Radical Errors – Galatians 3:28

Christians for Biblical Equality have the following statement on their site:

CBE International (CBE) is a nonprofit organization of Christian women and men who believe that the Bible, properly translated and interpreted, teaches the fundamental equality of women and men of all racial and ethnic groups, all economic classes, and all ages, based on the teachings of Scriptures such as Galatians 3:28:
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NIV 2011).

Now the CBE are using at least part of this verse in a physical sense. That part would be the phrase “nor is there male and female.” The reason I know this is because they are focused on women having leadership roles such as pastor and deacon in the church. That is an expressly physical context.

They also use a corrupt text for their quote, but it is essentially the same as the KJV, and it sits in a context:

26-27 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 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.

Now, that is a far as I am willing to go with the NIV, but it does show that the context is spiritual, and not physical.

How can we know the context of this is spiritual? Because no passage of Scripture is of any private interpretation. Therefore, there is another passage that also addresses essentially the same thing, somewhere else in Scripture. For this, we will use the King James Version, as we will in the rest of this article.

Galatians 3:26-29 (KJV)
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 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.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The passage that most relates to this is in Colossians 3:9-11:

Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:9-11)

There are multiple indicators that this passage is expressly spiritual, beginning with “seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” which refers to Romans 6:

Romans 6:1-7
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5-6 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Clearly this is not referring to the flesh. If it were, then this passage from Romans 7 makes no sense:

Romans 7:18-25
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Hence, the last sentence in Romans 7 clarifies: “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Telling us plainly that there is a clear distinction between the flesh and the spirit. In the flesh, nothing changed at salvation. But in the spirit, everything is radically new.

That there is a clear difference between the flesh and the spirit is confirmed by John 3, when the Lord Jesus Christ is instructing Nicodemus:

John 3:5-6
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Thus, when both Colossians refers to the “old man” and the “new man,” and Galatians refers to being “baptized into Christ,” they are plainly referring to the same thing that Romans 6 is referring to: The new birth, or being born again in Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is because Romans 6 clearly ties these two things together. Moreover, this is a purely spiritual event, that has nothing to do with the physical. Romans 6 and 7 ensure we understand the change which occurs at salvation is strictly spiritual, with the flesh remaining in iniquity.

In returning to Colossians, we see the use of the word “where” in Colossians 3:11 referring back to having “put off the old man and his deeds” in the previous verse. This follows a colon, indicating verse 11 is the explanation of the statement in verse 10. This puts the context of verse 11 within verse 10, which refers to the new birth in Christ, by the power of the Holy Ghost. This means the juxtapositions in the verse are spiritually made one. This is not a physical context, and therefore not a physical event. It is simply stating that we are seen in Christ (a strictly spiritual context) as all the same.

Hence, given the clarity of Colossians and its particular pattern, when we look at Galatians 3:28, we see the same particular pattern. The fact that Colossians does not refer expressly to male and female, doesn’t change the clear pattern. Given the conclusion of both Colossians 3:9-11, which ends with “but Christ is all, and in all” and the conclusion of Galatians 3:26, which ends with “for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” the considered conclusion is that both passages are referring to the same thing, and both are strictly spiritual.

So, why does it matter if this is strictly spiritual, and the CBE is using it physically?

Because that is out of context. Making any part of Galatians 3:28 physical, is pulling that part out of the spiritual context in which it sits, and is thus spiritual in application, and forcing it into a physical context, which it was never intended for, and doesn’t fit.

Trying to jam any part of Galatians 3:26-29 into a physical context teaches the following errors:

1. Faith is a physical thing, instead of strictly spiritual. While the evidence of faith is often displayed physically, faith itself is not a physical thing. Rather, faith is strictly spiritual as Romans 10 and Hebrews 11 show us:

I. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:16-17)

II. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:1-3)

2. That we become the physical children of God upon salvation, when Romans 7 expressly teaches that our flesh is still under the bond of iniquity, and is not changed at all when we are born-again.

I. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:18-25)

II. Four times in the above passage from Romans 7, we are expressly told that our flesh still has iniquity, and will never get divested of that iniquity. In fact, we will not lose that iniquity in our flesh until the resurrection, as I Corinthians 15 demonstrates:

i. But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:35-44)

3. That this baptism is a water baptism, when it is not. This baptism is a spiritual baptism of like experience with Christ. Hebrews 6 confirms there are different baptisms:

I. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1-2)

II. The baptism referenced in Galatians 3:26-29 is the same baptism as Romans 6 – our old man dying, and a new man born-again in Christ Jesus.

4. That we become the physical seed of Abraham, and are effectively, physical Jews. This is contrary to the rest of Scripture, which demonstrates that we are spiritual Jews, because of the faith of Abraham:

I. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28-29)

Hence, making the phrase “there is neither male nor female:” physical means that we must allow the rest of the context to be physical, including the ridiculous notion that Gentiles now become physical Jews immediately upon salvation.

Additionally, the following strange and ridiculous ideas come out of applying any part of Galatians 3:26-29 physically:

1. We must allow that our bodies can reach perfection in Christ, while on this earth, when the Scripture expressly teaches that will never happen.
2. We must allow the strange notion that we “wear Christ” physically. That somehow we are changed so we can manifest Christ in the flesh, rather than being messengers and ambassadors for Christ. This literally would make us physically part of Christ – a totally insane notion.

Hence, we cannot lose the distinction between men and women in the flesh, while on this earth. We are not at liberty to ignore the order the LORD God set forth for this earth, while we are here. This extends to service in the New Testament church. The roles of men and women are distinct and separate. They will remain so, as long as this earth exists. We are not at liberty to ignore or pretend otherwise. To do so will set us against the LORD God.

Thus, despite whatever the CBE wants to claim, the reality is they are actually opposed to the LORD God and His established order, and don’t care that they twist Scripture to “prove” their point. Given that they are choosing to do this, leaves me with no other conclusion than to believe that they actually do not believe the Scripture, but are attempting to use it for a battering ram to attack New Testament churches.

I am interested to see how these folks explain this a the Great White Throne of Judgment.