(Galatians 3:28) We are all one in Christ Jesus.

In the apostle Paul’s letter of Galatians, he confronts Jews who were insisting that Gentiles (non-Jews) must be physically circumcised to be saved. In Galatians, Paul confronts these false religious teachers because all people are only saved by God’s grace in Jesus Christ, not through religious requirements. 

Human sin divides people into isolated and fragmented groups. Human sin is destructive and divisive. In our fallen condition, we have a tendency to categorize people into “acceptable” and “unacceptable” segments. 

This is why it is so important to know the core truth of the Gospel—God's desire is for everyone, all peoples—to be saved. No group of people has a special status, or deserves God’s grace more than others. 

All of us—everyone of else—were equally in a condition of separation from God. 

All people—no matter if they are Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free—are relationally equal in Jesus Christ. 

This truth of the love of God is extremely radical in human history. It is the core foundational truth of Western civilization; every single person is created the image of God and God loves each of us. 

No matter who or what social or ethnic group one comes from, he or she is equal in the eyes of God. All believers are spiritually equal, with the same status and value. 

This doesn’t mean that ethnic, social, or gender differences cease to exist, or that they are simply a human construct that must be eliminated. We are not some homogeneous blob of humanity. 

Rather, the main point of Galatians 3:28 is that our differences do not affect one’s status, or access to God’s free grace of salvation in Jesus Christ.

The love of God in Jesus Christ relationally unites what sin divides. In Jesus, not only is our broken relationship with God restored but our relationship with one another is restored back to health also—no matter how different we are in the natural. 

Theologically, the church—the people of God—should never be fragmented and divided by ethnic or economic status. The relational unity of the Christian community must be intentionally maintained by us. 

We don’t try to erase the diversity of people, but we must do all we can to keep the relational unity of the church. God’s loves all peoples, worldwide.

Do you categorize people into separate groups? 

Do you look down on other people because they are not like you?

Do you do everything you can to keep the relational unity of the church?