not to be toyed with. You should keep as far away from them as possible.
But the Holy Spirit revealed that Cornelius was a God-fearer, a devout man, and Peter might have suspected that he was a Gentile who had become attached to the doctrine of the “one God” of Judaism.
But at the same time he was not circumcised according to Chapter 11: 3,
Jews had been warned not to go into men who were uncircumcised and they should not eat with them. Now there was really nothing in the Old Testament Scriptures that said that Jews should not eat with uncircumcised Gentiles but the tradition had developed and Jews would stick to it.
So who might God be preparing you to meet? Do you know your future? Are you aware that much might be happening to you that you are unaware of?
Maybe it would be good for you to live under the control of the all- knowing and- all powerful God, and to believe that He is preparing you to cross paths with certain people that you might not even like. You might even think that these people that God might take you to meet are not your type so you should avoid them. You might even be afraid of them.
Think about that carefully!
In discussing those that are under the covenant the Apostle Paul warns that those under the covenant can be just as bad as those outside of the covenant. Both are condemned for they cannot keep the Law, and in fact do not keep it. The Promise would come, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, to save those who believe in Him.
Note that in the book of Galatians the Apostle is focusing on those who are on the other side living as one writer states, life outside the fence. He notes:
“If the law prepares us for something, what is it that we have been prepared for? What lies beyond the the fence?….Last week, I asked you not to live behind the fence. This week I’m asking you to live beyond them.
But if we’re going to live beyond the fence, we have to start by being willing to look beyond it. Many of us are doomed from the start because we have forgotten that there is something more.
Here’s a question to think about what do alcohol, sex, sunsets, and music have in common?
Well, each of them also awaken something in us that yearns for something more. They connect us to something deeper, something within us that longs for something more.
There is this kind of innate promise that we are all aware of, this kind of call within our hearts toward living a full life. And certain things awaken this call.
They nurture it. They help convince us of the reality of this sense, this longing we have…..
I think Paul awakens this desire when he talks about the promise that God made to Abraham. Could it be that this promise, made millennia ago, is part of this longing that we feel?….
So Paul says that God gave Abraham a promise.
God’s promise was that He was forming a people, and He was beginning with Abraham.
If you look at the Bible as a narrative, this is where the real action of the Bible begins.
This promise is what gets worked out in the whole rest of the Scripture. And you don’t see the whole fulfillment until you get to the end of the Bible.
What are the details of this promise?
People from every background would be welcomed into God’s community. The NIV reads all nations will be blessed. Listen to how this promise eventually comes to its complete fulfillment in Revelation 7:9-10:
There before me was a great multitude thsat no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb”,
People from every background are being welcomed into God’s community”.
It might be difficult to decide which is worse: being under a yoke (Acts 15:10); policed by a jailer,
(Galatians 3:23) or as a Roman child, being in the constant company of a slave-guardian!
(Galatians 3:24).
These are some of the ways the New Testament depicts the function of the Law when it is mistakenly regarded as an or the instrument of salvation / justification!
All of these scenarios picture an uneasy or awkward relationship and by design as they all reveal man’s sin and his need of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul again reminded the Galatian churches and all churches of their liberty furnished by the penal, vicarious and efficacious death of Christ on Calvary’s cross.
Any doctrine outside of this fact threatens Christianity at its very core. It would set aside or diminish the Gospel of Jesus Christ and so render salvation / justification the result of ‘works of the Law’ on top of by ‘grace through faith’. Thus, Christ death was not sufficient to make atonement for the sins of God’s people.
The Galatians had come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Gospel as believed and preached by Paul and all the other Apostles, (Gal.2:9). The Galatians themselves recognized their reception of the Holy Spirit at their conversion and His continued miraculous works among them.
Sadly, and to Paul’s consternation, these churches that started out so well soon lapsed into a grievous error. Specifically, these Judaizers imposed circumcision on the Galatians. In effect, these charlatans taught another gospel.
Paul quickly recognized that in essence, the false teachers were propagating a salvation based on the works of the ‘law’. While works-based salvation is standard for all other religions, Christian salvation is solely based on faith in Jesus Christ and the Apostle emphatically refutes the false gospel of salvation based on the works of the Law and provides a compelling argument for salvation or justification by grace. Jews as well as Gentiles are now justified by grace.
Justification means to be declared righteous before God and so placed in right standing or relationship with God and accepted by Him. This comes because God the righteous Judge has decreed a verdict that those that were before condemned were now given a new status.
One writer’s caution: “Justification should not be confused with forgiveness, which is the fruit of justification, nor with atonement, which is the basis of justification”.
We understand that all men are sinners and are only declared righteous or justified on account of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross and men must believe and accept the efficacy of Jesus’ sacrifice for God’s forgiveness of their sins. Once justified by faith in Christ, we live by faith and this life of faith is described by the theological term “sanctification”. Justification requires personal faith, a belief and an embrace of truth.
The warning is all believers should be very careful that they do not deviate from the truth in any way. Believers are united with Christ, have ‘participated’ in His death, burial and resurrection and are ‘in Him’.
Paul was insistent that since justification comes by faith in Christ and not by works of any kind and according to any system, life must proceed as led by Christ. As a result of being ‘in Christ’ believers are freed from the control of the Law or anything else as a means of salvation, justification, or sanctification.
Believers have received what God promised Abraham, namely the Promise of the Spirit. The Spirit was promised to everyone who come to faith in Messiah. (Galatians 3:13-14.)
So as the apostle Paul instructs, show the wisdom and insight necessary to make the right choices.
THE TEXT
Verses 1-8
Cornelius is described as a powerful soldier in the Roman Army. But he is a devout man and he and his entire house feared God. He gave generously to the Jewish people. He was always praying to God.
This unusual man saw a vision when he was praying during the day and in the vision an angel of God came to him, and though he was afraid of the angel, he asked the angel what was the matter.
The angel told him that his prayers and his alms had come up as a memorial before God and he should now send men to Joppa and get Simon Peter to leave that city and to come up to him and tell him what God wanted him to do.
As soon as the vision was finished Cornelius sent two of his household servants along with his personal military assistant to go to Peter and tell Peter everything that had happened, and to bring Peter to him to his house
Verse 9. Cornelius sent his trusted soldiers to Peter to have him come to him and explain what God wanted from him.
It is very important to note that there is a difference between what we call common grace and the special grace of God which brings men to salvation.
Grace is available to all for the Holy Spirit speaks to all men of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
But this is not the same as effectual grace for even though men are influenced by the truth more often than not they are not responsive to the truth and so we know that common grace can be resisted.
We therefore should be very thankful to God for the special grace of God for this is the means of blessing. It is operated by the Holy Spirit.
This is why some men when you look at how they live in the society appear to be quite good according to human standards. Some people can’t believe that those individuals that appear to be so good are not going through the Lord Jesus Christ to heaven and eternal life. But you should understand that many non-Christians are good men simply because of the common grace of God.
The Holy Spirit is most necessary for it brings effectual grace.
The Spirit works through the instrumentality of the Word of God and that produces the response that leads to eternal life, for it changes the unwilling to become willing.
But even then some will resist the teaching of the Word of God because they are carnal men, and since they are carnal men and unwilling to listen to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit the resistance of the common grace will not lead to the true knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But Cornelius was an individual that had received the common grace of God and had responded to it and God will now give him the benefits of efficacious grace. The time was right for the salvation of Cornelius and the angel of God had appeared to him and told him to send for Simon Peter who would tell him about the things that would bring him to the knowledge of salvation. Cornelius and his house were not yet saved and so the angel instructed him to send for Simon Peter:” who will tell thee the words whereby thou and thy house shall be saved”.
Verses 9-13..The soldiers went immediately to meet Peter. But Peter had gone on the housetop to pray while he awaited lunch that the disciples were preparing for him.
The Scriptures tell us that Peter was very hungry and wanted something to eat but while he waited patiently he fell into a trance..
Note that his bodily needs seem to determine the form of the vision because he saw a large sheet let down from heaven knit at the four corners having on it all kinds of four footed beasts, wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air, which suggested that there were unclean animals there which individuals under the law of Moses were forbidden to eat according to Leviticus Chapter 11.
Then what is important is that the voice came to him,” Peter, arise, Slay and eat”.
Verses 14-16. We have to be careful not to stretch the meaning of what happened to Peter as some do, for they think this vision gave people the right to eat whatever they felt like eating even though the interpretation of the vision was made clear subsequently,and there was no such instruction of eating whatever you want was given.
But notice how God was using the elements in this vision to get through to Peter. God often uses what our bodily needs are to get a message through to us.
But also notice that Peter did not understand what was happening and so he blurted out,”Certainly not! I have never eaten anything common or unclean”.
We might ask ourselves the question how Peter could say No” but even more say, “ Not so, Lord”, a clearly contradictory response.
Then he tells the Lord why he would not do as the voice said. He had never eaten anything common or unclean..
The voice of course responded that what God had cleansed ye should not call common or unclean and this happened three times. For three times one writer says, the apostle Peter confessed that he loved the Lord, and hear again when he is put to the test it was very difficult for him to respond to the command of the Lord.
But Peter apparently is now beginning to get something out of the vision which indicated that a Gentile would enter the body of the people of God without going through the gates of Judaism. But note that this was very hard for Peter to understand and God had to shake him up a little bit.
He knew that when Jesus died on the Cross the veil of the temple had been rent from top to bottom indicating that a Gentile could now enter the body of Christ and experience fellowship with the people of God as a result of what Christ had done. Gentiles would now be fellow possessors of the same body and partakers of the promise of God brought in Christ by the Gospel.
We should never forget that it was as one writer says, a very short step from clean Gentile food to clean Gentiles because Peter had been taught that it was not proper for him to eat with Gentiles even though this was not taught in the Old Testament.
Verses 17-22.So the sheet was withdrawn after three times and Peter was perplexed as to what the vision meant.
The answer came because the three men from Cornelius knocked on the door inquiring where the house of Simon the Tanner would be and ask for a man that was called Simon..
Peter was thinking about the vision and the Holy Spirit told him, “ Behold,. Three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them doubting nothing: for I have sent them”.
Does this teach us anything? Just maybe God might be doing something in your life and preparing you for something that He wants you to do, calling on you to think carefully about what it could mean.
In this case and certainly it will be the case with us the Holy Spirit intervened and straightened out Peter.
We hope that He will straighten you out when he has prepared you to do a task that is very important to God.
Note that sometimes when God gives us instructions the interpretation of these things are not often specifically given in our experience. We only learn of what God wants because of the things that arise out of what follows these events.
So Peter is going to learn the real interpretation of what is happening to him by the events that will follow, says one writer.
Verses 21-24.The soldiers sent by Cornelius came to Peter and he identified himself as the one that they sought. He invited them in and they stayed with Peter overnight and that would obviously be a rather astounding matter for the Jewish believers in Joppa.
But early the next morning the party left from Joppa to go to Cornelius’s house in Caesarea which was about 30 miles away.
Peter wisely given the sensitive cities of Jews and the other disciples, took several brethren fromJoppa with him while he went to visit Cornelius.
So we learn that we should be wise when we’re obeying the Holy Spirit. Do not give up your common sense when you are evangelizing.
Verses 24-34. When Peter and the party which included the soldiers and Peter’s brethren and some other believers reached Caesarea at the house of Cornelius they found that Cornelius had been waiting for him with his kinsmen and near friends.
So note that Cornelius was not keeping the beautiful message of the gospel to himself. He engaged others around him.
We of course hope you are doing the same today.
When Peter was coming in Cornelius fell down at his feet and tried to worship him and Peter had to take him up and tell him to stand up for he Peter himself also was a man just like Cornelius was a man.
Cornelius was told that men cannot be worshipped, no matter what knowledge, connection to God, or skill that they had.
They talked together and Peter found many of Cornelius friends and relatives were there with him.
So Peter made them aware that being a Jew it was unlawful for him to keep company with Gentiles but Peter made it clear that God had showed it to him that he should not call any man common or unclean.
Accordingly he came immediately when Cornelius’s servants reached him.
Cornelius then explained that 4 days before he had been praying in his house and a nan in bright clothing, this was an angel Cornelius was describing, came and instructed him to send for Peter. Cornelius made it clear that immediately he responded to the instructions of the angel and sent for Peter.
Verse 34. Peter knew that it was not a good thing to have a divided allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, so Peter opened his mouth to tell Cornelius and the gathering that God was not a respecter of persons. Once anybody, no matter what nation he was from, feared God and sought righteousness this was acceptable to God.
We are fully aware that God had stated that once a person sought God they would find God. God would not turn anyone away who sought after Him.
You therefore have to invite people who are across the fence to understand that if they truly sought God God would respond to them and deal with them.
If they do not wish to seek God they had no excuse for God had put the knowledge of Himself in their hearts from the time that they were born.
They really have no excuse to turn away from God.
They know God but they have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. So your task is really to bring out this truth to the forefront of their minds. Of course you can only do this with the direction and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not something that you do by your own human skill and understanding and strength.
Notice also that as long as Peter was willing to say no Lord, he was not useful to the Lord.
You have to be careful not to say to the Lord that you will not do this because you have never done it. The Scripture has shown us the pattern for action and whether or not we must do what God wants or not.
Peter started to preach about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He had done from the time He was baptized by John the Baptist. He made them understand that Jesus had been anointed by God and under the power of the Holy Spirit had went about doing good and healing all those that were oppressed. But the people had rejected Him and He had been crucified in Jerusalem.
But God raised Him up on the third day showing Him openly to the people. He Peter and the others were witnesses to Jesus was. They had been commanded to preach and testify that Jesus had been ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead.
Astoundingly while Peter was still giving his sermon the Holy Spirit fell on all of them that were hearing the Word of God and those of the Jews that were there were astonished because the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles.
The proof was made. The Gentiles were accepted by God and taken into the family of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ just as Jews would have to be to be taken into the family of the Lord Jesus Christ.
GALATIANS 3:28-29
Verse 27. The Apostle Paul made it clear that the Scriptures had concluded that all men are under sin and that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ would be given to those that believe.
The reason is that all that are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ are baptized into Christ and have put on Christ.
They are clothed in Christ which means that they have the “Robe of righteousness” spoken of in Isaiah 61:10, and this “robe of righteousness” has replaced the “filthy rags” which Isaiah 60 4 6 speaks about..
By linking Abraham and Christ, Paul makes it clear that Christ alone is the one that would bring the promised blessing to both Jew and Gentile. The promise to Abraham was first, and came before the covenant God later established at Sinai. God’s promise was a unilateral covenant, and was promised forever and was thus permanent.
There were no “ifs” in the Abrahamic covenant, and since it was a unilateral covenant there was no mediator. On the contrary, in the Mosaic covenant recorded in Deuteronomy 28, there was plenty of “ifs”, for this was an agreement between two parties, and not a unilateral covenant. This covenant was based on performance and not on the basis of a promise and thus it would not be permanent.
God on the other hand had promised Abraham a “SEED” and a blessing and God’s promise stood sure. This gift was permanent.
For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Now that faith had come, (vs.25) and this speaks of a period of growing up and the disciplinarian function of the law is no longer necessary, there is the freedom of sonship. There is a dramatic change for the believer.
“The Greek word enduo (“put on”) means “put on a garment” or “to clothe yourself” or (“get dressed”. When Paul talks about putting on Christ, he uses this clothing metaphor to describe a transformation that God has wrought in their lives…People who have put on Christ are new people—redeemed people—forgiven people—people whose demeanor and actions (external) reflect the fact that God has given them a new heart (internal).
Note also:
“Note the similarity between hios theos (sons and daughters of God) and huiothesia (to place as a son—to adopt).
Both point to a privileged and intimate relationship with God, which relationship comes “through faith in Christ Jesus”.
We repeat therefore for emphasis, A believer is now accorded the place of a son or daughter, that is, adopted into a privileged and intimate relationship with God because this relationship has come through faith in Jesus Christ.
Note that the word “son” stresses one’s position in the family of God.
Note carefully that this “sonship” does not speak of the fact that all men are created by God and can therefore be called sons of God. This is being a ‘son of God by redemption, a son of God by faith, and this sonship is only obtained through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no universal sonship. This sonship is for believers only.
We must ask ourselves, to which fatherhood we belong, and in which family are you a son / daughter? You must be a son / daughter of the Father in heaven by faith in Jesus Christ and so able to pray “Our Father” to the true God in Heaven.
Verse 27. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Circumcision had previously been the physical marker of whether a man was included in Israel’s covenant relationship with God. Baptism levelled the playing field not only between Jewish and Gentile men, but women as well (vs.28).
It is the common experience of all believers (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3–4). Baptism thus is a powerful expression of the equality and unity of Christ’s followers.
None are able to cleanse themselves, even those who had grown up following God’s law. All rely utterly on Christ’s cleansing. None can look to previous Israelite identity as credentials for inheriting eternal life. Rather, all must look to Christ’s death and resurrection.
To put on Christ is to be clothed in Him. Jesus’ “robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10) has replaced our “filthy rags” (64:6). As we grow in the Christian life, we should become more and more like Christ and more comfortable wearing His wardrobe (compare Romans 13:14).
Christians are not defined by ancestral heritage or former practices but by Christ’s gracious forgiveness and gift of new life. Though we may look and act differently from one another, we all wear the same spiritual clothing. It is the uniform of the Gospel that speaks of Christ alone (compare Isaiah 61:10).
In Christ, barriers are broken down. Together we are a new creation, transformed through the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:10–11). Lines of division regarding access to salvation are dissolved in Christ, and Paul used three important examples for emphasis.
Of course, Paul was not speaking of water baptism, which has no saving power, but is using this language in a metaphorical sense. Salvation is not conferred on us when one receives water baptism, but when one believes.
To put on Christ is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ; here we are pictured as one putting on a garment. We are covered in the robe of Christ’s righteousness, thus we are justified before God. Paul is emphasizing our union with Christ.
Verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is [ak]neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
… There is neither Jew nor Greek…. first, Paul addressed concerns of ethnic and cultural divisions as centered on the Law of Moses. Of main concern for a Jew was adherence to the law, notably the law’s prescriptions for circumcision and the Judaizers’ intent to bind Gentiles (Greeks) to it (see Acts 15:1). But in the Christian era, physical circumcision as a covenant sign is no longer applicable for God’s people (Romans 3:30; 1 Corinthians 7:18–19; Galatians 5:6; 6:15).
… There is neither bond nor free. …second, the structure of the Roman Empire required an economy of slavery. In the structure of God’s economy of salvation, though, the servant in bondage and the free person have equal access; both can find eternal life in Christ Jesus. Under Christ, a bondservant was to be counted as “a brother beloved” (Philemon 16).
There is neither male nor female. … Paul’s third statement was not meant to disregard obvious gender differences or address varied beliefs on the roles of men and women. Rather, Paul addressed the issue of equal access to salvation, given the context of the passage at hand (see more on Galatians 3:29, below).
In many cultures, the vulnerability of women becomes a basis for men to take positions of privilege. Such inequality of access includes the customs of inheritance: women typically did not inherit property in the Greco-Roman world of the first century AD.
The fact that there is neither male nor female means that everyone has the same opportunity of an eternal inheritance (Acts 20:32).
… For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. … divisions that result from living in a fallen world, including those that vex us yet today, are overcome by the Gospel.
Oneness in Christ Jesus means we treat each other with absolute love and respect as equal heirs of salvation. Our differences have no bearing on one’s access to or standing in Christ. We serve as one body (Romans 12:4–8; 1 Corinthians 12:12–27).
“All those who are one with Jesus Christ are one with each other. This verse does not deny that God has designed for racial, social and sexual distinctions among Christians, but affirms that those do not imply spiritual inequality before God. Nor is this spiritual equality incompatible with the God ordained roles of headship and submission in the church, society and at home. Christ, though fully equal with the Father, assumed a submissive role during His Incarnation (Phil 2:5-8)”.
Verse 29. And if you [al] belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
If you are Abraham’s seed then you are a true son and daughter, declared righteous in Christ, justified, made rich by the blessings of the Lord. You will be glorified together with Him because you are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, (Romans 8).
Notice the radical change that is taught. There is no need for division among persons. All are one in Christ. All partake of the Lord’s Supper equally before God. All have been given gifts to build up the body of Christ.
This indicates that Christ, the Head, expects harmony in His body, for each member have their function and role specified by the Holy Spirit, and this work of the Spirit fits perfectly with the inspired words of the Apostles, whose names are in the foundations of the New Jerusalem.
All Christians have brothers, sisters and a Father. In the body of Christ there is to be no fracturing in relationships. The Gospel we accepted has already removed differences and we are therefore well able to live as persons without differences. The Gospel has given us the power to live as a family. It has created community where distinctions though they might continue to exist will not be regarded any longer as significant.
Note the division in the churches are a shame. The worship time should be the most segregated hour. The Devil must be enjoying how we behave and how we give the Red Carpet to the wealthy and the powerful.
CONCLUSION
The tribe has been transcended, says one writer. All is in the Family.
We believers are now free to live behind the fence.
We have a Father and the Gospel invites us to see God as our Father.
It might be hard for some of us who are pain for what our fathers have done to us. But remember that the word Daddy is one of the most powerful words in any language for God the Father intended the word father to point us to Him.
Not only do we have the heavenly Father who will one day wipe away all tears from our eyes, we also have as His gift brothers and sisters.
We have a community and better yet, we have a family.
The law of God, His testimonies, His statutes, His Judgments, His commandments, His fear, is called the Torah, the moral teachings of God.
These teach us how to make sure we live on the right side of the Fence now. Our task is to call on others to come to our side of the Fence.
We do that because we know there is something more for we are heirs and our inheritance of glory is guaranteed.
It is very important that nothing cloud the understanding of believers with regard to their salvation. Nothing should diminish what Jesus achieved on Calvary’s cross on behalf of sinners. Paul and all of Scripture emphatically declare that men are only saved by the grace of God, through the sacrifice of Jesus. (Eph.2:8-9; Tit.3:5; Isa.64:6; Rom.3:20)
The Study Text is an affirmation of God’s infinite, gracious love and mercy for His people.
At a time, He determined, God sent His Son to die in the place of sinners to redeem men from the bondage of sin.
But far beyond the deliverance from sin and its dire consequences, Jesus’ sacrifice has procured adoption into God’s family for all who come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, we become sons and daughters in God’s family and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.