Galatians 3:26-29 Brothers and Sisters, Treat One Another as Equals, For We are All "Sons" of God

Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

Does it seem politically incorrect that Paul would call us all “sons of God”? Would this verse be more appropriately worded and understood as the NIRV (New International Reader’s Version) renders it: “You are all children of God by believing in Christ Jesus”? Or maybe women are excluded here. Why does Paul render verse 26 as “sons” of God, and then talk about how there is no gender basis, but equality in inheritance when it comes to those who have faith in Christ?

The Bible is not politically correct; nor should we seek to make it such. “Every word of God is tested,” or “flawless” as the NIV renders it (Proverbs 30:5). “The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times” (Psalm 12:6). God’s Word is correct as it is written, and in this form it will pack the greatest punch. “Every word” of God is this way; not just every concept. The NIRV actually misses the point of Paul (and thus of God) almost completely in its translation/interpretation of the text. This verse must be rendered as “sons” despite our newly acquired (in the past 100 years) post-modernistic/feminist ideologies. Why so? Because Paul’s thoughts are continuous and flowing.

In verses 23-25 we saw that the Law served as our caretaker, much like a first century caretaker of a son who was to be the heir of his father. It did this until we had come to the proper age (the proper time in history) for us to be revealed as “sons,” not daughters (and you shall understand why that is in a moment), of God in Christ.

We are all “sons of God,” whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, because we are coequal heirs. If Paul had said, “you are all sons and daughters of God,” then he would have been saying to his audience that there is a distinction. He would have been saying that those who are men are going to inherit the kingdom, while those who are women are merely going to come along for the ride and get to enjoy it. Instead he says “you are all sons.” This means that there is equality in Christ. We are all coequal heirs of Christ (Paul is not abolishing the differentiation in roles here, as some claim he is doing. In context he is talking about us being heirs, as in what we shall receive in the Kingdom of God. That is how we are the same. The differentiation in roles does not mean men or women are greater than the other. Rather, that is just the way that God has made us to complement and balance one another; and it is good, and to go against that is sin).

Paul makes clear that Jews and Gentiles are now equal. God is saving people from all nationalities/ethnicities for His glory (see Romans 3 for more on this. This is actually one of Paul’s continuous themes throughout his epistles (cf. Romans 1:16; 2:12-16; 3:1-30, Galatians 2:8-9; 3:28, Ephesians 2:11-19; 3:1; 4:4-6, 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Titus 2:11-14). In the same way the slaves and those who are free are both coequal heirs. There is no difference in the Kingdom of God, and thus we must not play favorites, lest we fall into sin and face reproof at the hands of God (James 2:1-13).

All are equal as heirs in Christ (all who truly believe in Christ, that is) because all those who have accepted the responsibilities and sufferings that come with dying to this world by being associated with Christ in baptism have clothed themselves with Christ; both His sufferings and His righteousness. God “manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of [Christ] in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). We are together one body, and coequally heirs thereof. So all who are in Christ, no matter their race, gender, or status, are all descendents and heirs of the promises to Abraham.